Keeping Me Waiting

I don’t know why, but one of my most salient memories of Tim’s Tavern on Columbus Avenue in the South End is sitting in front of a plate of tender ribs and piping hot fries, waiting for the ketchup to come out of the bottle. Maybe that’s because their steak fries were some of the best anywhere. Lord knows, their ribs were to die for. At least once a month, Joe and I would meet P and L and other friends of ours at Tim’s on a Friday night after a long week and begin the weekend with ribs and margaritas.

I’m reminded of Carly Simon’s Anticipation. It seems like forever that Tim’s has been closed. It was over a year ago that the kitchen was shut down in response to some violations. The kitchen was subsequently renovated, but inspectors ordered additional changes. Now an issue has emerged around what is apparently non-payment of rent, and on Tuesday the whole place was locked up until further notice. Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I can’t help but think that something else is going on here.

Tim’s was a dive; there’s no getting around that. But that’s what made it so cool. It was a vestige—one of only a handful—of the old South End. The pre-gentrified South End. The South End before it was shi-shi. Throw great food into its warm, relaxed, and unpretentious atmosphere, and you’ve got a recipe for a fabulously fun Friday night. The place just beckoned you to unwind. And unwind we did.

It’s not clear when, or even if, it will reopen. I’ll take some solace from the fact that back in 1994, the current iteration of Tim’s was born out of an earlier crisis involving an outstanding tax bill of a quarter of a million dollars. I know that many long-time residents of the South End are with me in hoping that the current issues can be resolved quickly so that Tim’s can once again open its doors to the wonderfully diverse clientele that was, perhaps even more than its ribs and margaritas, its most distinctive feature and the true hallmark of its existence. Until then, I’ll echo Carly Simon:

And tomorrow we might not be together;
I’m no prophet, I don’t know natures way;
So I’ll try to see into your eyes right now
And stay right here, ‘cause these are the good old days.