Doc, "Cannery Row," by John Steinbeck Tarentaise (Thistle Hill Dairy) Complex but easy-going, and fairly nutty, Thistle Hill Dairy's Tarentaise is not so much Babbitt as Doc out of "Cannery Row," that lovable consumer of beer milkshakes.
The space consists of a few tables and booths with graffiti carved into them, faux-wood panelling, movie posters, and a counter, behind which four or five harried souls sling burgers, fries, and nothing else — except soda, beer, milkshakes (after 1 30), and big cakey brownies, which you fetch for yourself and come to regret.
At that point -- and this happens every year -- my wife, Dixie (who I love more than root beer milkshakes), yells, "You can't tell us what to do".
The childlike-dining revolution is roiling on battlefields such as SF's Belly Burgers, Oakland's mac-and-cheese-only Homeroom Restaurant, in the rising hipster-chicness of beer milkshakes and the new ubiquity of Peeps, Pop Tarts, marshmallows, mac-and-cheese, cupcakes and their (a) artisanal facsimiles and (b) other-cultural counterparts.
You need to eat!" which goes down easier than the first sip of milkshake beer.
STK OUT This casual spinoff of STK downtown serves sandwiches, salads, milkshakes, beer and wine.
STK OUT This casual outpost of STK in the meatpacking district serves sandwiches, salads, milkshakes, beer and wine: Grace Plaza, 1114 Avenue of the Americas (43rd Street); (646) 646-2433.
The latter was nearly redeemed by a scoop of Brooklyn's Blue Marble vanilla ice cream, until a memory surfaced of the brownie sundae, root-beer float, and milkshake, all of which were contenders at breakfast.
BLACK TAP DOWN Beneath Joe Isidori's tiny Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer in SoHo is a space with more elbow room that offers the same menu of well-made burgers with beer and inventive milkshakes: 529 Broome Street (Sullivan Street), 917-639-3089, blacktapnyc.com.
They shared his last meal of Burger King hamburgers, French fries, milkshakes, root beer, and chocolate chip ice cream.
