Bill Murray Is Bartending in Brooklyn This Weekend (And No, You Can’t Go)

Bill Murray is no stranger to plugging liquor. He helped the Japanese sell Suntory Whiskey in Lost In Translation. He surprised tipsy hipsters during the 2010 SXSW festival when he walked behind a downtown Austin bar with the Wu Tang Clan and started serving patrons nothing but shots of tequila.
So, we shouldn’t be surprised that this weekend, he’ll be slingin’ drinks for 21 Greenpoint, a new Brooklyn bar launched by restauranteurs Syd Silver and Bill’s son, Homer Murray.

What is sure to be Brooklyn’s inevitable, new hotspot is actually a resurrection of the establishment formerly known as River Styx (also run by Silver and Homer Murrary) except according to the younger Murray, this second go-around is much “prettier.”
It’s also edgier, especially with its high-end yet unpretentious epicurean offerings that are seasonally and locally sourced from nearby farms. Sean Telo, former chef at crab-shack-chic eatery, Extra Fancy, is sharpening his knives as head of the 21 Greenpoint kitchen, where Murray says diners can expect funky, Brooklyn-esque meals like an “ugly vegetable salad,” which uses those homely looking veggies most restaurants wouldn’t dare to put on a plate.
“We try to use seconds like tomatoes or carrots that farmers can’t sell because they don’t look as good but they still taste great and are high quality,” Murray told Eater New York. “Then we make them look pretty.”
And pretty seems to be the theme of this new endeavor, with master mixologist Sean McClure (onetime crafter of cocktails at Le Bernadin, Dirty French and Daniel), concocting beautiful libations as head beverage director.
But first he’ll be directing none other than Bill Freakin’ Murray, who will be tending bar this opening weekend for the 21 Greenpoint boys. No word yet on whether the elder Murray will pour anything other than tequila but it looks like it won’t matter either way. After word got out that Murray was bartending, the newbie bar was inundated with would-be reservation seekers and had to quickly confirm that the entire weekend was part of a private event with a “guest list.”
Womp womp. 
Still, fans are quick to show support however they can. One Facebook user even rated the place five stars on its official page, citing the name alone as one of the reasons for the high ranking. “You are calling yourselves ’21 Greenpoint,'” he wrote. “I mean, it’s a bar, and people are inclined to get a little flabbity floo, so having the address in the name will most certainly help.”
As Caddyshack greenskeeper Carl Spackler would say, 21 Greenpoint has that going for them, which is pretty nice.

MELISSA MARNI IS A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-BASED WRITER AND THE FOUNDER OF LITTLE WORD STUDIO. IF YOU REALLY WANT, YOU CAN FOLLOW HER ON INSTAGRAM HERE.