Tavern in the Grove is closing after 33 years of doing business at 3416 Main Highway. Kim and Carmine Citro opened The Tavern on Halloween night, October 31, 1987. It seems to have always been a beloved dive bar right in the center of town; previously it was Hatties and The Hamlet and it's believed to have originally opened as a bar of one sort or another as far back as 1925.
The last official day is January 19, 2020. When it closes that night, that will be the end.
About a year ago Lee Kessler and Brett Dusharm bought the place. It would have died quietly if they had not stepped in. It was almost like a sale on the courthouse steps; they just took over the lease as-is at the last hour, Lee tells me.
"We thought it was a good move, we had to take over the lease - take it or leave it," says Lee.
The landlords called in their option this week - reclaiming the space - they have bigger ideas, one may be to expand the space into the former Maya Hatcha space behind it.
So basically The Tavern was evicted, like so many of the institutions around the Grove these days. You can look up and down Main Highway, and Grand Avenue and Fuller Street and see empty storefronts where venerable Grove institutions once were - most gone because they were evicted, the landlords looking for more upscale and higher paying clients, killing the village and all its character in the process.
Alas, it's happening all over the country. After 200 years, Neir's Tavern in Queens New York, announced it's closing this month. 200 years! Because of high rent, what else?
STAY UPDATED ON GROVE STORIES & EVENTS.
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The last official day is January 19, 2020. When it closes that night, that will be the end.
About a year ago Lee Kessler and Brett Dusharm bought the place. It would have died quietly if they had not stepped in. It was almost like a sale on the courthouse steps; they just took over the lease as-is at the last hour, Lee tells me.
"We thought it was a good move, we had to take over the lease - take it or leave it," says Lee.
The landlords called in their option this week - reclaiming the space - they have bigger ideas, one may be to expand the space into the former Maya Hatcha space behind it.
So basically The Tavern was evicted, like so many of the institutions around the Grove these days. You can look up and down Main Highway, and Grand Avenue and Fuller Street and see empty storefronts where venerable Grove institutions once were - most gone because they were evicted, the landlords looking for more upscale and higher paying clients, killing the village and all its character in the process.
Alas, it's happening all over the country. After 200 years, Neir's Tavern in Queens New York, announced it's closing this month. 200 years! Because of high rent, what else?
STAY UPDATED ON GROVE STORIES & EVENTS.
Subscribe to the Grapevine and receive it daily in your email. ==> Use this link.
