Publicans, a fondly remembered Manhasset bar, will be reopening in its old location at 550 Plandome Road.
The pub served Manhasset residents for nearly 50 years when it closed in the late 1990s and became Edison’s Ale House.
After Edison’s closed its doors in March, residents called for the revival of the previous tenant, Publicans.
The new owners, Johnny Heil and Sean Peters, are restoring the bar to its former glory and it is slated to open late this summer or in early fall, according to published report.
“The feedback was 100 percent positive,” Peters said. “There was clearly a need for it. So we thought it was time to bring back Publicans, but do it right. We jumped at the opportunity.”
The location became somewhat of a tourist attraction after it was featured in Pulitzer Prize-winning author J.R. Moehringer’s memoir, “Tender Bar.”
Publicans served as a main setting in the book published in 2005, where the author recalled spending time with his bartending uncle while he grew up.
Fans of “Tender Bar” began traveling to Manhasset to see the bar depicted in the book, even when it became Edison’s Ale House.
A former waitress at Edison’s, Lauren Devlin Boylan, said she remembered four elderly women who flew from Arizona just to take in the setting of the story.
Boylan said it may need some updating, but doesn’t want to see the bar change too much.
“I feel like it’s a piece of history for our town,” she said in March.
Richard Belt said he spent in the landmark bar in the 1960s, saying it was a good place to meet friends for drinks.
“We met there as prelude to a class reunion several years ago and had an awesome time,” he said.
