Pineville Tavern Fishtown has closed after less than 9 months
"We were hoping to appeal to millennials, their parents, baby boomers and longtime residents, but we just couldn’t do enough business to sustain the operation," said the owner.
Pineville Tavern Fishtown, an offshoot of Pineville Tavern in Bucks County, has closed after less than nine months at Huntingdon and Gaul Streets.
Father-son restaurateurs Andrew and Drew Abruzzese, who opened Aug. 1 after more than a year of top-to-bottom renovation of the former Yesterday’s corner bar, say they served their last customers April 23.
Andrew Abruzzese said through his rep that when they and building owner Allan Domb first met, they thought they had a solid concept. “It turns out that we were a bit early for the neighborhood, as Philly’s northern gentrification hasn’t quite hit our area yet. We received a lot of great press and we thought the casual dining concept that works in our home base in Bucks County would be a hit down here, too. We were hoping to appeal to millennials, their parents, baby boomers and longtime residents, but we just couldn’t do enough business to sustain the operation.”
"We feel blessed that we had the opportunity to meet a lot of really great people during this experience, and we want to thank the Philadelphia press for being so kind to us,” added his son.
Their flagship in central Bucks County is unaffected by the shutdown.
The Philadelphia location, off Aramingo Avenue in a part of the city where the neighborhood lines of Kensington, Port Richmond, and Fishtown tend to blur, is a two-story building. The Abruzzeses hired noted architect/restaurateur Jim Hamilton of Lambertville to replicate a 1920s-era neighborhood bar. It was Hamilton’s last project; he died in February 2018.
The first-floor barroom included a nifty cutaway tin ceiling. The second floor featured a raw bar and Steinway concert grand piano surrounded by banquet seating, bronzed mirror, and upholstered velour walls. The piano was on loan from Frederick “Babe” Koslowski, who owned the long-ago Babe’s Steakhouse nearby.