The return of B-Side

B-Side, the neighborhood bar on Avenue B, closed back in March after 17 years here between 12th Street and 13th Street.

At the time, we were told that new owners were taking over the space.

However, those plans never further materialized and B-Side's ownership has announced that the bar reopens today with curbside seating. (They also unveiled B-Side t-shirts for sale.) Hours: 2-10 p.m.

In other reopening news nearby, 11th Street Bar between Avenue A and Avenue B returned yesterday, pouring its first pint of Guinness in 109 days. The bar is open from 2-10 p.m. for limited curbside seating and take-home drinks.

Updated:

A look at their curbside space...

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A post shared by Bside (@bsidenyc) on Jul 4, 2020 at 12:52pm PDT

A new look outside for the 11th Street Bar

Over on 11th Street, Vinny & O shared these photos of the new awning outside the 11th Street Bar between Avenue A and Avenue B...



Back in the late spring, Dan Sweeney, a bartender at the pub these past seven-plus years, took over the ownership (along with his partners, Diarmuid and Meghan Joye).

Sweeney told EVG correspondent Steven in May that they weren't planning on many changes, aside from a new awning. So check that one off the last.

The bar also has a new website (unveiled yesterday), which you can find here. The 11th Street Bar has also continued its free live-music programming five nights a week.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A (familiar) new owner for the 11th Street Bar

A (familiar) new owner for the 11th Street Bar

There's understandably cause for concern when your favorite bar-restaurant shows up on a CB3-SLA meeting agenda with a new ownership team. (The Grassroots Tavern is one recent example.)

However, in the case of the 11th Street Bar, new ownership is expected to pretty much mean business as usual.

Dan Sweeney, a bartender at the pub between Avenue A and Avenue B these past seven-plus years, is one of the principals buying the 11th Street Bar. (One of the original 11th Street Bar owners is deceased and the other moved to Texas.)

Last week, CB3's SLA committee approved the new liquor-license application from Sweeney and his partners, Diarmuid and Meghan Joye, who own two Lower East Side Bars (Donnybrook and Lucky Jack's) as well as Blue Haven on West Houston Street. (Meghan Joye is also a member of CB3, where she is economic development chair.)

Sweeney told EVG correspondent Steven that they weren't planning on many changes, aside from a new awning as well as an expanded food/snacks menu.

In addition, the 11th Street Bar will continue on with its music nights, such as the Irish sessions on Sundays and jazz on Mondays.

Sweeney, a Long Island native, was employed as a financial analyst after college. He was in 7 World Trade Center on 9/11. That experience prompted him to take a different career path. Before starting at the 11th Street Bar, he worked for 10 years at the Saint Mark's Ale House.



The 11th Street Bar opened in January 1997.

H/T Gary!

East 11th Street in photos at the 11th Street Bar

Longtime East Village resident Jack Smead has been taking and collecting photos of the neighborhood since 1969.

Neighbor Ruth tells us that he has gathered his favorites, focusing on East 11th Street, "into a terrific collection" showing at the 11th Street Bar, 510 E. 11th St., between Avenue A and Avenue B.



The photos are up as of tonight. We're looking forward to stopping by to check them out...