Manuel's Tavern, the legendary Poncey-Highland watering hole, is inching toward its scheduled August 6 reopening, though as of late last week some floors, ceilings, and walls were still not in place, nor were fixtures and furniture.
Yet Angelo Fuster, a spokesman for the pub, who has been helping owner Brian Maloof deal with impatient and thirsty patrons, said major work should be done this week and that workmen would begin replacing Manuel’s enormous cache of memorabilia on walls and shelves.
Manuel's closed just after Christmas, 2015, for a major renovation, a move that made the Manuel's regulars nervous. Even more worrisome was the news that Maloof had sold the building and land to Green Street Properties, which plans a mixed use development in the parking area south of the tavern.
Maloof hastened to reassure his following that the bar would not change, though it would be on a slightly reduced footprint. (Part of the structure along North Avenue will be partitioned off and leased by Green Street to a separate business or businesses.)
But the concept of “renovation” conjured images of a fern bar with bleached wood and smooth jazz, chilling the hearts of the faithful. “All the patrons were afraid it was going to be an Applebees,” said Fuster.
No way, said Maloof. The dark panelling, the booths and the hundreds of photographs, paintings and tchotchkes that filled the interior, would all be removed, cleaned and put back again.
Manuel would also bring plumbing, electrical systems and kitchen operations up to code.
Late last week workmen labored on a terrazzo floor inside the bar while sign painter Jack Fralin and a crew of four artisans retouched the wall-sized Coca-Cola murals on the north and south exterior walls of the tavern.
Fralin, in white cowboy hat and sunglasses, said he works from Coke’s archival specifications to correctly reproduce the logo’s Spencerian script and its distinctive greens and reds. “It’s going to look better than it ever has,” he said.
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