Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Former Reynold's Cafe Space Turning Into Craft Beer Bar

By Lindsay Armstrong | August 20, 2015 2:42pm | Updated on August 21, 2015 4:34pm
 Reynold's was one of the last Irish bars in a neighborhood once teeming with pubs.
Reynold's Cafe In Washington Heights Closes
View Full Caption

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The owners of an Uptown wine bar are planning to resurrect a neighborhood institution that shut down earlier this year.

Jose Reyes and Emanuel Nuñez, owners of Kazza Wine Bar on West 177th Street, plan to open a craft beer spot at 4241 Broadway, once the home of Reynold’s Café. The Irish pub had been at the location for more than 50 years before it shut down abruptly in March.

Reyes and Nuñez saw potential in the site, which is currently undergoing renovations to modernize and brighten the space, according to Ramon Rodriguez Jr., the manager at Kazza, who will oversee the new venue.

“The focus is going to be on beer,” Rodriguez said. “We’re going to have 20 drafts of primarily craft beers.”

Rodriguez said that the owners plan to apply for a full-liquor license when Community Board 12 meetings resume next month, but they want to go beyond the basic vodka-and-soda options.

“We want to do the same thing with hard liquor as with beer, so focusing on things like craft or small-batch whiskeys,” he said.

Unlike Reynold’s, the new venue will also have a kitchen, with a full menu of American-style comfort food planned, Rodriguez said.

“The beer aspect is important, but we want to have great food as well,” he said. “I want to make sure that if you have a burger there, it’s one of the best burgers you’ve ever had in the Heights.”

They hope to draw a local crowd, especially to watch sports or for events like weekly trivia nights.

“It’s going to be a very relaxed, casual environment,” Rodriguez said.

The owners have not yet settled on a name, but are considering something that will play on the bar’s location at the corner of Broadway and West 180th Street.

They hope to open this fall.