PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Patrick's Pub reopens its doors under new ownership after being closed for three transitional weeks, and plans to bring back the same staff and atmosphere that residents know.

 

Though Patrick's is not yet open for lunch, it will serve a special St. Patrick's Day lunch and dinner menu with items such as bangers and mash, Irish nachos and corned beef and cabbage. The pub will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday for dining in and takeout.

 

The father-son duo of John and Tucker McNinch said they have been working hard to make people happy with the food and prices that patrons have come to know over the years. 

 

"Ninety-five percent of the people that come to the restaurant are just good people looking to have good food. And if you're offering good food, good drinks at good price, you know, you've made these people happy," John McNinch said. 

 

The new owners have been working closely with the restaurant team members in order to keep the pub's staple items and to minimize the change. 

 

"The staff has been extremely helpful and we wouldn't be open right now without the staff coming back and working their butts off showing us the systems working with us to get everything up and running," Tucker McNinch said.

 

"There's a few changes here and there. But we want to keep Patrick's Patrick's. I mean, it's one of the lifelines of Pittsfield. So I felt like it's one of those places where you don't want to change it. You want to keep it the same for all the people around here." 

 

Floor manager Shannon Lovallo has been working at Patrick's for 20 years and said she likes the new owners. 

 

"They are very laid back, very cool, and very approachable. I think everything is going to be wonderful once we get into the swing of things. It's just trying to get everybody into a new routine and learning new things," Lovallo said. 

 

Tucker McNinch was nervous opening night but praised the staff for their efficiency and said he learned a lot from working with the staff. 

 

"All the staff have been here for years. They all have a system. They were moving stuff out. They were doing incredible. And I was the one person that really just had no idea what was going on all night. So it was fun," McNinch said, "There's just different ways that everything's done. They are efficient here. Everything's done in a timely manner. They have everything prepped, ready to go. They're running the pager system, there's just so many different ways of running in the restaurant that I had never even thought about doing with the restaurants I've worked in prior that they've taught me a lot" 

 

The restaurant business is in the family's blood. John McNinch grew up working in his family's restaurant at Eastover resort until he moved to Boston to be with his future wife. 

 

"I too started in a family business, Eastover resort in Lenox my family owned and operated. So I grew up in this same type of environment, thrown into work as a child and worked through it that I left and I moved to Boston, because I like a girl out there," he said.. 

 

His attempt to enter the financing field didn't work out and he ended up working in various restaurants until he came back to the Berkshire and opened The Olde Heritage Tavern in an effort to bring a relaxed and home cooked atmosphere that he thought was missing in Lenox. He sold the business after 20 years last April.

 

McNinch passed the restaurant experience down to his son, Tucker, who worked at his father's restaurant during the summer in high school and college. Tucker got a degree in finance and economics from Northeastern and is now co-owner of 101 Restaurant and Bar in the Holiday Inn and Patrick's. 

 

"I was a server. I was a busboy. I was a dishwasher. I was everything growing up, but now getting to be in the management side, getting into the ownership branch of it. It's cool and a change of pace for me," he said. 

 

John and Tucker McNinch bought the restaurant from the Powell family back in February.