Yesterdays to close December 4 after 37 years on Main Street
Warwick. The local Irish pub plans to build a new location on Elm Street, with hopes to reopen by summer 2023. In the meantime, Yesterdays will host one final St. Patrick’s Day celebration, four months early, on November 17.
| 16 Nov 2022 | 04:51
Yesterdays will close after 37 years on Main Street in Warwick, N.Y. The Irish pub is building a new, larger location on Elm Street, and hopes to be open by summer 2023. Photo: Terry Reilly.
After 37 years of merriment on Main Street, Yesterdays will close Sunday, December 4. Owner John Christison is having a new, larger location built at 16 Elm Street, which he hopes to open in late spring or early summer of 2023.
In the meantime, Yesterdays will host one final St. Patrick’s Day celebration, four months early, on November 17.
“I have bagpipers coming, and corned beef and cabbage,” said Christison. “It’s my last St. Paddy’s Day in the four walls.”
The future of Yesterdays
Yesterdays first opened its doors on Main Street in Warwick on June 14, 1985. Over the years, Christison watched kids come in to the restaurant with their parents -- who now are bringing in children of their own.
“Now I have my fourth generation coming in here,” said Christison. “When you see four generations sitting at a table having dinner, that’s an amazing feat as far as I’m concerned.”
Over the decades, locals found that they could count on Yesterdays to be open, slinging cold beer and warm meals, regardless of how much snow was piling up on the sidewalk.
Christison’s plan to build a new Yesterdays has been in the works for five years: the pub outgrew its original space, and he wanted to own the property, instead of continuing to pay rent.
“I was hoping that it would have been done before my lease ran out,” he said, but legal troubles held up the project.
The new location will be bigger, with a parking lot, deck for outdoor dining and space for private parties. But otherwise, it will be “identical” to the Main Street staple. “The windows are coming with me, the bar is coming with me, all the décor inside is coming with me to the new space,” added Christison.
The menu may become a little larger but will continue to offer the same fare the restaurant does today.