Swifty’s Restaurant and Pub opened up today for the public’s first peek and taste on Wednesday, June 24, at 11 a.m.
New owner Dave Swift said his crew has worked hard and it apparently paid off after re-opening the community staple only barely two weeks after Beff’s closed it’s doors in early June.
`After Mickey (Blanchfield) finished leaving we only had a week and one day to get ready for this,` said Swift.
Swifty’s is now open for lunch and dinner and is expected to have an official grand opening in the coming months.
`We’ve been pushing to make this happen,` Swift told The Spotlight yesterday. `When you have a deadline you have a goal, you have something to shoot for and that kept us motivated.`
Although it’s the same building, Swift said customers will find that’s not true once inside.
`We totally re-did the bar and moved the men’s room to a more neutral area. With that bathroom gone it really opens the place up,` he said. `I think everyone will feel they’re not walking into the same place.`
Swift said he has also replaced the pub’s lighting, installed a carpet in the dinning room and changed the kitchen around among many other things. The construction crew did get a chance to patch up the side of the building, but the renovations are not totally complete at this time.
`The weather has not cooperated,` said Swift. `We wanted to paint the patio and put in the picket fence but it’s been raining so much we haven’t be able to.`
The structure has been completely cleaned out and Swift said there is some more table space due to the rearranging. The dinning room is ready for families as a new partition divided the room in half and displays black and white photographs of Delmar.
`That was my mother’s idea,` Swift said pointing to the mini chalk boards at each table. `She also took all of these black and white photographs of Delmar on the walls.`
Another one of the important moves was the pub’s draft system from the middle of the bar, according to Swift.
`I know a big thing was the draft system, so we moved it to the back of the bar,` he said, adding the bar itself had some renovations and modifications done.
And of course, the most important part will be unveiled tomorrow at Swifty’s, too ` the food.
`We’re going to have it open for both lunch and dinner,` said Swift. He has decided to retain Beff’s chef and some of the original staff, but not the former pub’s signature dishes.
Beff’s is still open at it’s Everett Road location in Colonie.
Swift said there would be `traditional pub fare` available at Swifty’s as well some new family-oriented entrEes of his own that will be added to the menu. In order to capitalize on his chef’s Louisiana cooking background, most of the menu items will have a Cajun option available and there will be some Creole selections to choose from.
However, the pub is maintaining a strong Irish theme with a shamrock toting Leprechaun on the pub’s new sign and menu items such as the Dubliner and Irish Nachos (not Beff’s potato skin nachos, but Swifty’s own house-made chips with cheddar cheese and applewood bacon).
The Irish nacho appetizer, which comes in a heaping serving smothered in cheese, will run you $8.49. The Dubliner, a sandwich made of sliced roast turkey with tomatoes and melted swiss and applewood bacon on a toasted baguette, costs $8.99.
EntrEe include items like bourbon sirloin and shrimp scampi and run from $13.99 to $17.99.
Swift said he is also maintaining a healthy selection of beer at the bar.
Swifty’s Restaurant and Pub is located at 367 Delaware Ave. near the Four Corners intersection of Kenwood Avenue. The pub’s Web site is www.swiftyspub.com.
For updates to this story return to www.spotlightnews.com or read the Wednesday, July 1, print edition of The Spotlight.
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