It’s
not the old ‘P’ anymore,
it’s better
AVALON – When the Princeton Bar and Grill ran a promotion last fall and
termed it, “Last call,” many Avalonians and “P” fans feared the worst.
There were frantic e-mails sent from the Main Line and Manayunk of the
Princeton’s demise. “Come for one last round-up at ‘The P’ because it’ll
never be the same,” said one electronic alert.
Summer customers clamored for details when they heard the rumor that
‘The P’ was coming down for good. Some upscale restaurant was taking its
place. “See, Avalon’s trying to get rid of the young people,” was the
phrase heard often last summer.
“We heard it all even when we were just talking about renovations,” said
Liz Tracy, who co-owns ‘The P’ with her brother, Scott Zurawski. “People
were just, like, in a panic. Last summer we were verbally attacked with,
‘What are you doing? Are you crazy?’ We just laughed because we knew
they would love it.
“We knew ‘The P’ needed renovations. The building was deteriorating, the
bathrooms were awful, and the climate in Avalon was changing. The
building needed to grow up,” Tracy added.
The philosophy for years had been if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and
despite the feel of being in a fraternity house basement party room,
people still came in droves and forked over fistfuls of cash to party
into the wee hours of hot summer nights.
But those people were in their late 30s and early 40s now, “And we kind
of looked around us and said, ‘Would you want to hang out here at our
age?’ Avalon’s not the same,” Tracy said. “It’s more expensive to stay
here. There are still college kids around, but there are more families.
The people who grew up here now have families. What we’ve done here is
made a place for all of them.”
“Last call” came the weekend of Oct. 6-8, but the place looked like ‘The
P’ on the Fourth of July. Bands rocked and people flocked to the bar for
a taste of what was, not knowing what would become of the landmark. Some
even took a piece of it with them.
“My words were it was the end of ‘The P’ as we knew it. We gave away old
stuff on the wall, and people took what wasn’t nailed down for a
souvenir,” Tracy said. “The next day the bulldozer was here and came
through the front window.”
The first thing to change was the Circle Tavern, a pub where families,
construction workers, senior citizens and professionals can be found
having lunch, dinner or late-night snacks.
“The pub opened in February, and the cool thing about it is now you see
people who haven’t been here for years – and some people who’ve never
been here,” said Tracy. “We have some neighborhood senior citizens who
live here year-round and they’ve never been in here, and my brother and
I are thrilled to give them a spot to come to. They tell us, ‘Thank you
for opening this place.’
“Everyone’s been coming in…workers, families…all come in to hang out and
grab a bite to eat, and it’s a great feeling,” she added.
The Tavern’s menu is upscale pub-fare, and Tracy said the eight-ounce
Angus burger has easily been the Number 1 seller.
“They’re served on an onion roll and they’re so good. We modeled them
after the Spotted Pig in New York City. The crabcake sandwich is
fabulous, we have a grilled grouper sandwich that is very good, a
grouper Rueben that a lot of people have been ordering, and the tomato
soup is out of this world,” she said. “Everyone gets it either with
crabmeat or without, but it’s a creamy, homemade soup.”
The Princeton – not the Rock Room – will become a restaurant with “white
linen napkins and a staff that will wear black tops and khaki shorts or
skirts. We don’t want a stuffy feeling,” Tracy said, “but we will have
upscale food in there.”
The Princeton’s bar will be open for the Memorial Day weekend, and if
all the health department approvals come through, a raw bar will be open
and a limited menu will be served that holiday weekend. The official
grand opening will be June 8 for the restaurant, where Greg Marone is
the executive chef.
“Our favorites so far have been his Oysters Rockefeller and the Clams
Casino, which are the best I’ve ever had,” Tracy said. “I love oysters,
and we’ll have a raw bar with oysters and other locally caught seafood,
and on the menu will be fresh fish, king crab legs, shrimp scampi, a
couple of pasta dishes, mussels red and white, shrimp cocktail, salads
and more entrees.”
The Rock Room returns with nicer bathrooms, not the notoriously nasty
ones where a trough-style urinal could be found in the men’s room.
“My son is 21 and when he and his friends come out, we’re going home.
When the younger crowd gets here is like it always was—late,” Tracy
said. “We don’t want to be done with the younger crowd, as some people
want to try to believe. We love being the Avalon tradition of late-night
entertainment, only with nicer rooms, bathrooms and a place for them to
get some late-night food.”
Asked what she would tell the fear-mongers who thought the end of ‘The
P’ was at hand, Tracy didn’t hesitate.
“They were right. It’s not the same ‘P,’ it’s better, and it’s even more
fun for more people, and that can only be a good thing,” she said.
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed
at seitz[at]catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by
calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog