There is a new place in the area to watch your favorite sports teams and have a beer.
Stone Harbor 96 Bar & Grill, located in the heart of Stone Harbor’s downtown shopping district on 96th street, is a sport lover's paradise surrounded by boutiques and cafés.
But manager Brett DeNafo said that unlike certain Philadelphia sports teams, the Stone Harbor Bar 96 & Grill isn't going to let down its fans by closing for the season. The bar is staying open all year.
DeNafo said that a major consideration of its decision to stay open throughout the year was to gain the support of the local residents.
"We'll be here to support them, and we hope they support us," he said.
The bar has gone through a number of transformations, names and owners in the past few years.
Most recently it was the Harbor Pub, but the venue was perhaps best known in its former life as Snickers. It reopened May 26 with a "new look and a new attitude," DeNafo said.
"There really isn't anything like this place in the Stone Harbor and Avalon area," DeNafo said. "We're a sports bar with great food and drinks."
One of the major features of the bar are the 20-plus TVs – all 47 inches, flat screen and high definition. DeNafo said he ordered the NFL Ticket, Major League Baseball, college, NHL and NBA packages.
“The televisions are controlled by a matrix system," said DeNafo. "So basically I could put on any game on any one TV."
The first floor has a large bar surrounded by high-top tables and televisions. Upstairs there is a loft with a larger dining room, pool tables and more TVs.
Bartender Jay Lebresco, 28, who lived in Pennsylvania at the time, said he had decided to move to Stone Harbor to work as a bartender and had planned on getting a job with the bar’s former owners. But on the day he signed a one-year lease for an apartment down the street, the bar closed.
Facing the prospect of a year in a resort town without a steady job was something he didn’t relish.
"That was a little scary." Lebresco said.
"Luckily, these guys came in, and the bar reopened a couple weeks later as the Stone Harbor Bar & Grill," he said. "They were looking for servers and bartenders, so I applied. They gave me an opportunity to get behind the bar and I took it."
Lebresco has been a bartender for two years. He said his favorite drink to make is called a Yummy, which is basically a grape bay breeze.
"If someone came up to the bar and said 'Surprise me,' they would be getting a Yummy," he said.
Lebresco said had vacationed in Avalon with friends, but when that group headed to Florida, he wanted to see what Stone Harbor had to offer.
Lebresco said that he likes working and living in the center of a small town. A former firefighter in his hometown, Lebresco decided to volunteer with the local fire department.
"This place is like the heart of everything," he said. "You get to know everyone really quickly."
Plus, you can't beat the commute.
"If you look at that window, you can see my apartment," he said with a grin.
Available on tap at the Stone Harbor 96 are Shiner Bock beer – both the seasonal and the original – Samuel Adams Octoberfest, Yuengling, Coors and Blue Moon. And while DeNafo said the bar serves more beer than any other drink, he is thinking about dedicating one of the bars in the loft as a martini bar.
"We have every kind of Three Olive vodka," DeNafo said. "We could make martinis that taste like root beer or cotton candy."
Sunday is one of the busier days at the bar, DeNafo said, because of football, baseball playoffs and the $1 Coors specials and 35-cent wings. However, Thirsty Thursdays with 25-cent wings and drink specials are also gaining popularity.
Former Eagles linebacker Garry Cobb will be making an appearance at the bar to mingle and sign autographs 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct 1.
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