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J.P. Dempsey’s, undergoing renovations.
JP Dempsey’s will no longer be a bar exclusively the province of Patriots fans.
The popular Upper State Street sports-themed pub’s new owners, Carmela Buono and her husband Dennis Beaulieu, are rebranding the establishment with with a broader menu of “home” teams.
Buono and Beaulieu purchased the pub a month ago, after a spontaneous visit when the waitress told them it was on sale. This week they closed the bar to renovate and to introduce changes to the menu. They plan a soft reopening this weekend and a grand event on June 2.
“Our decision to buy this place was kind of out of the blue,” Buono said. “It’s neat for our couple to run a business together, especially when it’s a place you used to go to all the time when you were younger.”
Contributed Photo
New owners Carmela Buono and Dennis Beaulieu.
JP Dempsey’s has been at 974 State St. since 1992, “an integral part of the New Haven community” that has shared in “the community’s lows and highs,” observed Brian Bowden, a bartender who is continuing to work under Buono and Beaulieu. The previous owners, Mike and Sandy Sutilia, purchased the business early summer last year and introduced the Patriots theme. Buono and Beaulieu are the fourth owners.
While the Sutilias only owned the restaurant for a year, the business has been doing “really well,” Bowden said. He said the number of customers “almost doubled” since he started working as a bartender last September.
“It was really a place where you could mix and mingle,” Bowden said. “We had a lot of locals, the industry crowd with nearby shop owners, and a bunch of Yale students and professors.”
Buono said the quick transition of ownership was due to Sutilia’s “personal medical reasons.” Because the business was so successful, the new owners are “only updating it a little and brightening it up,” Buono said.
The pub previously had blue walls in support of the Patriots. Buono and Beaulieu are repainting it to a more neutral color. In addition, the couple renovated the kitchen and the bathroom facilities. The menu will change to feature more local breweries and farms, and the food choices may be narrowed down to prioritize “quality over quantity,” Buono said.
“We are basically trying to bring in the same people, but maybe also some others who might not have been Patriots fans or wanted better food,” Buono said. “We are definitely still going to focus on sports. We will feature different sports events like the Derby or the World Cup.”
Buono declined to comment on the specific cost of the pub and the renovations.
While the couple owns the place together, Beaulieu will be managing the bar most of the time, Buono said. She has another full-time job (which she declined to specify). Her husband plans to close his tattoo supply business.
“People probably have seen his tattoo truck,” Buono said. “It has an iconic big red writing and goes around the town. But we are closing that down for this new business.”
Serena Cho Photo
With any luck, they'll continue to let me run a super fun comedy open mic every other Wednesday. They said they intended to continue the current state of the bar, so I am hopeful!