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Thornwood Man Runs Pelham Pub

PELHAM, N.Y. – Former Pelham resident Paul McKenna has owned B & B’s 5th Avenue Pub since May 1997 and still enjoys coming to work every day despite the stress of running a business in today’s economy. 

McKenna has owned the bar through a prosperous economic boom and a stifling recession and today’s finances reflect the differences between the two time periods. “Today you work twice as hard and you make half the money,” McKenna said.

The owner said the only way to combat the strain of today’s economy is to simply push through it by keeping business consistent so that people will return. McKenna’s plan has worked for years. The same faces, he said, come back to his pub for the same products. The owner believes that people gravitate toward familiarity and consistency when times are tough. 

McKenna made a distinction between a bar and a pub and ensured that his business falls under the latter category to make it attractive to families. “It’s your typical neighborhood pub,” McKenna said. “That’s the way we like it. It’s run by a family and caters to the families.”

McKenna lives in Pelham in the 1980s but now lives in Thornwood. He also resided in Bronxville at one point. He owned a bar in the Bronx for 20 years but decided he wanted to move his business when the neighborhood started to change.

When he heard that the owner’s of the previous business at his current location were closing, he jumped on the opportunity because he had always liked that spot.

Pelham Manor resident Dawn Salgado ate lunch with her husband, Carlos, on Wednesday afternoon. The couple moved to Pelham two years ago and first walked into the bar about five months after they arrived in Pelham to attend a St. Patrick’s Day party and hear bagpipes.

Now, Salgado and her husband of 20 years, who often eat out at restaurants, are much more frequent customers. “We come in at least once or twice a week,” Salgado said. “You see the same faces all the time. You know all the waitresses.”

Salgado said she enjoys the fact that people can bring their children to the pub without worrying about people cursing at the bar or behaving inappropriately. Her husband described the pub as the bar from the television show “Cheers.”

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