Interior of revamped pub/restaurant (Photo: QueensPost)
Feb. 9, 2013 By Bill Parry
The Firewater Inn, a pub/restaurant located at 39-46 Skillman Ave., is scheduled to reopen March 1, after undergoing renovations for nearly two years.
The long delay was due in part to an architect who was unfamiliar with the new zoning laws. Once the zoning issues were straightened out, the project got back on track.
The McGowan brothers, John, Jimmy and Brian, who own the establishment, have renamed it Jack’s Sunnyside Ale House in honor of their father Jack, who founded the business and has since passed away.
“We had hoped to reopen in time for the Super Bowl,” said Jimmy McGowan, “but we didn’t want to cut any corners.”
Pre-Revamp (Photo: QueensPost)
The pub/restaurant will feature a new kitchen with a raw bar on weekends, as well as a new beer garden.
The pub has already hired 14 bartenders/waiters. They are “family or firefighters,” Jimmy said, adding that “four are from the [old] Firewater who are coming back.”
Jimmy and Brian are still active firefighters, while John has retired from the FDNY.
With the long wait nearly over, Jimmy said, “We’re getting very excited now — we can’t wait.”
