Terry Briggs sits at a round table on the back deck of his restaurant and bar, the simply named Briggs’ Tavern. Decked out in a gray Franklin & Marshall College sweatshirt (his alma mater), the tan, white-haired Easton native takes in the deck’s tables, covered in sheets of ice and snow.
Yet Briggs isn’t cold. That’s because of the removable glass panels and wall-mounted heaters that keep the front half of the deck not only usable during the winter, but arguably more appealing than the inside.
“It’s our most popular spot,” Terry explained, during a recent interview.
“(Customers will) sit inside, and we’ll ask if they’ve seen the deck,” his wife, Maryalice, a former Palmer Elementary School teacher, added. “They’ll say ‘oh, it’s too cold,’ and we’ll say, ‘just let me show it to you!’ And then they ask if they can sit out here.”
It’s the most notable, and the Briggses’ favorite, of the renovations they’ve done to the tavern since 2018. And probably unimaginable back in 1988. But when the couple found themselves with an unexpected second chance, they knew they had to make the most out of it.
Terry, 69, and Maryalice, 67, Briggs bought the building at 665 Northampton St., which houses both the restaurant and nine apartments, in 1988, well before the revitalization of Easton. The tavern windows face a section of Northampton Street that sits directly between two drastically different sides of Easton — downtown and the West Ward — and since the couple’s purchase, it’s come a long way.
Terry got his friends involved in the original renovation, spending five years fixing first the apartment units and then the would-be tavern, putting in new wood floors, bolstering some walls with brick and others with dark wood paneling and refurbishing the bar. (“It’s 150 years old or something,” Terry said of the bar).
In the late 1980s, Easton wasn’t nearly the city it is today. It had a struggling economy, gun violence and drug problems, particularly out in the West Ward, where the tavern is located. And while the city government started its fortification in the center of Downtown Easton, Terry started with the nine apartments and the restaurant space at 665 Northampton St.
The tavern was one of the first businesses in the area that began the march back to new life. Another? Porters’ Pub, which opened 19 months before Briggs', according to Terrys. During the last months of construction, he’d often cap off a day with a drink at Porters'.
The original iteration of Briggs’ Tavern opened on March 15, 1993, and a customer base quickly started forming. Steve Shiffert’s Easton Area High School football coaching staff took over the main dining room after every home game, State Theatre performers like Carrot Top and Penn & Teller would turn up after their shows. Even the jazz band from EAHS (where Terry and Maryalice both went to high school) made its presence felt, after Terry invited them to perform on the back deck during an Easton jazz festival in 2000.
“We always put our emphasis on family,” Terry said.
Which is why when he got an offer he couldn’t refuse to purchase the space, many in the community felt as if they lost a family member. After ten years in operation, the tavern closed on March 15 — the same date it first opened — 2003. (The Briggs’ maintained ownership of the building.)
Over the subsequent decade and a half, the property became the home of Which Brew and then Sláinte. Meanwhile, the area around the building was steadily showing signs of vibrant new life. In 2001, Dan Weinbach opened Weyerbacher Brewing Company on South Sixth Street, before it moved to Easton’s South Side in 2007. (Weinbach is a good friend of Terry’s, and there’ll always be a Weyerbacher brew on tap at the tavern). In 2011, a group bought the old Mount Vernon Hotel and turned it into Two Rivers Brewing Company. A few years after that, Daddy’s Place popped up across the corner from the Briggs’ Tavern building.
So when the sisters behind Sláinte decided to retire, and then another occupancy deal fell through, Terry wondered if maybe it was time to get back in the game.
“The biggest question in Terry Briggs’ mind was ‘Who’s going to keep it like I do?’” he said. The answer was nobody, and he jokes that he should’ve changed the name of the tavern to “I’m Back.” He got to work recreating Briggs’ Tavern, albeit with some notable changes.
The first thing one might notice is the sidewalk seating out front, which was actually in construction before Sláinte shut down. And of course, the insulated half of the back deck, with ivy covering most of the removable glass windows for privacy and the fully stocked bar, adds a comfortable, backyard tone, even during the cold.
While those are the major structural differences, Terry and Maryalice are also implementing logistical lessons they learned from the first 10 years. They decided to hold a buffet on nights that the State Theatre has a big show so show-goers can get a fast meal in. And the menu itself will have some special nights, like “A Taste of Italy” on Wednesdays.
In the near future, when the weather gets warmer, Terry plans to put proper lines on his sizeable parking lots (there’s one underneath the deck and one across Locust Street) and add some foliage to “spiff up the neighborhood,” he said.
As the tavern and the area around it continue to evolve and grow, Terry can’t help but think about how far it’s all come, starting with 665 Northampton St. “This is what makes me proud,” Terry said, looking around at his 30-plus years of handiwork. “That’s the only word I can use. And I did it with my buddies, which was great.” The push still has to continue down Northampton. Driving west from Porters’, it’s apparent that the West Ward hasn’t gotten the attention that the eastern side of the hill has. But Terry and Maryalice’s tavern is an example of how important homegrown investment can be. And even now, the original Briggs’ Tavern sign hangs above the front door again, and a storied part of Easton’s revival is back.
In late January, the couple sat on the deck flipping through photo albums filled with memories from the tavern’s early years. They point out the jazz band. They laugh recalling “Briggs’ Tavern Brew Fest,” a parking lot festival Terry threw together with some friends and three tons of sand that became an exercise in community bonding, beer-drinking and avoiding EPA fines. They recall each person in the photos dearly, chuckling as they point out “The Four Vats,” a fake singing group created by high school friends (some of whom still come to the tavern for a drink or a bite).
Despite all of its history, this iteration of the tavern is still just over 5 months old. They didn’t have a grand opening (“Not our style,” Terry said). It’s rarely overwhelmingly busy, if ever, which doesn’t worry either of the Briggses. Their restaurant staff isn’t even full yet. But they have a track record, and Terry’s confident in it.
“I feel it’s going to work itself into a good place.”
Hours:
Tues.-Thurs.—4 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Fri.-Sat.—4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Sun.-Mon.—Closed
Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ConnorLagore. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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February 20, 2020 at 07:00PM
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‘I’m back’ — this Easton tavern re-opens for another go-around - lehighvalleylive.com
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