The Red Hat, a century-old staple in Boston, could reopen this fall

Two self-described “industry vets” say they’ve agreed to buy The Red Hat, the Beacon Hill bar and grill that closed Sunday after 114 years in business.

“With all the press and speculation about another Boston bar saying farewell, a couple of industry vets have agreed to purchase the famed Red Hat,” Keith Gleason said Monday on Facebook. “We’re seeking to breathe new life into the 110+-year-old watering hole, ripe with nostalgic lore. Stay tuned as a Beacon Hill staple will be resurrected, while holding onto its rich history in the ever-evolving, post-Covid bar landscape of Boston!”

In a message to the Herald on Tuesday, Jake Nicholson said he and Gleason had purchased the “iconic” pub.

“We’re going to be making some improvements over the next couple months and looking to reopen better than ever this fall,” Nicholson said. “We will have more specific details in the upcoming weeks.”

Paul Tupa, whom City Hall identified as the owner last week, did not return a phone call or an email then or on Tuesday.

But if the pub does reopen, it is bound to make a lot of people happy.

Thirty years ago, Lori Anderson and four of her friends piled into a limo and went bar-hopping for her bachelorette party, beginning and ending the night at The Red Hat.

“I remember we had Long Island Ice Teas,” Anderson, 58, of the South End, told the Herald last week. “We just loved the place because it’s a hole in the wall with friendly people.”

Last week, she returned to The Red Hat to say farewell after she heard it was closing.

“I’ll miss it,” she said. “The people are so nice.”

Miek Rodrigue, 36, of Portland, Maine, last week said he and his wife, Ali, stopped by two or three times a year to “say hello to the crew.”

“When I lived here, from 2004 to 2008 … my friends and I used to close this place down,” Rodrigue said. “When my wife and I started dating, this was one of the first places I brought her to. It really feels like home.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3AciK5L