The Barstool Fund - Jimmy's Pub & Restaurant
Up next: Jimmy's Pub & Restaurant (Mansfield, MA)
Jimmy's Pub & Restaurant has extensive lunch, dinner, early bird, and late night menus to satisfy any craving. The Best Kept Secret in Southeastern Massachusetts, Jimmy's carries seventeen Craft Beers on tap and a wide variety of bottled beers.
Reader Email
Hey Dave.
My dad, George, (this is his daughter writing for him as his notes to submit were on bar napkins haha) started the Pub back in 1979 at the age of 22. It has been his Pub for 41 years. 41 years of his blood, sweat and tears have gone into the Pub to help him provide for our family and also provide for his employees & their families and the local community.
What has caused our business to struggle is the virus, government restrictions (especially the loss of all functions from rehearsal dinners, graduation parties to bereavements), media scares and the general fear of people not wanting to go out to eat. We have done our best to adapt, but that has come with spending more money and doing what we have had to do to keep the doors open in the best possible way, while also ensuring our customers safety. Luckily in the summer we were able to set up a 140 seat tent in our parking lot (first time ever!), which was great, but as you know that comes with big bills and due to New England winters, we are unable to keep it going and had to close it. That alone cost him 21K to have- and it was all rental furniture, nothing permanent. The outdoor dining aided us in surviving through the summer and we consider ourselves very lucky for that.
The Pub is a town staple and is so much more than just a restaurant/bar. We are a community family where people come together over craft beer and good food. It is located in the center of Mansfield, MA and is definitely a "Cheers-type" bar. Everyone in here knows your name, knows your life story and if we don't know you the first time you walk in, we sure as heck get to know you. The pub is a place where if you come and are new to town they will give you advice, buy your first round and say “if you ever need anything, give us a call.” It’s a place of loyalty and family. If you need a plumber/electrician or really anything, you will get a phone number or referral right away. It’s old school. My dad is still the main bartender, my sister bartends and manages the waitstaff, I run the social media and his other two right hand guys have been with him for 27+ years. Besides long term employees, multiple couples have met at the Pub and come back year after year to celebrate their anniversaries with us. The Pub is home.
We are and hope to continue to be a pub & bar that is here to listen to your stories: happy, sad, joyful, whatever they may be… we thrive on positive energy and are doing our best to keep things light and bright for our customers, but the last few months everyone is tired, frustrated and scared. As much as folks can, the community is trying to help support us and they are amazing, but everyone is struggling. Everyone is just doing their best to hold on and we are in the same boat. My dad mentioned to me how each week when he meets with his bookkeeper it gets harder and sadder to hear how we don’t have enough money in the account to pay all the bills.
The most important thing to my dad is to be able to pay his employees and give them what they need to support themselves and their families. Unfortunately, due to reduced business, we have had to close on Mondays and also open later in the day than usual and due to state mandates, we have to close by 9:30 p.m. If you knew my dad, you would know that for at least 38 years, he never closed except for maybe Christmas Day. Not even the biggest snowstorm would keep him closed as he always wanted to be somewhere a local person could go to. I remember back to a storm in I believe it was 2015- when Foxboro, Walpole and most surrounding towns lost power, Mansfield didn’t, and the Pub opened. I was at my Parents house playing games with family when we decided to go visit dad & grab a bite at the Pub, thinking nobody would be out. Well, we got there and every table was full, bar was packed and I ended up in the dish room washing dishes, mom was clearing tables and my sister went behind the bar to help. I don’t even think we ate that day, no problem. We ran out of so many food options but the community was just happy to have somewhere to go and was okay to eat & drink whatever we had available. This helps define the Pub spirit- adapt and pull through.
My dad is doing his best but has had to trim business/employee hours. He hasn’t laid off a single employee during this pandemic, but he has also been here 7 days a week, working cleaning, doing whatever he has to do as the Owner to keep it afloat. Candidly I know he is exhausted, but it is 2nd home and his baby, so he does what he has to do. I have never known anyone to work harder than him.
We hope that this fund can help us. After 41 years in business, this is not the way my dad wants the Pub to go out. We want to stay as one of the town staples and continue to be the Pub family for everyone around us.
We appreciate what you have done and what you continue to do to raise awareness for supporting local businesses. Thanks for taking the time to read our story.
