Paddy Powers Ahead

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.

So reads the line from the theme song from Cheers, the classic TV show about a Boston bar full of regulars, and the staff that served them.

Then there's Piano Man, the song by Long Island's Billy Joel about bars he performed in during his salad days.

Paddy Power on Merrick Avenue could fit right into any of those situations, like a well-worn bar stool or cold pint of beer after work.  The Irish bar and grill draws mostly local residents looking for a burger, beer or ball game on TV.

"This is basically a Merrick crowd," says owner Dave Baker.  "Unlike other towns like Rockville Centre or Wantagh that are draw towns, this is not a draw town, so it's basically a local crowd.  Everyone that comes here in the day is from Merrick, and 80 percent of the people at night are from the Merrick or Bellmore area."

Baker opened Paddy Power in 2006 at 70 Merrick Avenue.  The address holds a rich history of Merrick taverns.  Mike (no last name given) lives in Merrick, and has been a regular at the bar for decades.  He recently gave me the rundown.

The bar was called Donohue's starting in the early 1950s.  Mike says in the early 1970s, a massive fire destroyed the place, along with many adjoining businesses on the strip.  From the ashes emerged the Yankee Peddler, and briefly, the M Bar.  Baker then bought the bar, and Paddy Power was born.

"It's the location of the bar, it's central...right in the middle [of Merrick], good food, nice people, it's a nice pub," Mike says.

Paddy Power offers all the usual bar favorites.  Beers on tap, games on eight flat screen TVs, and a menu full of comfort food, both American (burgers and wings) and Irish (shepherd's pie and bangers 'n' mash).

Comfort.  That's the key to running a successful pub, according to Baker.

"The same people come in, they like things a certain way, they like to sit in the same seat," Baker says.  "We provide that service; we have the same people work the same shifts every week...the people that come in like that because they have conversations with them, a rapport with them."

On Tuesday and Thursday, it's Paula Plonski manning the bar.  A couple of regulars joke that she is the reason they keep coming back, and Plonski looks to keep it that way.

"People like to come in and talk, they ask what's going on with me, I ask what's going on with them," she says.  A friendly conversation is only part of the equation, she adds.

"Our bar is very clean and bright; some places are dark and dingy, I don't like that, and I know a lot of other people don't either," Plonski says.

Just getting anyone to come out for a drink is challenging these days.  The economy has definitely affected business at Paddy Power, with Baker saying people simply are going out less often. 

"We used to have a good Friday and Saturday night, now it's hit or miss on both nights," he says.  "It can be very quiet on a Friday and hopefully we can make up for it on Saturday.  We don't have a 'double barrel' like we used to."

Something that could jump start business at Paddy Power (or for that matter, any establishment that serves anything resembling beer) is St. Patrick's Day.  Baker says he expects the bar to start filling up after 3pm, and preparations are well underway.

"We double up on everything, inventory, we provide a security service," Baker says.  "We order more Guinness, more Irish whiskey...we order corned beef, which we usually don't have on the menu."

But what happens when the buzz (pun intended) from St. Paddy's Day wears off?  Baker says spring season can be a bit flat, but come June, college kids return home, and Baker hopes to add them to his roster of regulars.

"We're going to try to encourage that business for the summer...especially Sunday through Thursday, to make up for business lost on the weekend," he says, acknowledging that folks often head to the beach or the Hamptons come summer Fridays.

Baker says you have to always reinvent yourself in the business, and plans to come up with new promotional ideas to bring in new customers, with hopes of turning them into Paddy Power mainstays.  For now,  he'll be happy to make do with what Billy Joel sang about, years ago...

It's 9:00 on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in...