Pour a last one out for McFadden’s

After only four years in business, McFadden’s in Rockville Centre will be shutting its doors in May and reopening at the end of the summer as a completely new bar.

McFadden’s, located at 210 Merrick Road, is under new ownership, which decided to thoroughly renovate the bar. “We’re going to make a bigger kitchen and go after a bigger pub business and dinner crowd,” said Nicole Gerbe, the establishment’s marketing manager. “We’ll definitely be open in time for football season. Probably mid- to late August.”

McFadden’s, which made its debut in October 2009, is now open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as part of the “McFadden’s Farewell Tour.” Each night is a party with a different theme. May 18 will be the bar’s last night, after which it will be shut down and renovation work will begin.

“We figured the best thing would be to close and have a new concept and identity when we reopened,” Gerbe said.

She explained that the goal of the redesign is to attract a different crowd and expand the bar’s services. “Right now we have a pretty young crowd, which is what it turned into,” Gerbe said. “We want to have happy hour, maybe an older crowd, we want to be able to do private parties, an older dinner crowd, and then still have the normal Rockville Centre nightlife.”

The current kitchen is quite small, she said, and can make only typical bar food. Part of the renovation will include the installation of a full restaurant-style kitchen.

“We want to reopen and go after a real dinner business,” Gerbe said. “Create a whole new menu and be known for our food early in the night, and then at a certain time, maybe 10 or 11, take all the chairs out and turn into a busy party bar.”

McFadden’s has had a somewhat checkered history in the village. It was closed for a week in 2010 for multiple fire code violations.

News of its latest closing met with mixed reactions. While the bar has been a popular party spot for young people, it has not been a favorite of everyone in the community. In 2010, owners of neighboring businesses complained when they found their storefronts vandalized. Smashed windows, garbage, urine stains and feces on sidewalks were becoming common place, they said. Most linked the problems to McFadden’s.