After nearly nine years of feeding and watering thousands of satisfied customers, Meghan MacMurphy’s Pub and Restaurant closed for good last week. The popular nightspot is located at 7990 Oswego Road (Route 57), in Clay.
MacMurphy’s owner John Sansone announced the decision online on Dec. 26.
A recorded message on the pub’s telephone answering machine confirms the restaurant’s closing but says plans are being made “to reopen under a different business name.” Customers with outstanding bookings or reservations are urged to leave their numbers on MacMurphy’s voicemail at 546-2500.
No reasons have been cited for the closing, but in recent months the New York State Tax Commission has issued multiple tax warrants against Meghan MacMurphy’s parent company, 286 Cedar Inc.
On Aug. 13, the Commission filed a warrant against 286 Cedar Inc. for $22,410; on Oct. 1, another for $54,732; and another on Oct. 29 for $27,835.
The restaurant has five outstanding tax warrants against it totaling $121,441, according to The Post-Standard. The debt was allegedly accrued primarily in unpaid sales taxes.
Established in 2006 on the site of a restaurant then known as Kelly Cole’s, Meghan MacMurphy’s earned a reputation for pleasing a wide variety of customers, from Republican partiers to rock and roll fans.
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce Director Lucretia Hudzinski was surprised by MacMurphy’s closing. “I am so sad,” she said. “John [Sansone] was so active and so supportive of the community and the chamber. I loved going there.”
Over the years, MacMurphy’s has sponsored everything from sports teams to scholarships. Among the charity events staged there were fund-raisers for Jenni-Lyn Watson Memorial Fund, Hope for Heather and Patrick Carman’s “Broadway Dreams.”
Banquet manager Kathy Murphy routinely accommodated groups ranging in size from 30 to 200 people. During the summertime, MacMurphy’s opened a patio out back. Live music was often featured on Friday nights and the pub also hosted team trivia, a pitch league and installed a Wii game-system
Topping MacMurphy’s menu were wings, benders and burgers, but the kitchen also whipped up quesadillas, pizza, Buffalo shrimp, reuben egg rolls and crab cakes. The bar’s signature cocktail was a Pama Cosmo, a mix of Svedka Clementine vodka, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur and a splash of cranberry juice.
Nightclubs have operated from the 7990 Oswego Road location since the 1970s when it was known as The Gin Mill. Later incarnations included the Salt City Diner, The Silver Dollar and Kelly Cole’s.
