Ridge’s own Welsh transplant Longbow Pub & Pantry to close

After eight “great” years in Bay Ridge, the neighborhood’s little piece of Wales will serve its last suppers before the month is up.

The city’s first Welsh pub, Longbow Pub & Pantry, announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday, November 28 that patrons have just “two days left” to enjoy their favorite Longbow dishes. Its last day of business is Wednesday, November 29.

“It’s been a great [eight] years but we have come to the end,” the pub wrote on its Facebook page, which has over 1,500 likes and close to 1,500 followers. “Now it’s time to celebrate!”

To thank its faithful clientele, the eatery – which for close to a decade has prided itself on serving Brooklyn’s best fish and chips as well as authentic Welsh cuisine close to the owners’ hearts – will roll back its prices to those of when it first opened in 2009, making all draft beers just $5 and all bottled beer and ciders anywhere from $5 to $6.

The pub is known to many a local for its signature Longbow Burger (topped with Welsh rarebit cheese and bacon), its beers (12 on tap and more than 30 bottled varieties), and its low-key but pleasant atmosphere and entertainment options (for many, Longbow was their go-to for a Sunday soccer or rugby game).

For owners Michael and Jennifer Colbert, the close — however sad — represents the end of an incredibly successful chapter.

“It’s been an amazing run,” said Jennifer. “Being a part of a community like Bay Ridge is a blessing. It’s just this amazing, small-town kind of feel in a borough of three million people — we weren’t just a place to eat and drink, we’ve become a part of peoples’ lives, which is what my husband wanted when he wanted to do this.”

That sense of community, Colbert said, is similar to that which is present in Wales.

“A Welsh pub is typically the center of town,” she said. “It’s not just where you toss a few drinks back. It’s where you leave your keys when your friend is visiting. It’s where you leave a big package that you don’t want your wife to know about. It’s a home away from home.”

Despite being “very sad,” Colbert told this paper that she and her husband “have been lucky to be a part of so many peoples’ lives. This bar has seen babies, marriages, proposals, job loss — really the whole spectrum of human experience, and that in itself has been so unique and so wonderful.”

As for what comes next, Colbert said, she and Michael “aren’t really sure,” but what she does foresee is a nice, sunny vacation.

“We just want to say thank you to everybody,” she said. “A bar is four walls. The thing that made this place great wasn’t the beer, wasn’t the whiskey, wasn’t the food — it was the people. And for that, we are so grateful.”

“Diolch & iechyd da,” Longbow’s post read on, which translates from Welsh to “thank you” and “cheers.”

Longbow is located at 7316 Third Avenue.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.