Narberth Bar Expanding with Craft Beer Annex: 'The Greeks Next Door'

After 90 years of business in downtown Narberth, the restaurant and bar called is taking over new territory.

In late June, owner Drew Johnson bought the vacant retail space immediately west of the bar on Haverford Avenue, and last week he received permission from the Liquor Control Board to open a retail shop for craft beers. He hopes to open it in mid-September.

"I think there's a market for people who want to take nice beer home with them," Johnson told Patch in an interview Tuesday. "Beer's kind of become the new wine."

Johnson said he would feature a large variety of domestic and international beers, dispensed both in bottles and via draft in the large jugs known as growlers.

The new business, The Greeks Next Door, would be strictly for takeout beverages and would not serve food, but an interior door will connect the two locations to accommodate people who want to bring home beer from the new spot and food from the old.

The craft beers also will bolster the beer list at The Greeks proper, Johnson said.

Johnson has owned The Greeks for 17 years, and two years ago he began contemplating the craft-beer annex idea, inspired by what he considered the excellent operation of Pinocchio's Beer Garden in Media.

Said Ed Ridgway, spokesman for the Narberth Business Association, "The Greeks has been a great supporter of the business association in Narberth borough for years, and we couldn't be happier for them."

The new property, 237 Haverford Avenue, includes 1,881 square feet and zoned for multi-use: retail, offices and apartments, according to county property records, which show The Greeks bought it for $365,000 in late June.

Interior renovations are underway at The Greeks Next Door. A staff of about seven employees will run it, Johnson said, likely opening seven days a week but with reduced hours on Sunday.

Because food will not be served, Johnson said, the new business will not need to come up with its own allotment of parking spaces. That issue has for years helped arrest momentum for any coffee shop to come to downtown Narberth.