Good news for lovers of family-owned neighborhood bars: Kildare’s partner Paul Lauriello is breaking out on his own by buying the Headhouse Square branch of the chain of Kildare’s. The pub reopens this week as the “Get Happy Pub.”
The Headhouse Square Kildare’s, while a beautiful Irish Pub, has been, well, just another Irish Pub. Lauriello promises to open “Get Happy Pub” with an entirely new concept: It will be a “Cheers”-style bar scene with a menu of comfort foods served up by his caterer wife Christine.
But do not fear, chain-Irish-pub-loving friends. Kildare’s mogul Dave Magrogan will be opening three new Kildare’s in the upcoming year where you can cry in your beer, lamenting the loss of the Headhouse Square location:
Kildare’s will be popping up at the University of Scranton in February; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in April; and Notre Dame University in October. This is in addition to Magrogan's existing Kildare’s in Manayunk, King of Prussia, West Chester and Newark, Del., as well as his Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House in West Chester.
Get Happy Pub
509 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia