Historic LA Irish Pub Tom Bergin’s Will Reopen Once Again This Weekend

Great news for fans of LA’s historic restaurant scene: Tom Bergin’s has been saved. Again.

Even casual diners will know the Tom Bergin’s name, as the longstanding Irish pub on Fairfax is considered to be one of the city’s true restaurant gems. The 83-year-old property was an original holder of one of Los Angeles’s oldest alcohol licenses, and it has for years stood as a home for St. Patrick’s Day parties and laid-back Irish fare. That said, the restaurant has struggled to remain profitable over the years, and has changed hands several times in the past decade.

Now new owners are on to oversee the Tom Bergin’s name, with plans to keep the recently protected building fully intact. Earlier this year, the city voted to landmark the building, scuttling plans for a teardown and redevelopment on the site — much to the chagrin of previous owners who were hoping to either recoup some lost money, or to move some of the iconic signage and name to a new address.

Courtesy of the Passman Group

Subtle hints of an ownership change first popped up earlier this summer. Now Eater can confirm that brothers Fran and Dave Castagnetti have signed on to operate Tom Bergin’s, after spending years running places like Firefly in Studio City and at spots like Union in Pasadena and Michael’s in Santa Monica. The pair have brought on chef Erik Punzalan (The Flats, Firefly) to oversee the kitchen, which will continue to offer Irish fare alongside a bar stocked with Guinness and whiskey. “It’s an LA institution,” said Dave Castagnetti over email, “and we plan to honor it.”

As of now, the plan for Tom Bergin’s is to open as soon as this weekend, keeping dinner hours only. That means 5 p.m. to midnight both Monday and Thursday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday), with an extension to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and brunch service starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Tom Bergin’s. 840 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA.

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