Tavern on The Commons is a new bar that opened Oct. 2. It is still in its opening phase, but with its team’s vast experience with bars and nightlife entertainment, they hope to bring a new bar experience to The Commons for the different demographics of downtown Ithaca.
The bar took over the space on South Aurora Street previously occupied by Kilpatrick’s Publick House. While Kilpatrick’s was an Irish pub, Tavern on The Commons is a European-style restaurant and sports bar. It is part of the Hilton Garden Inn. but is open to all for lunch and dinner, serving a variety of comfort food, like burgers, wings and fries. Later in the night, it is a bar that encourages meeting new people and socializing without being overpowered by loud music and an over-packed crowd. The tavern closes at 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Tavern on The Commons is co-owned by two Ithaca College alumni, Tim Gammons ’08 and Chris Washburn ’08, along with operating partner Matt Rachun. Together, all three men have over 50 years of experience with the bar and nightlife industry, including Moonies, Greenhouse Cafe and Cocktail Lounge, Lot 10 and the now-closed 2nd Floor and Kilpatrick’s Publick House.
Gammons said the owners want to maintain the integrity of Kilpatrick’s and what patrons liked about it, while also introducing new aspects to make the space unique and attract a new crowd. Rachun said they are planning to bring back weekly events that Kilpatrick’s hosted like karaoke and trivia, but have slight differences in food offerings. Washburn said they want to cater the bar experience towards their audience and adjust the environment based on their demands.
Rachun runs the day-to-day operations at the restaurant, working front-of-house as a server and bartender and back-of-house as a cook.
“[Tavern on the Commons] is going to be a very similar vibe to what Kilpatrick’s was,” Rachun said. “We’re not changing too much.”
Gammons currently owns the Greenhouse Cafe and Cocktail Lounge near The Commons. He said his role at the tavern is to ensure that the bar is fully staffed and follows Hilton standards, while also keeping customers satisfied with food quality and pricing.
“We want to be the place that you can go grab food and drinks and feel like you’re welcome,” Gammons said. “[Staff] know your name and people know your drink, and you sit down and the pint’s poured for you. … [Personable staff] are a dying breed that we want to bring back.”
In addition to owning the tavern, Washburn is also the operating manager of Lot 10. He said he wants the tavern to be a place where people can eat and socialize without too much going on in the background.
“[The tavern] is not a full bar or nightclub, and it’s not just a fancy sit-down restaurant,” Washburn said. “It’s somewhere in between where it can be family-friendly. You can have good, affordable food. … We want to be able to accommodate college kids or those workers that have hourly jobs … and then be able to have it become more of a good social spot where people can have some drinks, they can meet up without it being [like] Lot 10 or Moonies.”
Rachun said the tavern is gradually looking to attract different types of customers by offering weekly events like karaoke on Thursdays, and next year he plans on hosting trivia and open mic nights.
“It’d be really cool if we collaborated and got people back out into experiencing multiple bars in the night and kind of being able to walk around The Commons like they were meant to,” Gammons said.
Senior Sarah Berger said she went to Tavern on The Commons once since its opening and that she would go again.
“There were nice vibes in there, the bartender was very nice,” Berger said. “You could start your night off there and then go off to other places.”
Senior Sebastian Rocha has been to both Kilpatrick’s and Tavern on The Commons. He said he liked the Irish pub feel of Kilpatrick’s, but is looking forward to seeing how the tavern grows.
“[Tavern on The Commons] introduces a new type of drinking establishment,” Rocha said. “We have bars, we have clubs, we don’t have any pubs. We don’t have a place where you can go and get food and drink, watch a game and talk with friends and actually be able to hear them at a normal volume versus screaming at them.
Rocha said he likes Tavern on The Commons, but feels that there are ways they can improve.
“[Tavern on The Commons should] increase their selection of offerings; they were pretty slim pickings the last time I went, but that’s mostly due to them being very new and needing to stock up on everything that they plan on having,” Rocha said. “I think that through both advertisement and friendly recommendation, [Tavern on The Commons will] just grow as a great spot to start the night.”
