Trackside Tavern Pushes Its Opening to June

The exterior of Trackside Tavern may look like it’s ready for customers to “belly up to the bar” and order their favorite beer, but contractors are still hard at work inside.

The popular neighborhood saloon on College Avenue has been closed for more than two years due to a fire that destroyed the building. Owner, “Doc” Al Czarkowski hopes to swing the doors open sometime in June, though no exact date was given.

Initially the target date to open was sometime in March, but the process has taken longer than anticipated.

“It’s hard to say exactly when,” said Czarkowski. "We're working with the city's new permitting system."

The new interior of Trackside allows more space for the kitchen offering opportunity for some new menu items along with the tavern’s popular sandwiches, burgers and chicken wings. “We’re still working on the list, but we know  we’ll be serving 15 or 16 draft beers,” said Czarkowski whose liquor license was approved in early May.

The bar is currently under construction and will have a similar look to the old one but it will be wider to offer more space for bar stools, said Czarkowski.  Team trivia will return and two pool tables and four dart lanes will be available.

“We were able to salvage the old sound system after the fire,” said Csarkowski. “We took it apart, cleaned it up and it works great — eventually we’ll have live music again.”