Edison’s Ale House in Manhasset, used for ‘The Tender Bar’ setting, closes
Edison's Ale House in Manhasset is now closed. Credit: Edison’s
A bar in Manhasset with many lives, Edison’s Ale House, is now closed.
Built in 1948, it was first called Dickens and later Publicans. The building has been Edison’s since owner Gene Steinbach took over in ’90s and the restaurant served typical bar food like burgers and Irish classics.
It’s also the setting for J.R. Moehringer’s memoir, “The Tender Bar” (Hyperion, 2005) where a boy, abandoned by his father, found temporary refuge as his Uncle Charlie tended bar.
As an adult, Moehringer quit drinking and curtailed his visits. “It was the beating heart of my hometown . . . If it weren’t for that bar, I’d be dead,” he wrote. “And if I hadn’t left, I’d be dead.”
“It’s a homey bar,” a former server told restaurant critic Peter Gianotti when he wrote about Edison’s after the book’s debut. “Families come in. Kids, grandkids.”
Edison’s was the sibling to Barefoot Peddler in Greenvale, a business Steinbach acquired in 2008.
No worries about The Peddler’s closing, Steinbach confirmed. “They’re totally separate businesses.”
Edison’s Ale House had been at 550 Plandome St. in Manhasset.
