In the bar business, the so-called “place where everybody knows your name” is more than a cliche. It is the cliche of a cliche, the king of all cliches. Except at McManimon’s Pub on Liberty Street in Trenton, where it is pretty much a reality.
The cozy tavern is the epitome of the neighborhood pub. Walk up to the converted house, and if you’re a regular, chances are owner John McManimon will have your drink on the bar by the time you sit down on one of the Irish green barstools.
It’s been that way since 1995, when McManimon and his brother bought the place, which was then known as Vergas. McManimon, a cousin of Ewing Township Business Administrator Jim McManimon, bought out his brother and is now the sole owner.
McManimon was working as a bartender at Snyder’s Bar back in the 90s. One night, he finished a shift only to discover his car didn’t start. It was a long walk back to Hamilton, and along the way, he stopped for a drink at the little bar on Liberty Street.
It was love at first sight.
“I came in and I saw this tin ceiling, and it had a nice feel to it,” he said.
When the owners put Vargas up for sale, McManimon jumped at the chance to buy it.
“It had an old-fashioned feel, at a time when it was becoming a thing of the past to have a local pub. Applebee’s wants to be the local pub, but it’s just not the same. Here, you walk in and see the same faces. Some people sit in the same stool to the point where it’s their stool. There’s a feeling of ownership to this sort of a business that it’s more or less a community spot.”
Though crime in Trenton is an issue, McManimon’s is located in the Broad Street Park section of town where it is safer. McManimon said he never feels in danger walking around the corner to where he lives.
The bar has become a community focal point, popular with locals and with a darts league and the Ancient Order of Hibernians meeting there. McManimon even agreed to let the pub be used as a political headquarters last year for the citizens group that opposed the sale of the city water works.
The bar has a history going back to Prohibition, McManimon said, when the rowhouse had an addition put on and became a candy store/icehouse. McManimon believes it was probably also a speakeasy at that time. It was later sold to a German-American family who owned it through the 60s, at which point it was sold to the Vargas family.
McManimon, 57, isn’t sure what the future holds for the bar. It’s getting harder to stay in business with prices and fees rising all the time.
But in the meantime, he’ll continue doing what he’s always done at McManimons: serve soup and sandwiches for lunch, make drinks, and pour Harper’s and Guinness from the tap.
McManimon’s Pub is located at 151 Liberty Street in Trenton. Phone: (609) 393-9023.
John McManimon has been a bartender since 1978
