A once-beloved bar and family-owned restaurant fixture in Montgomery Township has permanently closed its doors, as the 24-year run of Village Tavern on Stump Road has come to an end.
Rumors of the closure have swirled over the past few months, with the business being closed at random times only to be back open days later. As recently as a few weeks ago, sources reached out to North Penn Now with images of signage stating that Village Tavern was closed for the evening, followed by “come back and see us again soon.”
As of Dec. 12, that signage has been changed to one word: closed.
Efforts to reach James Morrissey, who took ownership of Village Tavern on Jan. 1 following the sale from longtime owners Theresa and John Modestine, have been unsuccessful. Calls to the business go unanswered, and are then directed to a full voicemail box which still bears the familiar voice of Theresa Modestine.
Additional attempts to contact the business via email have gone unanswered, as well, but multiple recent employees have confirmed the closure.
It’s currently unclear what current ownership has planned for location. In a report by Michael Klein at the Philadelphia Inquirer dated Feb. 7, Morrissey stated that he had planned to renovate the 19th Century farmhouse, bring in his staff and upgrade the menu, patio area and possibly incorporate an outdoor open-style kitchen.
The report states that the name was intended to change to SOMO Tavern in spring 2019, which would have put the brand in line with Morrissey’s other SOMO bar-restaurants in Manayunk and South Philadelphia. That didn’t happen, though, and as of August, the restaurant and bar had failed two health inspections in the same month, totaling 69 code violations between the two.
The location had previously served as a restaurant since 1988, and was owned and operated by the Modestine family from November 1995 through December 2018. Village Tavern celebrated their 20th Anniversary in 2015, at which time the Modestine’s noted that they had served more than one million meals to customers over that period.
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