New location, new food, more games, but the old Lonnski’s Charm remains

February 4th, 2010 | By Jai Garg | Section: News

Most businesses don’t last long at 910 Main St. George’s closed down two years ago and Jimbo’s only lasted a year in the space. Lonn Leas hopes that third time is the charm for Lonnski’s Pub and Deli.

In early December, Lonn Leas was told that he would have to relocate his establishment due to the structural instability of the floor. Luckily for Leas, a storefront had opened up just a few doors down due to the closing of Jimbo’s.

Customers sit at teh bar of the new Lonnski's which opened on January 25th at 910 Main Street. The new location features a pool table, darts, an expanded menu and more beers on tap. - Cait De Mott Grady

“We didn’t have a choice about moving, [this location] was bigger and more visible,” Leas said. “There really wasn’t another place that had a kitchen—we would have had to build one.”

Though Lonnski’s took over the shell of the old Jimbo’s, an average observer would not be able to tell. The new location looks like the old back alley establishment, except with more items on the menu and expanded entertainment options.

“We’ve added several menu items in each category,” Leas said. “We added a full burger section. We didn’t want to take anything away—just beef it up.”
New items on the menu include sour cream and chives fries, the Hawaiian barbecue chicken, the beef and mushroom melt and the Smothered Queso Burger.

“The Queso Burger was pretty good,” said Tucker Bush ’12. “But it definitely did not compare to the Buffalo Chicken.”
In addition to the all the new items on the food menu, Lonnski’s has expanded the size of the bar and has added PBR on tap.

“We now have domestic beer on tap and are doing pitchers now, and we now have a full game room with a pool table and darts,” Leas said. “There wasn’t anywhere else that offered these amenities and had a warm family friendly environment.”

The expansion of the bar and added entertainment are accompanied by a larger focus on keeping the bar open longer hours and servicing the college community.

“Something that stuck out in my mind was when putting in the game room was that whenever I was at the [Down Under] Pub was that people were always throwing darts, playing pool and foosball,” Leas said. “I thought that was a void that I could fill.”

After being in hibernation for about a month, Lonnski’s finally opened up last Monday to a constant flow of people.

“Dealing with being overly busy is much better than the alternative,” Leas said. “Our opening coincided with the community theater and the high school formal, but the first couple of days of this week has been busy as well.”

While there have been some hurdles with the new location, overall it has gone very well.

“I would say 90 percent of the people that came in last week had the experience that we wanted them to have,” Leas said. “There definitely were some situations, but it’s been exactly like we hoped it to be.”

The larger space has been well received by many members of the community.

“I like how the new Lonnski’s looks, it is a lot bigger,” said Graciela Guzman ’11. “It was nice because there was more space and now you can see people and there are more booths.”