Bent Elbo changing hands
The Bent Elbo is under agreement of sale, and the prospective owners plan to turn it into a family friendly operation called MaGerks Pub & Grill.
Bent Elbo changing hands
Michael Klein, Philly.com
The Bent Elbo Tavern, a fixture for decades at the corner of Skippack and Bethlehem Pikes in Fort Washington (it was the old Fortside Inn), is closed and under agreement of sale.
Settlement is planned for Tuesday, says prospective owner John Dolaway, who with his brother Paul own MaGerks Pub & Grill, with locations in Baltimore and Bel-Air, Md.
John Dolaway, who grew up in Blue Bell and now lives in Horsham, says he respects the Bent Elbo's history, as it was where he celebrated his 21st birthday about 22 years ago. The MaGerks in Fort Washington will be a family friendly operation, though its bread and butter will be as a nightspot with live entertainment starting at 10:30 p.m.
Dolaway introduced cheesesteaks at MaGerks, importing rolls from Conshohocken Bakery. "You wouldn't believe it, but when we started there [in 2000], people would put lettuce and tomatoes and mayo on them," he says. "We got them to stop that." He intends to introduce unspecified Baltimore foods.
Renovation will include a dramatic removal of wall and bars, so the work may take six months, Dolaway says.
they better keep the cheeseburgers on bagels!!!— Teddy Beckerstead- Weren't they served on English muffins?— MikeKlein
- It's about time someone did something with it. It's a cool building but it is barely open and you don't want to go in the back bar with the stage of it's cold out...no heat!
- They are on english muffins not bagels.— mpayne
- will they still keep the ice in the bathroom trough - it's a classy place...(I know, I know, it helps to keep the scent down)— phairmount
Comment removed.- It was truly a great 27 years at fort side, with or without heat...it added character to the place just like the ice in the mens room and the english muffins, and i dont want to forget all the terrific miserable bartenders, it just wouldnt have been the Bent Elbo Tavern without all of the above. Thanks too all who 'danced on the bars and melted the ice'!— MuffinOrNothin
- Met my wife at the elbow.— JoeC
