Look who’s branching out.
Four Green Fields, that throwback Irish pub in South Tampa, will open a second location – in Boston. Owner Colin Breen and investors are well underway in the planting of the FGF flag in the heart of Celtic land. Actually downtown in a huge, 8,000-square-foot, two-story glass atrium next to the imposing BNY Mellon Center.
Breen thinks the formula that has worked so well in Tampa will also be successful in a venue with plenty of pub competition. But he will also customize to accommodate the clientele and downtown dynamic. “A lot have grown jaded and haven’t tried anything new,” he explained. “We will.”
To that end, FGF of Boston will serve morning coffee to execs on the go and send lunch carts up the adjacent skyscraper’s service elevator. The pub-restaurant will feature its staple Guinness and classic Irish food. Irish musicians will perform and non-prosaic sorts can wax poetic on designated nights. The bartenders will work under a signature thatched roof.
Replicating the Tampa success will be a challenge. An intimate watering hole with Old World charm and live, authentic entertainment has been well received here. A lot of space and a lot of glass will make for a decidedly different look. South Tampa has a neighborhood — not big city — feel.
Breen would, thus, be well advised not to deviate from a critical key to his Tampa success – one that is often overlooked. He doesn’t allow television. Never has. While huge flat screens are now de rigueur in bars — and even pubs — he won’t permit them at Four Green Fields. His rationale is as simple as it is sensible. “It makes you talk to somebody,” he has noted.
Indeed, Four Green Fields’ success is its throwback appeal. More thrownback, in fact, than a lot of pubs in Ireland that have gone global and more closely resemble sports bars.
So, for those heading to Boston later in the year, here’s hoping you won’t be able to catch the Red Sox or the Patriots at Four Green Fields in Boston. And that you’re sitting next to somebody interesting.