Salem's Olde Main Street Pub Closes For Winter

SALEM, MA — The Olde Main Street Pub in Salem has closed for the winter with the "hope" to reopen sometime this spring.

Pub owners announced on social media Friday that the pub was to close on Saturday until further notice.

Co-owner Kieran O'Neill confirmed the decision to Patch Monday afternoon.

"We decided to shut down completely for the winter in order to preserve capital and to pay our bills," he said. "We hope to open some time in the spring —at least, that's the goal."

O'Neill said the pub typically uses the capital it builds through the summer and fall to make it through the slower winter months. But city and state restrictions related to the coronavirus this year hampered their ability to create a revenue cushion, and made remaining open unsustainable.

"Like many other restaurants in the city, we all face the challenges that indoor dining presents with the state requiring ventilation, table barriers and limited capacity," he said. "Since we only have a 70-seat capacity, we felt that serving 18 people at one or two sittings — and that's if we
were full each night — would not be enough to carry us, so we were left with no choice but to make this heartbreaking decision."

O'Neill said the decision was hardest because it meant letting the staff that "have been with us from the beginning and we feel are the best in the business" go, at least for now.

"It's them we feel for the most," he said.

O'Neill said he hopes Salem residents, and those throughout the North Shore, support independent places that attempt to remain open during the pandemic.

"I'm certain they have as many if not more, challenges now and ahead," he said. "There is light at the end of this long tunnel, and we hope to welcome everyone back when we all emerge from it."