West End Tavern in Lakewood Gets a Refresh and Full Menu With New Ownership

While the West End Tavern is celebrating a grand reopening of sorts, it’s actually been about three months since a new ownership team closed on the purchase of the 38-year-old Lakewood tavern and began making noticeable improvements.

Steve Stopko of All Saints Public House was brought on as operator after the landlord of his Battery Park pub bought the Lakewood building that included West End.

After closing the doors at the end of May, the new team got to work refreshing the space, adding an extension to make the bar wrap around one side of the space, adding a 10-line draft system, renovating the kitchen and bringing in new equipment, redoing the floors, adding new pictures, stripping coverings from windows to brighten the space and offering a full bar menu.

“The place, I don’t think, has changed very much in the past 38 years,” he said. “And I think Covid hit that bar hard. The kitchen was barely open. We were anxios to get it open again, it just took this long.”

In addition to that bar menu — which features appetizers, sandwiches and burgers, including what Stopko says is a dynamite version of the Romanburger — the team also imported Map Room pizza thanks to Stopko’s business partner, whose family runs the venerable Warehouse District joint.

“They were happy to do it,” he said. “They gave us their chef for a week, we bought the same equipment, the exact oven, the exact dough, the exact recipes, we order what they do. It’s Map Room pizza.”

Which is already a hit, he said.

Talking to Scene, Stpoko wanted to make clear that while some things have changed (and for the better), one key component hasn’t: Longtime part owner Parnell Egan, despite selling the business, remains on the management team.

“That’s how we were able to get the deal done,” he said.

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