A new craft beer-centric bar will be taking over the space that has been occupied by the Syracuse craft beer pioneer The Blue Tusk for the past 26 years.
The Tusk is closing, probably by late September, amid a landlord-tenant dispute.
The Taphouse on Walton is expected to open in early 2022 at 165 Walton St. in the Center Armory building.
It will be owned and operated by Kyle Mastropietro, who also owns Kasai Ramen restaurant a block away.
But it will not be Kasai Ramen: That restaurant will remain in its location at 218 Walton St.
The new place will feature 70 beers on tap (just like the Tusk), along with a kitchen offering sandwiches, flatbreads, cheese boards and other food, Mastropietro said today. A sourdough bakehouse will take an adjoining space in Center Armory, and likely open ahead of the taproom, perhaps by later this year, he said.
Mastropietro said the interior of the Blue Tusk will be gutted and completely remodeled. It will have more seating for dining in than the Tusk has.
The Taproom on Walton will allow Mastropietro to explore his passion for craft beer, and his interest in promoting local and New York state breweries.
“I think we’ll have the biggest and best lineup, with the focus on local breweries, in the city,” Mastropietro said. He cited breweries like Prison City, Beer Tree, Equilibrium and Other Half among those he plans to showcase.
“And the food menu will focus on pairing with the beers,” he said. “I love beer, but at heart I’m a chef so the food will be be front and center.”
Mastropietro said he was “approached” about the idea of a new place by Ed Gottlieb, the owner of Center Armory’s ground-floor retail spaces, and Gottlieb’s local property manager, Joe Scripa.
He said any characterization that he is helping “boot out” The Blue Tusk is false.
“There is no evil empire here,” Mastropietro said. “I have a lot of respect for The Blue Tusk and what it has meant for Armory Square. It was a go-to place for me when I came to town. But a business opportunity was presented to me. That’s what this is. I have nothing to do with whatever landlord-tenant issue The Blue Tusk had.”
Gottlieb bought the ground-level retail spaces at Center Armory three years ago from the original developer, Bob Doucette. The upper level residential spaces remain owner-occupied condos.
Mastropietro gave an extended podcast interview on the topic posted today on the Eat Local New York site by its host, Anthony Tringale.
The Blue Tusk is owned and operated by the father-son team of Tim and Mike Yorton. In 1995 it opened in the then-new Center Armory.
It was one of the first bars in Central New York to carry the beers that were then known as “micro” brews, several years before the term “craft” came into common use. It also carried a large selection of imports, among them a wide array of Belgian beers.
Along with its Armory Square neighbor, the original Clark’s Ale House, the Tusk helped the early small brewers in Syracuse and elsewhere find an outlet for their beer.
Mastropietro said he hopes to carry on that tradition. He said the Taproom will also offer the ability for customers to order and buy packaged beers.
“There are a lot of great breweries and beers from not too far away that haven’t really had a good outlet in downtown Syracuse,” he said. “That’s what we hope to have — that outlet for lots of great beer.”
Related: Armory Square won’t be the same without the Blue Tusk (Your Letters)
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.