Those who mourned the passing of the local pub where everybody knew their name need mourn no longer.
The Village Inn Pub, tucked just behind Lougheed Town Centre in the Lougheed Village complex, reopened on Aug. 21.
"There was a great reunion of the people who came down here," current owner and manager Robert Frost said. "We still have a few kinks to iron out of the system but it went very well."
Frost said he is leasing the pub from the new owners of the Lougheed Village complex.
"I know that they are very good operators," he said of the owners.
The pub's hours will likely remain the same as they were prior to closing, according to Frost.
"I plan to stay pretty consistent to how it was before," he said.
But he is listening to customer feedback to see what people want from the pub.
"We're playing it by ear," Frost said. "We're starting off with a very basic game. But we're going to expand on the ideas quite extensively. It will be an evolving bar."
Frost has 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, he said, including restaurants such as Hy's Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar and The Keg restaurants in Vancouver, and independent hotels.
Tuesday night was his first as manager of the new bar, he added, and the reception from the community was very supportive.
"The loyalty of the clientele, I found out last night, is very, very strong," he said.
The pub at 9532 Erickson Dr. closed at the beginning of May after 19 years of business, according to then-general manager Wes Taylor.
The pub is part of the four-tower Lougheed Village rental suite and retail complex, which sold for more than $80 million to Beach Properties last spring, according to The Vancouver Sun.
