Road Trip Close to Home: P.J. Brady's marks 28 years in Throggs Neck

We're heading to Throgs Neck in this week's Road Trip Close to Home. News 12's Greg Thompson takes us to a place that proves with the right people and the right vibe, the local pub is still thriving. At the corner of Phillip and Vincent in Throgs Neck, P.J. Brady's is still doing things by hand, including the daily specials menu. It's just kind of old school. I mean, that's the way we always did it. We're not going to change it. It's working. Retired NYPD detective John Brady opened the place back in 1998. Just making sure all the kegs are working. He's the J and the P is his late father Patrick, an Irish immigrant and lifelong bartender who dreamed of owning his own spot. He would love every minute of it, especially being behind the bar. What made it even more special was my wife's from Ireland and she was with me on the journey. 28 years later, he and Magella are still on that journey. Sometimes she gives me a time out and she tells me to stay in there. Most of the time we agree to disagree. But the one thing they always agree on is what they want the bar to be. We both have a passion for it. When you walk in these doors, this feels like you're sitting in our living room. Giving people a reason to keep visiting, despite the fact that it's in a quieter part of the neighborhood. When we first started out, we wanted a little neighborhood bar and that's what it actually worked out to be. Thank God it worked, because if it didn't work, it had to work. But the Bradys say the real secret to the longevity goes back to that menu, which they've tried to make different from all the other Irish bars around here. We ride it out almost every day because we never know what we're going to make. People scratching their heads when they taste the different foods. People will call in to ask if they're making certain things each day. And combined with staples like pizza and a delivery service, You ring, we bring. made the food popular enough for them to survive COVID and start looking towards 30 years. There's people here that met here and now they're coming back with their families. And that's special. The Bradys say as long as they keep feeling good and the people keep coming in, then they'll keep the place going. In Throgs Neck, Greg Thompson, News 12.