Denny’s, a beloved Kensington dive bar, is marking its 50th anniversary with three days of music, free bites and throwback drink prices, from Oct. 10 - 12.
Located on the corner of Church and McDonald Avenues, Denny’s first opened its doors in 1975 when it was known as Denny’s Steak Pub. Opened by Dennis Ryan, who once worked as a welder at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the restaurant and pub relocated to Kensington after operating for about 10 years in Park Slope.
Even in the 1960s when Park Slope was “rough around the edges,” a rent increase pushed the original bar to relocate to Kensington, according to Kevin Ryan, the current owner and the son of the founder.
“When we first opened here, my dad tried to make this into a shirt-and-tie kind of joint, but he quickly got off of that,” said Ryan, 63, who has worked at Denny’s since he was a teenager, first as a dishwasher, a waiter and then a bartender.
Ryan remembers local bank tellers, drug store clerks and business owners all regularly coming in to kick back a few drinks before they headed home. The bar stopped serving steaks in the early 90s, but continued to have a loyal local following.
“I’ve tried to keep the place as an old, Brooklyn bar for as long as I can,” he said.
Ryan, a retired fire fighter, recalled learning a lot about the human spirit while operating and tending bar. He certainly saw the bad– fights and people stealing– but the acts of kindness are what sticks with him to this day.
There were patrons who took in their neighbors after a house fire. Or customers who would find their friends a job. Many people took time to listen to one another when one was down on their luck, he said.
“You saw the neighborhood spirit,” Ryan said.
He thought the bar’s closure during the COVID-19 pandemic would shutter the business for good. But even though New Yorkers are drinking a lot less, he has found that there are plenty of people who seek out a cheap drink “where you don’t have to give up your mortgage for a night of drinking," he said.
Today, the bar is full of local patrons that love the feel of an unpretentious bar to watch sports, play pool or belt out a song at the top of their lungs because nobody bats an eye.
To celebrate the 50-year anniversary, Ryan said the bar will have food, live music, DJs and giveaways. Draft beers will be $1, bottled beer at $2 and well drinks at $3 all weekend.
“It’s all about preserving neighborhood camaraderie," he said.
Alaina Paciulli, a Kensington resident and a regular at Denny’s, said she appreciates Ryan’s efforts to keep his current patrons happy, while trying to bring in a new generation to the bar.
“Denny’s is always a good time,” Paciulli said. “It’s always welcoming and fun.”
