For nearly twenty years, Tom Taylor reveled in the excitement of being the owner of some of the most popular and distinctive nightclubs in Central New York. His list includes the former Phantom Club, designed to evoke the eerie ambiance of the Phantom of the Opera play, the adjoining Tailgaters, a more casual environment with the feel of sports bar, and Zoo Station, a nightclub that supplemented its popular music selections with matching music videos, projected on TV screens covering the walls. All were once Armory Square hotspots that have since closed, or changed ownership and design.
“As you grow older and wiser,” explains Taylor, “you tend to do things that suit your tastes, and things that you know have longevity.” Unlike trendy nightclubs that usually remain popular for short periods of time, “neighborhood bars and restaurants have [longevity]. That is the idea of this place.”

Taylor is referring to Sammy Malone’s, a sophisticated pub overlooking the Seneca River in Baldwinsville, New York. Named for a character played by Ted Danson in the hit 80s sitcom “Cheers,” the bar is Taylor’s latest endeavor in bar and restaurant ownership, and decidedly more low-key than his past efforts in the industry.
Sammy Malone’s celebrated its first anniversary in the beginning of July with a renovation that more than doubled its size. “I’ve opened up bars ten times this size in much less time,” Taylor says, indicating the amount of thought and attention to detail he put into Sammy Malone’s reopening. To complement the new design, Taylor decided to revamp the menu. Steering away from traditional deep fried pub fare, Taylor instead opted for a menu of healthy sandwiches, wraps, paninis, and salads that guests are invited to design themselves. Choices include more than 25 greens and topping options, using as much locally-grown produce as Taylor can find.

According to Taylor, Sammy Malone’s kept its distinctive personality through the renovation. The bar and tabletops are covered with tile in warm shades of bronze and tan. The bar is spotless, and colorful beer taps are the focal point. Full-color beer menus are positioned along the bar, with informative descriptions of the bar’s unique selection of domestic and imported craft beers and microbrews. Sammy’s features American beers from breweries such as Boston’s Harpoon, Magic Hat of Vermont, and the local Middle Ages Brewing Company. It also has an impressive selection of Belgian, German, and Irish beers, a full liquor bar, and a sophisticated wine menu.
Few pubs in Central New York can lay claim to the diverse selection of microbrews featured at Sammy Malone’s. An additional enticement for beer enthusiasts will be the rotating selection of small batch beers on tap. These are brewed in small quantities, with a hundred kegs apiece sent to specialized locations. Sammy’s is currently serving Old Rusty’s Red Rye, a Harpoon Brewery ale, and is one of the few locations in the country that will feature this limited-edition batch before the kegs run out.

Many bar guests will flock to the 25-seat patio directly overlooking the Seneca River, while enjoying a cold beer, or sampling an award-winning roast beef sandwich (voted number one at last year’s Taste of Baldwinsville). And if you happen to stop by on a Wednesday evening, you’ll be lucky enough to catch a performance by Michael Crissan, a local musician and Taylor’s lifelong friend. The friendship has endured since Taylor’s earliest days in the bar business.

To reflect his passion for music, and perhaps to assuage his distaste for the current trends in popular music, Taylor is cooking up ideas for theme nights, focusing on different music genres. Though he has no concrete plans yet, he seems to be instinctively waiting for something to take shape in the new and improved Sammy’s.
“I’m not sure if this is a live music place yet,” Taylor muses, suggesting his inclination to allow his bar to develop its own style, rather than steering it in one direction or another. “Life is about evolving,” he adds, “it is a process, and you’re learning every day. It should be the same in your professional life.”

In a bar that has so many appealing qualities, it is difficult even for Taylor to pin-point the exact clientele you might expect to find at Sammy’s. When opening a bar, he says, “I just create a setting and implement my ideas.” The ambiance of the location is dependent upon the kind of people who respond to that setting, as well as the quality of the team of people who operate it. “My places aren’t about me,” he adds. “I am a shadow…behind the scenes.” He remains grateful for his role in the Central New York bar and restaurant scene over the years, despite hard times and an often difficult market. “I’m fortunate to be one of those people who stuck with it,” he says. “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.”