Locals Irish pub closing in Pierce County, serving its last pint this month
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- O’Looney’s Irish Pub in Gig Harbor will close permanently May 30.
- Owner Joe Brockert said financial pressures and rising fees made the pub unprofitable.
- The pub operated four and a half years, hosting local events and live music.
O’Looney’s Irish Pub will close its doors May 30, after four and a half years of serving pints in Gig Harbor.
“With heavy hearts, the time has come for new adventures for the O’Looney’s family,” a message on the restaurant’s website and social media reads. “Saturday, May 30th will be our final day in business, and we hope you’ll join us for one last Irish blowout and goodbye before we close our doors.”
The pub at 3222 56th St. opened as Dunagan Brewing in 2021, replacing O’Neill’s Sports Pub and before that, Tanglewood Grill. Current owner Joe Brockert rebranded the restaurant as O’Looney’s in 2023, naming it after his grandmother, Sarah O’Looney.
The pub’s aesthetic featured stone walls and stained glass, with a fireplace in the dining room. The menu offered a blend of American bar fare and Irish-inspired staples like shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, and Scotch eggs.
The pub had 20 beers on tap and a few non-alcoholic beers, with a full bar and the ability to make various mixed drinks, according to Brockert.
Brockert told The News Tribune he made the decision to close for financial reasons. Tax hikes and rising expenses, from liquor license fees to minimum wage requirements, have made it difficult for the business to turn a profit, he said via phone Tuesday.
“After all your fees and permits ... you take care of that, you have nothing left over,” he said. “We break even every single month, and that’s without me taking anything from it. And so it makes it hard.”
He described the O’Looney’s employees as a “family” and said they’re the reason he kept the business going. But “everything has a necessary ending,” he said.
He spoke fondly of meeting people and striking up conversation, befriending regulars and seeing the pub frequented by employees’ kids and spouses. It felt like a home, he said, comparing it to the pub in the TV show “Cheers” and the theme song, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.”
Over the years, the spot has hosted weddings, celebrations of life, birthday parties, after-parties during the Gig Harbor Film Festival and “some great St. Patrick’s,” said Brockert. The pub tended to draw a locals crowd, he said, and summers were typically their slowest season.
He told The News Tribune he’s not planning to return to restaurants. The political environment for small business in the county and state doesn’t look like it’s getting better, he said. He’s also 60, and said he wants to spend his “sunset years” doing other things, like traveling.
Brockert is the property owner and said he’s actively looking for a buyer. Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer records value the land at about $1.5 million.
The business thanked customers for all the memories in their farewell announcement.
“Over the past 4½ years, this pub became so much more than a business to us,” the message said. “It became a family. So many of you came in as customers and quickly became friends, neighbors, and part of the O’Looney’s family. Through every laugh, toast, conversation, and late night, you helped make this little pub something truly special.”
For their last day May 30, O’Looney’s will feature live music from That Irish Guy. It will be “sort of like a small St. Patrick’s celebration,” Brockert said.
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News Tribune staff writer Kristine Sherred contributed to this story.
