Art's Pub is opening soon

LANSING — It's almost time.

The MSU basketball and football murals are on the wall.

There are three 55-inch Keno TVs, and there'll soon be six 65-inch big screen TVs.

Soon, you'll be able to get breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

The former Art's Bar is reopening soon as Art's Pub. The owners are hoping for a May debut.

"We want to cater to the third shift people," said Nick Sinicropi, a co-owner of Art's Pub and owners of Good Truckin' Diner in REO Town.

"We’re also going to have a full breakfast menu here, like at the diner. It's going to be a little different. We’re also going to do Saturday and Sunday brunches, where we’ll go all out."

Sinicropi and his business partners Donn Thomas, Sedric Audas and Greg Sinicropi, who is Nick’s brother, purchased Art's Bar last year and renamed it Art's Pub. They also purchased the Barn Tavern in Grand Ledge.

And the answer to everyone's question is, yes, they’ll have the famous Art’s pizza.

"We own the recipe," Sinicropi said. "We bought the rights from the originator, from the Portland Party store, that’s where it came from.

"We actually found one of the original menus, and it said 'thank you to the Portland Party store for their pizza recipe.'"

Customers of the old Art's will barely recognize the interior. Everything is new, brand new.

The hickory bar floor will be stained with Swedish oil.

The bar is poured concrete they've grinded down. There are car parts sprinkled in spots — bearings, cogs — but they'll be covered. Then they'll put epoxy over the bar.

There's something else that they saved — the Bob Gross memorial plaque. Gross, a State Journal sportswriter, who was murdered, was an Art's Bar regular for many years.

"We have it," Sinicropi said, pulling the gold plaque out and wiping it down. "It’s going to go on right before the coating goes over it. It’s an important thing around here."

There's still a lot of work going on inside the building. Pewter-colored chairs with black leather seats are lined up. There are high top and low tables, and benches ready to be put into place. Art's Pub will employ about 50 people.

"We’re really happy with the way everything’s turning out," Thomas said. "I think it’s going to be even better than what we thought.

"People drive by, honk their horns and wave. We had a guy the other day, we had the garage door open, he rode up on a motorcycle, took a picture and just pulled out. We had three or four people last week show up for lunch. There was a day that we had everybody scheduled to do some work, must have been 20 different workers here, so it looked like the parking lot was full and ready for lunch."

Most Art's regulars will recall the MSU football and MSU basketball murals. Art's new owners couldn't save them, but they did the next best thing.

"We tried our best," Sinicropi said, "but they were painted on drywall. Glued drywall to cinder block, that just doesn’t come off. It comes off in pieces. We knew that they wanted to be preserved, and one of our business partners played on that MSU football team.

"Justin Caine from Good Fruit Video came, lit it up, took high resolution photos, brought it to my buddy at 180 Designs, and he printed them. We framed them on the wall. We’re keeping what we can keep, while also respecting the fact that Art's Bar was Rick and Nancy Yager."

Sinicropi says they'll keep the 32-ounce shoopers, but they also want to change Art's, modernize it.

There are 12 taps and the pub is using a glycol beer cooling system.

"It's insulated, air conditioned beer lines, 100 percent of the way," Sinicropi explained. "There’s no foam, no waste. It’s the coldest beer you can have."

And the menu is totally different. Think eclectic. Think funky.

"I would say anything on this menu, you would think it came from Good Truckin'," Sinicropi said. "It wouldn't surprise you."

There are 12 specialty pizzas on the menu. Some have seafood on them. One is inspired by summer barbecues. It has baked beans on it. There's also a pizza with macaroni.

"I’m even going to have vegan pizza," Sinicropi said. "There's a lot of vegetarian options here. We're definitely going that route. You create, and you have to roll with the times."

They will be using Mert's Meats and Rust Belt Coffee, both local.

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The menu will also include a nacho section with eight different types of nachos and a french fry section with eight different kinds of loaded fries.

"There's a Belgian waffle section, with everything from savory to sweet ones, all sorts of different funky ones," Sinicropi said. "I didn't do tacos because the diner is known for its tacos. So what I do is arepas, which I used to make at the diner. So we will actually have a arepas section on the menu."

The bathrooms have been redone. They're heated now.

And in the restaurant area, the carpet is no more. It was ripped out, revealing concrete covered in glue. Concrete Resources came in, ground it down, "six or so times, finer and finer, then polished it," Sinicropi said.

There are garage doors that open out to a patio, which will have a fence.

"We're thinking about a fire pit out here because you’ve got a killer view out here," Sinicropi said. "Most people don’t even realize it but since you’re a little elevated you can see it, and it's nice."

Art's Pub

809 E. Kalamazoo St., Lansing

Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Contact Vickki Dozier at (517) 267-1342 or vdozier@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickkiD.