Christmas is coming early for fans of Coyle’s Tavern.
The restaurant/pub at 1480 Broadway Road that closed on November 24, 2024, is reopening imminently under the same ownership.
Owners Bob and Leslie Cox needed some time to recharge the batteries, and they’re again ready to serve up the comfort food that made Coyle’s a favorite in the pantheon of Dracut restaurants – though maybe not with quite the lengthy menu it once boasted.
“The menu is cut down quite a bit,” Leslie said. “We used to offer everything and anything for anybody who wanted to go out to eat. But, at least for now, we’re cutting way back. We’ve talked to some customers that became friends and told them, ‘We’re coming back, but don’t be disappointed if we don’t have something you like.”
You can expect to see customer favorites like the hand-cut fries, lasagna, turkey croquettes, Buffalo chicken dip, American chop suey and chicken pot pie.
“We kind of specialized in old-style meals like you’d see a lot of times at diners,” Bob said. “Things like American chop suey, chicken pie -- a lot of it and at a reasonable price. And people took to it. We became a neighborhood staple pretty quickly.”
Leslie said they’ll add specials, which will gradually be added to the regular menu as the staff becomes more familiar with the dishes.
Another change is the hours. Until everything is back up to speed, Coyle’s Tavern will open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 4 to 9 p.m.
Coyle’s opened in 2002. It took 22 years for Leslie -- the chief cook and bottle-washer (literally) -- to hit the wall. One night last November, she came home and told Bob she was done. She just couldn’t take it anymore. They opened the next day, which was a Sunday, and that was it. Just like that, Coyle’s Tavern was closed.
“The 22 years had taken their toll,” said Bob, who served three terms on Dracut’s Board of Selectmen from 2004 to 2013. “We kind of thought maybe it’s time to see if there’s a potential buyer. And we did have some activity. But nothing worked out, so we decided it’s better to open it back up.”
“It’s exhausting,” Leslie said. “Anyone in this business knows. When you go home at night, you start worrying about the next day.”
The reopening of Coyle’s also serves as another chapter in the story of Bob’s recovery and redemption.
It was his idea to open Coyle’s back in the days when Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang were grabbing the headlines in Boston and the nation.
“I had always dreamed of owning an Irish pub,” Bob said. “About that time, Howie Carr was writing about all that Bulger stuff.”
Add to that Bob’s love of “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” a 1973 gangster film that was inspired by the Winter Hill Gang.
“I thought, ‘What a cool theme that would be for a pub,’” Bob said. “So we had ‘Stephen The Rifleman Ribs,’ ‘Frank Salemme Pastrami,’ ‘Whitey’s Mushroom Caps.’”
The restaurant’s full name is actually Eddie Coyle’s Roadhouse Tavern & Restaurant, but it’s known by all as Coyle’s Tavern.
Bob’s dream took a turn when alcohol addiction led him to stints at rehab facilities in Florida in 2016. He says his stays there saved his life and led him to a higher calling. He opened The Bridge Club in downtown Lowell in 2019, and the space has become a haven for addicts in recovery and homeless veterans looking to get off the street and on their feet.
For obvious reasons, Bob stepped away from the daily operations of Coyle’s Tavern years ago. He will remain a means of support for Leslie and not a daily presence at Coyle’s.
The Bridge Club offers, among its services, culinary training for veterans who are out of work, and Bob said that training is providing a bridge to employment for those who graduate from the program.
“The first class graduated in June, and it’s going to be a feeder program for a lot of restaurants in Greater Lowell,” Bob said.
One of those graduates is Richard Bynum, who worked with local chef Michael Riley – the culinary instructor at Greater Lowell Technical High School and for The Bridge Club’s culinary program -- at Summer Village at the Pond in Westford. Richard also ran the kitchen at Mt. Pleasant Golf Club in Lowell. Now he’ll be working in Coyle’s Tavern’s kitchen next to Leslie.
“He’s a line cook,” Leslie said. “He’s familiar with the Fryolater and convection ovens.”
Two former employees are returning. Cori Shea will be back behind the bar and waitressing, and Coyle’s is also welcoming back a young woman who started as a dishwasher two years ago at age 14 who was heartbroken when they closed.
“When I told her I was closing, she looked at me and said, ‘I will miss you,’” Leslie said. “It was very touching for an old girl like me. So I called her, and she said she’s coming back. She helps set up the soups and salads and prep work, and she’s a dishwasher in between. She’s a crackerjack.”
Bob Cox Jr., who helped Leslie run Coyle’s for a few years, has moved on to other ventures and will not return.
For Leslie, running the kitchen at Coyle’s is a long way from her first job working at the old A&W on Lakeview Avenue. But she’s ready to start cooking again and to see all the old faces – and new faces, too – enjoying a bite to eat and a drink, perhaps playing a game or two of Keno.
“I’m ready to come back,” she said. “I floated in the pool for a while.”