By Katie Krzaczek, News Editor
Loyola students who frequent York Road will soon have a closer walk from bar to bar than they do from their dorm to class. Murphy’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill, currently located at 5874 York Rd., one block south of Belvedere Avenue, is moving down the road and across the street—right next to another popular bar for Loyola students, Craig’s.
Robert Wehner, owner and proprietor of Murphy’s, explained that the move was a decision made “by a need to stay open.” With the lease on the current location—which the establishment has occupied for 13 years—due up within the next year, Wehner had two choices, to sell or relocate.
“I called my real estate agent to put the business up for sale, which I really didn’t want to do,” Wehner said. “My real estate agent informed me that there was a building down the street that I could purchase and move in to.”
The building that was for sale is 5800 York Rd. Craig’s is located at 5804 York Rd. The two bars being so close to each other raised some concerns, not only from Wehner, but also from the community. After meeting with local councilmen and neighborhood presidents, Wehner agreed to make “some concessions.”
Wehner said, “I have to close a little bit earlier…I have to stop selling carry-out at 10 o’clock at night so that people aren’t maybe ‘walking through the neighborhoods and drinking a beer and spilling it on someone’s lawn’ is what they said.”
Sam Cosby, a Baltimore native and student at the University of Baltimore, said that having Murphy’s and Craig’s in such close vicinity to each other will challenge the two establishments to “differentiate themselves” from one another.
“I think that those two bars have a lot of similarities…[but] Craig’s has always been a great dance spot, and Murphy’s was more of a hook-up bar, in my opinion,” Cosby said. “Murphy’s might consider turning the music down and maybe getting some more interaction, like pool or shuffle board. It would be cool to have one scene with two choices.”
Slated to open in mid- to late-October, Murphy’s new location will come with many changes. “Instead of two levels, it’ll be just one level,” said Wehner. “Toward the back of the 3500-square-foot building where the kitchen is going to be set up will be the start of a probably 35-foot bar that will come to the front.”
Despite a new location, Cosby said that Murphy’s will still be Murphy’s. “Murphy’s was like a bare-bones blackout spot for Loyola kids,” he said. “I wouldn’t say there is much sentimental value attached to it either. Most people that go there don’t remember the time they spent inside.”