Pub returns with new name and owner

By ANDREA FURLONG

Wiliamsburg resident Tanya Christie stands in the former Little Chicago Pub, now named Roxy's. Christie purchased the property last month, after bartending there on and off for two years.

Tanya Christie knows how to take a bad situation and turn it into an opportunity. Two months ago, she was unemployed, living on a severance package from her employer for the last eight and a half years, Williamsburg Manufacturing. Today, she is in more charge of her career as owner and operator of new pub Roxy's.

Instead of searching frantically through help wanted ads, Christie created a job for herself, by buying the Little Chicago Pub on the town square with the hope of bringing the business back to life. 

“I just decided to take the money from (my severance) and invest it in the bar, since I liked it,” she said.

Christie had bartended off and on for two years at Little Chicago. She knew the customers, she knew the building and she knew what changes she would make, starting with a new name.

Christie didn’t have a particular name in mind when she purchased the tavern, but she knew she wanted something different, something new to signify its new ownership. While brainstorming with a friend for a new title, the two randomly arrived at the name Roxy’s because it had a catchy quality to it.

“(My friend) mentioned ‘drinks,’ and spelling it with an ‘x,’. I said, ‘I don’t know about that.’ Then she said, ‘It’s like drinks on the rocks. Hey, what about Roxy’s?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I like that,’” Christie recalled.

Christie said customers also like the new name, particularly fans of the television show, “Army Wives,” which features a bar nicknamed Roxy’s.

Christie said she’s had to clarify more than once her pub is not named after the one on television.

“I didn’t even know there was a show called ‘Army Wives,’” she said.

MORE CHANGES

Christie has also made changes to the building itself, by lightening the interior with a new paintjob. Dark-colored walls and the ceiling have been painted in slightly lighter hues, like lavender gray and muted magenta.

Christie said she’s had few complaints to date on the new color scheme.

“A lot of people say it looks so much bigger,” she said.

Christie said the area where customers will see the most change, however, is not in the bar’s appearance, but in the activities it offers.

In order to achieve a “fun, relaxed atmosphere” where regular customers of Little Chicago and 20- and 30-somethings can hang out, Christie has already brought three new games into the bar: two golfing videogames and a foosball table.

Later in the year, she plans to start a dart league and a PowerPutt miniature golf videogame league. She also wants to sponsor a bowling league and softball league to promote the business outside its doors.

Christie also hopes to keep customers entertained with regular performances from live bands, karaoke nights and ladies nights (complete with martinis). Eventually, she would also like to hold some events on a larger scale, like a barbeque in the city park or a street dance.

“I want to have a lot of events. I want to have a lot of things going on. I don’t want be a bar that just sits,” she said.

In addition to expanding the bar’s entertainment line-up, she is working to expand its liquor selection to suit a wider palate. Top-shelf liquors, such as Grey Goose Vodka and Patron will now be available to customers.

“When it was the Little Chicago, a lot of times a bachelorette party would come in and they would want all these weird shots and we wouldn’t have all the stuff for them,” Christie recalled. “I’m trying to upscale it a little bit. I’m trying to get a better selection.”

One thing that won’t change from the previous owner, though, is the pub’s menu. Customers will still be able order buffalo wings, chicken strips, cheese balls, tacos and even pizzas.

Roxy’s is located at 513 Court St., Williamsburg. It is open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week. It opened July 3.

UPDATED July 15, 2009 10:44 AM