Historic Adobe Blues renovation: What’s happening with Staten Island’s craft beer pioneer?

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Maybe it’s memories of Brewer Appreciation Day or those legendary Cinco de Mayo celebrations, but readers keep asking about the fate of Adobe Blues, still shrouded behind green fencing. Construction has dragged on for more than two years—and counting—leaving fans and craft beer lovers wondering if the beloved Southwestern saloon—one of New York City’s original craft brew destinations—will ever reopen.

The answer is yes. The property’s new owner, who purchased it in 2022, insists work will continue and plans still include a rooftop lounge, as previously reported.

Renovations proved more complicated than expected; the building has stood since the mid-1800s. Earlier plans included new seating upstairs and a redesigned bar, now U-shaped instead of L-shaped. But the building’s history is what makes this comeback effort so compelling.

The corner spot at 63 Lafayette Avenue has housed taverns since before 1859, when the area was called Elliotville. In the mid-1800s, it was a three-story structure with a brothel on the top floor known as The Cottage Tavern, frequented by sailors from nearby Snug Harbor. A fire in 1907 left the building with its flat roofline and through the decades it operated under names like McCarthy’s, famous in the 1950s for its shamrock neon sign and singing Irish waiters.

Adobe Blues emerged in 1992 when Ken Tirado and the late Jim Stayoch transformed the space after trips to Santa Fe, New Mexico, bringing back décor and recipes that defined its Tex-Mex menu and pioneering craft beer list. The restaurant offered over 100 brews long before craft beer became trendy. The restaurant weathered the pandemic but closed permanently in December 2021. Stayoch, a beloved figure in Staten Island’s restaurant and theater community, passed away in August 2024 at age 76, leaving behind a legacy of hospitality at three separate restaurants.

For now, Cassidy Place residents and the historic streets of New Brighton will live with the green fencing, waiting for the day Adobe Blues pours again, keeping alive the hope that one of Staten Island’s most storied watering holes will reclaim its place in the borough’s dining scene.