Northern Lanes. Pioneer Inn. Rustic Bowl. North Street Inn. Trail’s End. North Street Restaurant. GiGi’s Bar and Grill. The business located at 127 North Street in Old Forge has been known by a number of names and seen many owners/lessees and renovations in its 50-plus-year history.
And on Friday, December 13 its latest reincarnation will be unveiled when the doors open to the new multi-faceted Trail’s End Saloon.
Owned and operated by Lisa Murphy and her sons Chris and Brian, they and a team of contractors have spent the last few months reconfiguring the layout of the vast building to accommodate three entities—a performance area, bar, and deli—each of which can be operated independently of each other or concurrently.
The second concept will be tested this weekend at Snodeo, the event that marks the area’s official opening of the snowmobile season, when the Murphys host the annual Polaris party on Saturday night.
There will be live music on stage by Wild Honey and food and beverages in the bar area all night while the deli will be open until 9 p.m.
The deli, managed by Chris, is open Tuesday through Sunday and offers rotisserie chickens, a variety of homemade hot and cold sides, sliced meats and cheeses and fresh rolls baked on-site.
Customers can eat-in or take-out and beer will be available for consumption on-site or to-go. Catering is also available.
“We have a lot of homemade comfort foods—it’s like Thanksgiving dinner year round,” Lisa said.
Included in the bar and performance areas, which are managed by Brian, are a stage, wide screen TVs, bowling machine, darts, pool table, foosball table, and a state of the art juke box. An ATM is also on-premises. Live music, booked by Lisa, will be featured on stage on weekends.
The bowling lanes beneath the floor of the performance room remains intact and was carefully covered with wool to protect the surface. Though resurrection of the lanes is not in their immediate plans, Lisa said they are not disregarding the option for the future.
A former venue for summer theater performances, Lisa said she has been approached by the local acting group, Mountain Theatre, to resume productions.
The bar and performance rooms will be open to the public Thursday through Sunday, however the space is available for booking private parties seven days.
Though the current renovation has been quite an undertaking, Lisa said, they are considering adding a gym to the back of the building in the future.
“It’s taken a lot of time and manpower to pull this together. We are so thankful for local contractors Billy Tormey, Bruce Hodge, Pat Perkins, and Joe Benz, among others, who helped make it happen,” she said.