The once popular Madden’s Pub, located at East Bedford Park Boulevard and Villa Avenue in the Bedford Park neighborhood, has sadly and quietly closed its door after at least 50 years in business.

 

Since the pandemic first hit, Madden’s had struggled to survive. In the summer of 2021, the management team opened an outdoor shed for additional seating and brought in a giant TV so that fans could see NFL games on Sundays. The owners also installed a small window for takeout orders and began selling White Castle hamburgers, a move which had begun to draw crowds.

 

Sadly, the bar, as well as the adjacent Kennedy Fried Chicken food outlet, were both discovered shut on of all days, Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 13, the busiest day of the year for most bars. A “For Rent” sign was seen hanging from the Kennedy Fried Chicken shopfront.

 

The telephone for Madden’s appeared to be out of service with no forwarding number, when Norwood News recently placed a call. Meanwhile, the pub’s Instagram account proclaimed, “Cheers to 50 Years of Greatness,” in an undated post.

 

Repeated attempts to reach the building’s property manager, Langsam Property Services Corporation, located on Bronxdale Avenue, were unsuccessful. In an undated online restaurant review by Lydia Pagan, she wrote, “I am 29 years old; I basically grew up in this place. It is not the same anymore.”

 

The statewide lockdown brought on by the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020 also triggered the demise of O’Brien’s Pub at 28 East Kingsbridge Road in Fordham Manor, and it remains closed to this day. The also popular Woodlawn Café, located at Bainbridge Avenue and Jerome Avenue in Norwood, has closed too, with a “For Rent” sign also seen in the building’s window back on July 12, 2020. Recently, a new business, The Last Stop, held its grand opening at the former Woodlawn Café address, at 3700 Jerome Avenue.

 

Meanwhile, an unidentified employee who answered the phone at Shea’s Emerald Bar, located at 2960 Jerome Avenue, also in Bedford Park, discussed the recent demise of old pubs in the neighborhood. The employee mentioned how Madden’s had changed owners, whereas Shea’s is still a family-run business that first opened back in 1954.

 

With two Irish bars located just two short blocks from one another, the employee said of Madden’s closing, “It’s kind of a double-edged sword for us. We liked having them around the corner to give people options, and they could go back and forth throughout the night, not just go to one.”

 

Another Bedford Park pub, The Jolly Tinker, located on the other end of East Bedford Park Boulevard at Webster Avenue, remains in business, and recently built what appears to be a thriving take-out menu. However, its future and that of Rocco’s Pizza, located next door to the pub, remain uncertain as the property housing both businesses was recently sold. When Norwood News called The Jolly Tinker for comment, a woman who answered the phone, declined to comment on the sale of the building or on the future of the business.