Downtowne Tavern – Looking Back

Downtowne Tavern – Looking Back

5/7/2022

By Brian Coll

Photos courtesy of Dan Nelson

Recently we posted this old ad on our Facebook page, and the reactions were priceless. One of the best comments we saw was from Amy Braverman who was proud to point out that the Fabulous “Diane and the Jades” were her mom and dads band and the reason behind this being their farewell appearance was that Diane was pregnant with Amy!

Dan Nelson, co-owner of the Downtowne Tavern had a few photos to share and I’m sure more than a handful of stories to tell… he shared these photos from the post fire re-opening night of December 16th, 1974.

If you’re asking yourself where the Downtown Tavern was or is, it is currently home to Flanigan’s Boathouse (Home of Wing it Wednesday). From 1973-1980 it was the Downtowne Tavern founded and owned by Dan Nelson and Richard DiCiurcio. Going back to that time in Conshohocken and the region overall, it wasn’t a great time to go out on a limb and open a business. Dan and Richard took a chance, even being a little tongue in cheek naming the place the Downtowne Tavern “In Beautiful Downtown Conshohocken”. In all reality, they were probably a little ahead of their time. I remember a friends dad talking about this place, saying it was always packed. I was honestly a little shocked when Dan Nelson confirmed that they regularly had large crowds, even during the week. Dan said they would have Jerry Blavat (yes that Jerry Blavat, The Geator with the Heater) come in and do some DeeJaying.

Then final photo has to be of the famous glass dance floor.

Thank you Dan.

If you took a minute to read this, thank you. Hopefully you enjoyed a blast from the past, and if you were around at the time, hopefully this brought back some good memories. Feel free to comment on our Facebook page.