MATT COURTER/Sun-Gazette The Bridge Tavern, at the corner of Market Street and Matthews Boulevard, is under new ownership.

The former Bridge Tavern, now Bridge 222 underwent a rebranding earlier this year, and the new owners are set to bring exciting changes to the decades old business.

“We never did a grand opening for the Bridge, but we ended up closing on the property at the end of April, and my wife and I have actually physically owned it since then,” says Curiel Bame, of the property he purchased along with his wife, Erica, “but we’ve actually been here operating the location since February.”

Because the establishment came with a liquor license, due to state laws, the couple had to be considered consultants for a time prior to being able to purchase the property.

“The previous tenants are also restaurateurs,” Bame says of the smooth transition of ownership, “and we have a good relationship. They come in here all the time and have something to eat.”

“The staff really respected them as employers, so we wanted to make sure that they knew the relationship was good between us, because we were able to retain the entire staff from the previous tenants.”

“My wife and I were shopping for a bar-restaurant for a while, and one of the big reasons we wanted The Bridge is because it’s a nice location, and the staff here is awesome,” Bame says proudly. “I think I have the best bartenders in town. They can make some really mean drinks, and they can make things hospitable. They’re really good at what they do, and some of them have been here four or five years.”

“So, it was a really nice thing to walk into, especially when you’re buying a business.”

Even with a nearly seamless transition, the venture was not without its uncertainties.

“It is a large financial risk,” Bame, who also owns Real Taste 570, explains, “when you’re talking about a food truck, you’re looking at $30,000 if you build it yourself. A brick and mortar location, you’re looking at, with the liquor license, $354 to $500,000.”

Bame says that the process to acquire a liquor license was one of the biggest draws of buying the Bridge in the first place.

“The cost is based off the census. South Williamsport is a well packed community, and The Bridge has been here for 100 years. It’s always served people food and beer, so it has a higher value liquor license.”

In addition to cost, the state limits how many liquor licenses are awarded each year, making an owner-to-owner transfer an easy option for Bame to attain a liquor license.

“The expenses aren’t as much, and the transfer becomes a little bit easier for the licensee. So that’s another reason why my wife and I wanted to purchase The Bridge.”

And, because the liquor license extends to the owner’s other establishments, Bame will soon be able to serve alcohol along with Real Taste 570.

While customers may be timid to rebrands and new owners of long-running establishments, Bame has seen quite a bit of support from the community.

“South Williamsport has really embraced us,” Bame says, “The bridge has been around, and serving food for 100 years. At one point it was one of the busiest restaurants in the Williamsport area, period. There’s a lot of tradition here, and we definitely understand that, and are going to respect that. But we’re also going to make it better.”

“My wife and I don’t come from money,” Bame continues, “we’ve worked for everything, and it has not been easy. So, when someone gives us a bad review, we do take it personally, because it is our livelihood. We care. I cook next to my cooks and I wash dishes next to my dishwashers.”

“I think it felt right,” Bame says about the couple’s decision to branch out, “as far as complementing Real Taste. You want really good tacos, you visit one of my trucks. You want the best cheese steak with shaved rib eye, or a great fish sandwich with fresh Haddock, you come to The Bridge.”

“I wanted to be able to provide American cuisine and Mexican cuisine how they should be served, and The Bridge is a good old fashioned American restaurant.”

With business booming, the Bames have no plans to slow down on their improvements.

“We will be doing some minor renovations to the upstairs dining area this coming winter, Bame says, “we’re going to be building a bar upstairs, because in the winter, the area gets rented out a lot for private parties, corporate parties, and holiday parties. So this is a big Christmas time spot. A lot of company lunches come up here. So, we’re going to be renovating and changing the dining room a little bit. Just to spruce it up because it needs updated.”

And, the aesthetics are not the only thing changing at Bridge 222, with a popular staple of the restaurant set to make a comeback later this year.

“So, The Bridge used to be known for Prime Rib. They used to line out the door for it. And, since I bought this place, and even before I bought it, everybody has been hitting me up about it, saying ‘Curiel, when are you going to do it?’ This fall, I’m going to announce we’re going to be doing Prime Rib, and it’s gonna be twice a month on Saturday nights. So, you can keep an eye out for that on the Bridge Facebook. I had to wait till my food truck season ended, because I want to make sure that when I do Prime Rib, it’s going to be the best like it should be at The Bridge.”

“The Bridge is open seven days a week. Sundays it’s 11 to seven, Monday through Thursday, we’re opening 11 to nine, Friday and Saturday, we’re open 11 to 10. So we’re open later than most restaurants,” Bame says of what makes Bridge 222 standout among other area restaurants. “We stay open through the whole day. We don’t just close halfway through the day.”

“We’re going to be doing band nights on Saturdays. We do karaoke on the last Friday of every month with DJ Dan.”

“Service industry nights are on Mondays,” Bame says, “and we do a 20% discount for anybody in the restaurant industry. We get a lot of local restaurateurs, servers and bartenders that come in because most chefs, servers, and bartenders are off on Mondays, so that is actually a fairly steady, busy night. Wednesday nights, we do a cheese steak special. And then we run our chef specials Thursdays and Fridays.”

“You gotta keep your customers happy, and the one thing I’ve learned is everybody loves options.”