Old Northeast Tavern closed in late 2024. Owners planned to reopen in the summer of 2025, but permitting problems pushed that date back. In June 2026, co-owner Robert "Bob" Wareham told St. Pete Rising that the tavern and Old Northeast Pizza next door would reopen "later this year." Today is October 4. That leaves less than three months for "later this year" to happen, and Old Northeast Pizza's website still has only a sign-up form "to be the first to know when we launch."
The delay is the part everyone sees. The bigger news is what the delay is for. When 201 7th Avenue North reopens, the tavern and the pizzeria will share one large dining room for the first time. The tavern will also serve cocktails for the first time. This corner has changed formats several times in the last hundred years. This is the biggest change since 2006.
A Corner That Keeps Changing Its Format
The building went up in 1925, when the neighborhood was still called North Shore. The name Old Northeast came along in the 1970s. St. Pete Rising reports that the corner served generations of residents as a pharmacy, a market, a diner and a restaurant. Its list of past tenants reads like a short history of how people ran errands and ate out in this neighborhood:
- Fender's Pharmacy
- Elsie's Market
- North Shore Sundries
- Nan & Lou's Fountainette
- N&L's Restaurant
- Ambrosia, a Mediterranean fusion restaurant, the last tenant before the tavern
Each tenant changed what the corner sold. The location stayed the same. The tavern opened in 2006, and Wareham and his business partner Mark Brindle have owned both the pub and the pizzeria since 2008. For most of that time, the tavern and pizzeria worked as next-door neighbors under the same owners, each with its own menu and its own room. The renovation keeps the separate menus and removes the wall between the rooms.
How Summer 2025 Turned Into Fall 2026
Here is the timeline in order, based on what the owners have said publicly:
- Late 2024: The tavern closes for renovation and expansion.
- Summer 2025: The original reopening target. Permitting problems delay the project.
- June 11, 2026: St. Pete Rising publishes Wareham's statement that both businesses should reopen later in 2026. WhatNow reported the story the next day and gave no opening date.
- June 17, 2026: The Sunny St. Pete newsletter repeats the news and also says there is no firm date yet.
- October 4, 2026: No public announcement of an opening date, soft opening or new delay. The pizzeria's site is still a sign-up page.
The summer 2025 target and the current wait are part of the same story. Reports blame the delay on permitting, not on any change of plans. Every report since June describes the same project: one connected room, a liquor license, and the same two menus with a few additions.
The Sunny St. Pete newsletter summed it up kindly:
"No firm date yet, but the building has been sitting there since 1925, so it can wait just a little longer."
What Comes Back Is a Different Room
St. Pete Rising has the most detailed account of the plans. The tavern and pizzeria will keep their own character and separate menus. Both are getting updated kitchen equipment, and they will share a large dining room that connects them. Diners at the tavern will be able to order pizza again.
Here is what changes at the tavern and what stays the same:
Returning favorites
- The Reuben sandwich
- The Chicken and Plantain Quesadilla
- Old Northeast Pizza's thin-crust New Jersey-style pies, including the Del Mar with crab, shrimp and smoked Gouda, and the Wild Mushroom with shiitake and crimini mushrooms, prosciutto and pesto
New for this location
- Cocktails, now that the tavern has a liquor license
- Burgers and fries, which Wareham described as a first for the restaurant, and possibly other new menu items
The cocktails matter most. Before it closed, the tavern was known for craft beer and American pub fare. With a full bar and one big room for both concepts, the reopened space can work as a place for drinks, a place for dinner, or a pizza night, all under one roof. That is the same pattern as the pharmacy that became a market and the fountainette that became a restaurant. The corner reshapes itself for the next era.
No one has announced hours. Until the owners do, any schedule you see posted online is a guess.
The Part of the Building That Never Closed
The tavern and pizzeria share their 1925 building with Black Crow Coffee. Black Crow's website lists its Historic Old Northeast shop at 722 2nd St N. St. Pete Rising was mentioning the café at that address back in May 2017, so it has been part of this block for at least nine years.
That puts this corner in an unusual spot for the past two years. Part of the building has stayed open while the rest has been closed for renovation, so the block has kept a morning crowd without an evening one. When the tavern reopens, the building will once again be busy from morning coffee to evening drinks, and with cocktails added, the evenings may run later than they used to. Black Crow's website does not list current hours, so check with the shop directly before you count on an early or late visit.
October Moves to Yards, Alleys and the Stadium
While the corner is dark, the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association's fall calendar is happening at private addresses, in an alley and downtown at Al Lang Stadium. Here are the dates HONNA has posted:
- Friday, October 9, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Flamingo Friday Block Party at 106 14th Avenue NE.
- Saturday, October 17, 7:30 p.m.: Old Northeast Night at the Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium, a fundraiser for the neighborhood association.
- Thursday, October 29, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: Share and Scare Ride, starting in the alley behind 116 18th Avenue NE.
- Friday, October 30, 7:30 to 10 p.m.: October "Come as You Aren't" Halloween Porch Party.
- Sunday, December 6, 3 to 8 p.m.: Old Northeast Candlelight Tour of Homes.
The list shows a pattern. October's social events are taking place on residents' porches, in their alleys and at their block parties, plus one night downtown. HONNA's site says the neighborhood depends on residents giving their time and effort, and this calendar runs on exactly that. None of these events depends on a restaurant. When the tavern does reopen, the neighborhood will have both a home-hosted calendar and a full-service room on 7th Avenue North, something it has not had at the same time since late 2024.
Our weekend guide to Historic Old Northeast covers more everyday routines, and the neighborhood page has the bigger picture.
Three Dates Worth Watching
The owners have committed only to "later this year." Here is how the rest of 2026 lines up against that promise:
- Now through October: The association's October events fill the calendar, and the only sign of progress at the corner is the pizzeria's sign-up page. Signing up there is the most direct way to hear the news when it comes.
- December 6: The Candlelight Tour of Homes is the last association event listed for 2026. If the tavern opens before then, it will be serving during the neighborhood's busiest evening of the season.
- December 31: The last day that still counts as "later this year." If the year ends without an announcement, the June forecast is out of date. Treat any new date from the owners as the one to trust, and don't count on rumors.
At Marsh Bilby, the 1925 building at 201 7th Avenue North is a familiar kind of story. One address has served as a pharmacy, a market, a fountainette and a tavern, and each time the building was worth whatever its current use could support. Homes in Historic Old Northeast work the same way. Their value depends on what they can do today. If you'd like to know where your house stands this fall, start with a Free Home Valuation prepared with the discipline of a Certified Residential Appraiser.
