RIP: Rula Bula Irish Pub in Tempe

Brian in Mesa

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Rula Bula on Mill Avenue in Tempe closes its doors for good

https://www.azfamily.com/news/rula-...cle_c2fe7e60-ba3a-11eb-9b89-a30af058fa34.html

Sunday 5/23/21:

It's an emotional night for many in Tempe this evening. After almost 20 years of business on Mill Avenue, Rula Bula Irish Pub and Restaurant will be ending its run. A final toast was given at 7:30 p.m., with plans for the doors to shut for the last time at 2 a.m.

Rula Bula's lease is up. That means the iconic Tempe gathering place is shutting down. The Irish pub was a Mill Avenue landmark for two decades... helping thousands of visitors create memories in an authentic Irish setting. This weekend, it's been especially crowded with patrons visiting their favorite haunt for one last time.

“When you come to Rula Bula, you are part of a community. That craftmanship, authenticity and atmosphere may be difficult to relocate. We would love everyone to come down for our final last call and experience the ambiance of Rula Bula and share their favorite memories from the pub one more time,” says Rula Bula founder Steve Goumas.

Rula Bula, located in the in the historic Andre Building, has been recognized by Trip Advisor as being in the top three percent out of two million restaurants nationwide. It's a well-known destination for ASU students, Tempe residents and out-of-town visitors alike. The historic pub has been one of the area’s few remaining live music venues, as well as the site of Tempe’s favorite St. Patrick’s Day event.

Rula Bula also has a charitable connection to football great Pat Tillman. The pub was a favorite hangout of the late Tillman, and had become the home of fundraisers for the Tillman Foundation including the annual Pints for Pat and Pat’s Run.

Sunday night, bagpipers came through the restaurant, giving a solemn musical farewell to a place that's become a true institution. With the many changes that have come to Mill Avenue over the decades, Rula Bula has remained a constant.



 
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Brian in Mesa

Brian in Mesa

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More details...

Rula Bula Irish Pub in Tempe permanently closing its doors

https://www.abc15.com/entertainment...en-you-can-get-a-final-pint-of-guinness-there

The Irish bar, which has been a staple part of Tempe's nightlife for more than two decades, announced in April that it would close when its current lease expired but hoped to either work out a new agreement with its current landlord to stay or to find another spot to relocate the bar.

Ultimately, the owners and the landlord were unable to agree to terms on a new, long-term lease and another tenant has been found to take over Rula Bula's space, according to Wexford Developments, which owns a number of buildings in downtown Tempe.

Rula Bula decided to close the bar earlier than expected because they need the time "to carefully dismantle the historic bar, trade dress and artifacts by the July 1st deadline," a news release said.

Goumas told ABC15 in April that the custom wooden bar was built by Irish craftsmen in Ireland and brought to Arizona. He said it was built for Rula Bula's space and to last some 100 years.

It was not immediately clear if Rula Bula was able to find a new spot to relocate the bar.

Goumas said he felt the bar was being forced out and that Wexford Developments wasn't willing to fairly negotiate with them.

"We're good tenants. We pay our rent every month, and we're, we're busy. We have very strong business," Goumas told ABC15 in April.

Wexford Developments disputed those claims and said it offered a 10-year lease to Rula Bula in 2019, but that offer was declined.

More at the link: https://www.abc15.com/entertainment...en-you-can-get-a-final-pint-of-guinness-there
 

dscher

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Corporate America doing its thing.. private investment firms coming in with their money and burying the little guy... #murica
 

BigRedRage

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I friend of mine had a shop in the same plaza. He also got forced out by the ownership of the building. He got out weeks before covid, lucky for him. I was in his phx shop talking to him the other day and he gave me the whole rundown and said its the same reason rula bula was leaving. Hopefully they open up elsewhere.
 

jf-08

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I wonder what the hell the owner of the building is going to do. Perhaps he's going to sell the building to ASU?
 

overseascardfan

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So I assume the ownership group's renewal terms included a huge jump in rent much like the housing rental market especially in prime locations.
 

Stout

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Huh, I didn't realize this is--was--a real place. Read about it as a location in a series of books. Sad to hear it's closed down.
 

Devilmaycare

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This is just another step on the further decline of Mill. I hope Tempe is happy with the corporate monstrosity that they've created there. It went from a cool place to hang out and do stuff back in the day when you had places like Coffee Plantation, Changing Hands, and the other small shops to a place I don't find it's worth walking to from my office at the lake. All of the character and charm are gone.
 

BigRedRage

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This is just another step on the further decline of Mill. I hope Tempe is happy with the corporate monstrosity that they've created there. It went from a cool place to hang out and do stuff back in the day when you had places like Coffee Plantation, Changing Hands, and the other small shops to a place I don't find it's worth walking to from my office at the lake. All of the character and charm are gone.
Yep. There is still some charm but its going away.
 

Stout

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Good series.

Not bad, not the best, IMO. A little too "yuk yuk, see how funny I am" but overall fun, and better than a lot that's out there. The second was my favorite installment thus far. Just finished the third, Hammered, which was my least favorite. I'll probably keep reading, though I'm not sure when I'll pick up book four.
 

MrYeahBut

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I do a lot of work on commercial buildings. When a tenants' lease is expiring the owner will come in and tell them they're doing improvements on their space. If the tenants don't agree to have the cost rolled into the new lease the mgt company won't renew the lease and poof, out they go. Cutthroat, but that's what they do in a lot of cases.
 

BigRedRage

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The kids and I hike A mountain somewhat often. It is amazing how much tempe has changed in the last 4 years. It is a sea of skyscrapers now. Everything is being modernized and upgraded and its no wonder all the mom and pop places are being squeezed out. it's turning into a modern, corporate city instead of a quaint village feel.
 

ASUCHRIS

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The kids and I hike A mountain somewhat often. It is amazing how much tempe has changed in the last 4 years. It is a sea of skyscrapers now. Everything is being modernized and upgraded and its no wonder all the mom and pop places are being squeezed out. it's turning into a modern, corporate city instead of a quaint village feel.

Yep, college town to corporate entity. The school I went to 20 years ago is an entirely different animal.
 

jf-08

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Yep, college town to corporate entity. The school I went to 20 years ago is an entirely different animal.
That's crazy that it's been 20 or so years since you went to ASU. I remember meeting up with you and your buds at my bro's ASU tailgates. Time flies!!!
 

ASUCHRIS

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That's crazy that it's been 20 or so years since you went to ASU. I remember meeting up with you and your buds at my bro's ASU tailgates. Time flies!!!

Indeed, that was a ton of fun for a young college kid. Now I'm old like the rest of you! :) Hope it's not another 20 years before it happens again.
 

TRW

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I haven't lived in the East Valley in years, I grew up in Scottsdale when McCormick Ranch was an actual ranch. Recently, some friends moved to Mesa and we have a regular Friday evening dinner and wine and cigars after. I was amazed at the development around ASU and the lake. I worked at Dana Bros. Dodge adjacent to the old mill building when I was a teenager. Like Scottsdale, Tempe is no longer the little town it once was. "Progress" marches on I guess.

I am old now and my mind waxes nostalgic sometimes, but one thing I've learned is that the only thing in life that never changes is that things change. No stopping it, no slowing it down.
 

Devilmaycare

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Yep, college town to corporate entity. The school I went to 20 years ago is an entirely different animal.

And I don't think it's for the better. The thing that used to be nice about Mill was that it gave you a smaller college town feel while still being in the city. Many nights I spent sitting out side Coffee Plantation studying when they had that big outdoor seating area, hanging at Long Wongs, or a bunch of the different old shops that were there. Now it's corporate sterile and no different from going to a suburb strip mall. It's sad. There's not even really any good places to go to lunch on it anymore. The food trucks that come to my office are more appealing.
 

BigRedRage

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And I don't think it's for the better. The thing that used to be nice about Mill was that it gave you a smaller college town feel while still being in the city. Many nights I spent sitting out side Coffee Plantation studying when they had that big outdoor seating area, hanging at Long Wongs, or a bunch of the different old shops that were there. Now it's corporate sterile and no different from going to a suburb strip mall. It's sad. There's not even really any good places to go to lunch on it anymore. The food trucks that come to my office are more appealing.


Slices is still there. Fuzzys taco shop is pretty good. Slickables is really cheap ice cream sandwiches.
 

MrYeahBut

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I lived in Phx in the late 1950's. 48th st & Van Buren... it was the total sticks. Thomas Rd was gravel
 

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