Business Profile
SINCE 1976
Casey’s Public House: The Neighborhood Pub Written by Craig Whitney Photos courtesy of Casey’s Public House
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asey’s Public House is a Marple Newtown institution, one that has lasted decades in a town that has new businesses coming in every year. The Marple Newtown community has come to know Casey’s as the reliable hometown pub, where people can come in and be treated like family. Full of old traditions, and regular updates from the owners Pete Crisanti and Steve Graham, Casey’s continues to be the neighborhood spot. Steve Graham originally created Casey’s in 1986, then a small trolley car-themed restaurant called Casey’s Trolley Stop. The atmosphere was casual and fun, with a trolley set around the restaurant and the original idea being a chain of “trolley stops” that reached from Upper Darby to West Chester. That idea may not have stuck, but there was something central to that concept that persists today. Casey’s is a reliable spot for people to come to when they need somewhere to stop and rest, whether in the middle of a journey down the trolley line or at the end of a long day at work and eager for a neighborhood spot to get something to eat and drink and talk with friends.
Outside view of Casey's Public
House
Pete Crisanti joined as a partner in 2001. Pete’s father owned a meat market in Marple Newtown for years, and after working awhile for his father, Pete opened a beer distributorship in Marple Newtown and operated that business for 20 years. When Steve invited Pete to partnert as Casey’s co-owner in 2001, Pete had a very proud working history with his community. “I have never left this town in my three careers,” Pete said with pride. Pete was friends with Steve Graham long before 2001, having both grown up in Newtown Square. Pete and Steve attended Saint Anastasia and Marple Newtown High School, then went into business in Marple Newtown. Pete was immediately excited about Steve’s partnerhip business idea because it would be something new that was still in his hometown. At the beginning of the partnership, Casey’s was a formal Irish pub: Victorian-style dark mahogany, a long bar, a menu with Irish options such as fish and chips. But now behind the bar there is a row of large TVs, and new menu items like burgers and tacos. The hybrid nature is something Pete Crisanti decided to add after the expectations of the customers changed over time. “It was very formal,” Pete explained. “People weren’t allowed to come in wearing T-shirts. But as things have changed over time, the place had to evolve.” Evolution is something Pete and Steve embraced with open arms. The Marple Newtown community is more casual now, more open to go out to the bar and share some drinks, some laughs and a good burger. Where other restaurants have closed down or refused to adapt, Casey’s has continued to thrive and grow in Marple Newtown. It is a key element to the restaurant that has made it last.
The bar at Casey's, with many options on tap 14 Marple Friends & Neighbors / Bringing People Together
Similar to their other location, the Porch at the Lamb Tavern, ete and Steve take their relationship with the staff very seriously. Pete’s biggest pride of his operation is the number of people that have stayed with Casey’s for years.
