Casey’s Public House: The Neighborhood Pub

from Marple Friends & Neighbors magazine, August 2019

A Financial Plan for All Seasons

Business Profile by Craig Whitney

Photos courtesy of Casey’s Public House

Casey’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.

**Casey's Public House, Newtown Square**

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.

**The bar at Casey's, with many options on tap**

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.

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.

“We have a lot of long-time staff members, and we treat them like family,” Pete said.

Some of the employees have been working at Casey’s for over 20 years, and a person can feel it the moment they walk in. Everyone behind the bar is laughing and working without missing a beat, almost like they know each other’s next move. Even with all of the growth and change, Casey’s has managed to hold on to that authenticity.

“We’re very thankful for all of the growth in Marple Newtown,” Pete explained. “Competition is good for everyone, and at the end of the day it brings more people into the area. But we strive to be the go-to neighborhood place, somewhere people will come back to after they try other places.”

Pete’s son, Andrew, is also involved in the business and has been for a long time. Andrew has worked for Casey’s even when he attended Drexel University for business and legal studies. The family element is something Pete has cherished over the years, and can be seen in the ways that Pete and the rest of the management treat their staff and the customers. Like any good neighborhood pub, Casey’s is the inviting place down the street that feels like an extension of home.

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The moment you walk into Casey’s, you feel like you’ve been there before: Bartenders having a conversation with the locals at the bar, a crowd of friends on the other side of the bar watching the game, a family with three kids packed into a booth. And even someone who has never been to Marple Newtown feels comfortable enough to join in on the fun.

“We have had people who have never been to Casey’s come up to me at the bar and introduce themselves,” Pete laughed. “They tell me they just moved to the area or they’re trying somewhere new, and I’m just happy they feel that comfortable here.”

Comfort and familiarity is something that comes easy at Casey’s. It could be the long bar and the conversations that never seem to end. It could also be something earned after years of providing reliable service to a community. As Marple Newtown has grown, Casey’s has grown with it. And after long enough, Casey’s just became part of the Marple Newtown family.