A bowl of their famous Onion Soup and an apple pie mocktail at Ye Olde Bryan Inn at Maple Avenue and Rock Street in Saratoga Springs Friday, January 19, 2024.
A bowl of their famous Onion Soup and an apple pie mocktail at Ye Olde Bryan Inn at Maple Avenue and Rock Street in Saratoga Springs Friday, January 19, 2024.
SARATOGA SPRINGS - With the history of Saratoga Springs within its walls, and staff and customers who are more akin to family, the Olde Bryan Inn is so much more than a popular dining destination.
Diners looking for a great meal and drink often flock to the Olde Bryan Inn, located at 123 Maple Ave. in Saratoga Springs. It has been a popular bar and restaurant for more than four decades.
The building started out as a stone house, built in 1826 by John Bryan. Original limestone from the house is still visible, as well as the three original fireplaces from the home, which are now popular spots for guests to sit and enjoy a cozy meal and drinks.
The house remained a single-family home in the Bryan family until the 1900’s. In 1925, it was purchased by the LaMountain family, and a brick addition to the house was built. It then became Burnhams Hand Laundry, which operated until 1954, when the building was purchased by the Veitch family. The Veitchs lived in the home until 1979, when it was purchased by Dave Powers and Joe Wilkinson, who intended to turn it into an inn. In 1981, Steve Sullivan joined the partnership with Powers and Wilkinson and together they ran the Olde Bryan Inn.
The restaurant started out with a smaller menu, mostly pub food items, and over the years has grown to include all kinds of foods and specials.
Executive chef John Capelli says the restaurant has a great family atmosphere, not only between the employees, but with all of the customers as well.
“Most important to me, is the community involvement,” Capelli said. “We do so many fun things with the community, we do a soup kitchen every week, code Blue, Rise, we just gave 1,500 free meals for the community on Thanksgiving.”
Ye Olde Bryan Inn at Maple Avenue and Rock Street in Saratoga Springs Friday, January 19, 2024.
Johnny Kosek started working at the inn when he was 19, now at 63, he has been a cook and general manager. He also previously worked at Powers and Sullivan’s other business, Longfellows in Saratoga Springs, before it closed and he came back to the Olde Bryan Inn as manager. He also gives historic tours of the building to local second grade classes each spring, and shows them artifacts he’s found around the building and property.
“This house was built on the original tavern that was here built by Alexander Bryan, and his son John built this house,” said Kosek. “Alexander Bryan was the innkeeper, and I’ve read stories about how he used to take people in, and he was very big on hospitality, used to let people stay with him even if they had no money.”
Kosek said he is not sure if it’s an energy that has always been a part of the property.
“The Veitch family was like that, the mother used to bring in the kids and play music and there was always a drink for anyone who wanted to stay here,” Kosek said. “So now, over the 45 years that we’ve been here, we’ve sort of continued that trend, being very welcoming. We love to see a clean plate, there’s nothing better.”
The Olde Bryan Inn is also known to have had its share of ghost sightings over the years. Kosek says that compared to the earlier days of the restaurant, they have quieted down quite a bit, that maybe the ghosts have gotten used to the building being a restaurant, and enjoy all of the people who come there. Some people are more in-tune to ghosts he said.
“Over the years our clientele has just grown astronomically,” Kosek said.
Patrons enjoy cocktails at Ye Olde Bryan Inn at Maple Avenue and Rock Street in Saratoga Springs Friday, January 19, 2024.
The Daily Gazette recently spoke with John Kosek about The Olde Bryan Inn
Question: What are some of the most popular dishes that you serve?
Answer: Some people just come in for appetizers and lite faire, and then we have our steaks and prime rib and filets, our sauteed dishes. We do a jambalaya dish, fettuccine, fish we do haddock, and salmon, the salmon is very popular. Our most popular thing is our prime rib sandwich, which we run out of every night. We take prime rib, slice it, grill it, and serve with onions and peppers and mushrooms, provolone and swiss on it and serve it with a cup of French onion soup to dip it in. People call ahead to make sure that we have it, because we do sell out.
Q: As far as reservations go, are they required? Recommended?
A: We do take walk-ins, but if you have a larger party it’s good to have a reservation, we recommend that. It’s always nice to come in and have a drink at the bar or by the fire and wait for a table, so either way. If there’s a time-concern you should call ahead, and Resy is the system that we use, people can go online and make reservations that way too
Q: What are some of your favorite things about running this place?
I love giving the tours, and talking about the history of this place. I love getting to see people who I’ve gotten to know over the years. We really have a great staff, and they are more like a family, some of our servers have been here 10, 15 years. Everyone gets to know everyone like a family, kind of like Cheers, where everyone knows your name. It’s important to build up a relationship with people.
Q: What could an average person expect to spend at Olde Bryan Inn?
A: Lunch is around $25 a person with a non-alcoholic drink and for dinner an entrée and a non-alcoholic drink and either an appetizer or a dessert would be around $35 a person
Q: How would you describe the atmosphere at Olde Bryan Inn?
It’s warm, welcoming, and I think people feel at ease here. It’s like you’re coming home. Because of the building’s age, it’s something that’s been around for such a long time, people feel comfortable here. A lot of people like to come out and be a part of things here.
Q: Why should someone who hasn’t been here before consider coming?
A: It’s just a really great place, with great food and great people. A lot of people come in because they heard about us from a friend, and then they keep coming back. We love the community, we've always got a great meal for you, come sit by a nice fire, and have a nice time.
