The most exciting new sports bar in town is Kitty Sullivan’s, a female owned, female operated Irish pub. That’s quite an impressive feat for owner Tricia Rowan; there’s less than a handful of female owned sports bars in the entire city. This cozy watering hole is the perfect spot to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Rowan reflected on her journey to owning Kitty Sullivan’s. “I still… some days, I can’t believe it’s really real,” she said. “I came to work for this place, which used to be Rocky McBride’s. One of the owners, he knew it was always a dream of mine to own the place. So, I bought out the one owner.”

Image Courtesy of Kitty Sullivan’s

With the deal in place, Rowan was surprised when her new co-owner had an idea. “The other owner was like, ‘What do you think about buying me out too?’” Rowan explained that the prospect of becoming majority owner was daunting at first. “It’s double the money, the investment, the work. But I told him yes. It took seven months, but it happened.”

The Kitty Sullivan’s logo, which Rowan designed herself, features a female boxer with red hair, clad in green, looking as fierce as she is beautiful. Rowan explained that the logo expresses her deeply personal connection to the bar and her family. The boxer represents female empowerment and an homage to Rowan’s ancestors: Kitty Sullivan’s is named after Rowan’s great-great grandmother, whose husband supported the family as a boxer in Ireland.

Image Courtesy of Kitty Sullivan’s

Even without a fancy kitchen, Kitty Sullivan’s can still help satisfy your cravings. “We have very small bites right now. I have Bavarian pretzels, Hot Pockets, bags of popcorn, kettle corn, and Jamaican beef patties.” Like an empanada, Jamaican beef patties are a flaky u-shaped treat filled with ground beef. “When I was in Jamaica, I bought Jamaican beef patties, and these are really like the ones there. You can have it microwaved quickly, or toasting takes 18 minutes. But it’s much better, I think, if you can wait.” Rowan said that patrons are also welcome to bring their own eats or even have them delivered.

Rowan explained that more changes are coming soon. “I’m getting a pool table. I’m going to knock down some walls,” she said. “I have a lot of plans for the upcoming spring. I just did a new awning.”

Events take place almost every day of the week: “Tuesdays we have karaoke. Wednesdays, we do bingo. Monday night is dart league. Once we get the pool table going, we’ll do that too.” With 23 televisions located around the bar, it’s easy to find a kind sightline. Rowan explained, “We can put on every game that’s on TV. We have every UFC fight. We’re showing Formula 1 racing. All the boxing matches. Rugby, all of them. We don’t charge a cover.”

Rowan said that it was always her goal to own a local spot. “I never thought it would happen. I mean, it’s Astoria. My grandfather had a bar here back in the 70s. Astoria is where I live. It’s still cool and up and coming. When I had the chance to buy a staple spot in Astoria? The fact that I can do that is a dream come true.”

27-01 23^rd Ave. / phone: 718.777.2723 / @kittysullivans / Google: 4.9