A.K.’s to fill void left by Jack Quigley’s

Walking into the space formerly occupied by Jack Quigley’s recently, it was difficult to imagine the location would soon become a bar and restaurant bustling with curious customers.

The first two floors of the State Street building were cluttered with tools, table saws and heaps of furniture. Workers left footprints in carpets of sawdust as they painted walls and installed kitchen equipment.

The gigantic second-floor bar, well-known to patrons of Jack Quigley’s, had been leveled, and the skeleton of a new, smaller bar stood in a rear corner of the room. Much of the remaining space seemed empty, but was in fact filled with the lucid visions of an ambitious newcomer to the Portsmouth restaurant scene.

A sign outside the old brick building near Prescott Park says “A.K.’s, A Blend of Sports and Music.” On the evening of Dec. 20, the business’s owner was hard at work, fielding phone calls in his third-story office while contractors toiled away downstairs.

Jeff Aliberti unabashedly confesses he is devoid of experience with this type of business. Before leasing the space in October, he worked as a reliability consultant for a company in Albany, N.Y. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with an English degree, and he is only 23 years old.

But Aliberti has nurtured a dream of one day running his own restaurant since he was a child. His aunt and uncle owned a restaurant in Jersey City for 15 years, and he gleaned loads of dining knowledge as he watched them operate their business.

“It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and the opportunity kind of fell into place and I went for it,” he said. “It was kind of like a pipedream, I guess.”

The Massachusetts native got his chance this summer, when a friend informed him that Jack Quigley’s was closing down. As a former University of New Hampshire student, Aliberti was familiar with the Irish pub that had opened in 2003. He knew the space was large and ideally located downtown, and his ideas to take advantage of the space quickly blossomed.

Why Jack Quigley’s permanently closed its doors this summer remains a bit of a mystery. Patrons often packed both floors of the business on Friday and Saturday nights and stayed until the bouncers roughly ordered them out at 1 a.m.

The owners failed to renew their food permit this summer but continued to serve alcohol. Police took notice and advised them that no food permit equals no liquor license. In early July, they were ordered to close until they attained a new food permit; instead, they opted to sell.

Aliberti placed a bid during the subsequent auction in August. He lost to a higher bidder, but later met the new owner and arranged to lease the property.

Although the location still appears to require a monumental amount of work, Aliberti aims to open the doors in early January. Visitors accustomed to the Quigley’s atmosphere are in for what Aliberti hopes will be a pleasant surprise. He visualizes a venue with multiple environments, from a fine-dining restaurant to a sports bar to a casual lounge with plush couches. The décor of the first floor will revolve around sports, while the second floor will feature occasional live music.

“That’s two things that I love, basically, and since I’m gonna be here most hours of every day and night, might as well make it something that I enjoy,” Aliberti said.

Entering A.K.’s from 111 State St., the first room on the right will serve as a restaurant seating 30 to 35 guests. The space will have a separate menu from the rest of the business, catering to clientele looking for a fine-dining experience.
Moving further into the building, past the main bar, guests will enter a room filled with autographed jerseys and other sports memorabilia. Televisions will broadcast New England sports games, and waitstaff will serve casual American cuisine.

But the most significant renovations appear upstairs.

“Up on the second floor is where most people will notice the majority of the difference if they have been here in the past,” Aliberti explained. “There used to be a gigantic bar in the center of the upstairs. I knocked that out,” he said. “By doing that you no longer have these narrow alleyways where people get kind of cluttered together trying to walk by and bumping into each other.”  

The new bar will be in the back of the room, with high tables and bar stools, and remaining space created by ripping out the old bar will feature two distinct environments. One room will consist of a sit-down restaurant with a fireplace, while an adjacent room will serve as a lounge with leather couches, ottomans and coffee tables.

Twenty different craft beers and imports will be on tap, including Redhook, Long Trail, Magic Hat, Guinness, New Castle and Stella Artois.

To start, A.K.’s will host live acoustic music two nights a week. The music will serve as a background for conversations and dining. If the program proves successful, Aliberti could expand the concept.

But his primary aim is to appeal to a varied clientele.

“I’m trying to take on a different approach. Rather than picking one and catering everything to that one group, that one demographic, I want to create different environments so that everyone can come and feel comfortable,” he said. “It might change as I go along, but I have this vision of everyone coming, everyone from families to business professionals.”

Aliberti admits he’s a novice, and he knows he is entering a market with plenty of tough competition, but he looks forward to the challenge.

“The more the merrier,” he said. “People come to Portsmouth to dine and to relax and enjoy themselves and I hope that I can add to that.”