![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771772843_929_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s rare when the essence of the owner is embedded in his business, but that\u2019s the case with The Corner Bar in Sag Harbor, which has changed ownership after 48 years.<\/p>\n
Jim Smyth\u00a0opened The Corner Bar\u00a0in February 1978, running it until\u00a0his death\u00a0in 2017 at 66. The business was put\u00a0into a trust for his widow, Margaret Smyth, 69, and remained open until Feb. 8, when the eatery closed after an emotional goodbye bash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A photo of the founder\u00a0on a restaurant wall had a message stating “his true\u00a0wealth was in his generous heart.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
This photo of previous owner Jim Smyth adorned the walls of The Corner Bar before it closed on Feb. 8 after 48 years.\u00a0\u00a0 Credit: Newsday\/Melissa Azofeifa<\/p>\n
“It was like his living room,” said Rhodi Winchell, 70, Margaret Smyth’s sister, who\u00a0worked at the iconic East End restaurant on opening night in 1978 as a server and remained there for years.\u00a0Margaret said economic hardship wasn\u2019t the reason for the sale. “It was time to retire,” she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
The restaurant was always packed,\u00a0Margaret\u00a0said. The Corner Bar drew songwriters and musicians such as Nancy Atlas (who also previously worked at the eatery\u00a0as a server) and Vince Gill.<\/p>\n
That was “his private place that you could all come to,” Margaret\u00a0said of Smyth. “That\u2019s how he treated you; he wanted to give you the best.”<\/p>\n
New owners\u00a0John and Kelly Piccinnini, who also own The Clam Bar and Sett Coffee in Amagansett, vow to keep what the community loves about the landmark eatery, including its name. They want to make it “a true modern \u2018Cheers,\u2019 ” John Piccinnini said. Their goal is to reopen in June, he added.<\/p>\n
Kelly Piccinnini described the new menu, still a work in progress, as a “gastropub menu with a costal flair.” It will include classic comfort food options such as fish and chips and a signature burger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also plan to have events such as karaoke, mah-jongg and bingo nights.<\/p>\n
“To me, it\u2019s truly an honor,” John\u00a0said of taking over the eatery. “It is something that we\u2019re taking seriously and taking to heart and acknowledge the sensitivities of Sag Harbor, maintaining that local affordable place where everyone can go to.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday’s FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s rare when the essence of the owner is embedded in his business, but that\u2019s the case with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8695,10203,9,11,10,49,51,50,821],"class_list":{"0":"post-141811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-feedme","9":"tag-fmopen","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-new-york-state","14":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-state-news","16":"tag-restaurants"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}