{"id":321609,"date":"2026-08-14T21:18:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T21:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/321609\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T21:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T21:18:54","slug":"st-sebastian-church-donovans-pub-queens-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/321609\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Sebastian Church, Donovan\u2019s Pub: Queens History"},"content":{"rendered":"

WOODSIDE \u2014 They stand across a narrow, one-way\u00a0street from one another as two pillars of the community,\u00a0one feeding stomachs\u00a0and the other feeding the soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donovan\u2019s Pub, modeled\u00a0after\u00a0a traditional Irish pub,\u00a0opened on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and\u00a058th\u00a0Street in 1966.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0across\u00a0the street from\u00a0St. Sebastian Church<\/a>, which has stood at its current location\u00a0since 1955.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past 60 years, the\u00a0church\u00a0\u2014\u00a0on\u00a0the former site of the Loew\u2019s Woodside Theater \u2014\u00a0and the pub\u00a0have\u00a0watched\u00a0the Woodside\u00a0community\u00a0change\u00a0around them while they\u00a0have\u00a0both\u00a0remained\u00a0mainstays\u00a0of the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Woodside \u201cwas always very commercial,\u201d with Roosevelt Avenue\u00a0boasting\u00a0a variety of\u00a0stores\u00a0under the elevated No. 7 train line,\u00a0there has been\u00a0significant\u00a0growth\u00a0in recent years, said Dan Connor, the co-owner of Donovan\u2019s Pub.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supper Series: In NYC, Diners Flock to Pete\u2019s Tavern Where O. Henry Penned Christmas Classic<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re really seeing over the past decade or so is high-rises\u00a0coming in, just building after building being built,\u201d\u00a0said Connor, who bought the restaurant with his brother-in-law James Jacobson from the original owner Joe Donovan in 2013. \u201cAnd\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just bringing\u00a0more and more\u00a0people to the neighborhood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

St.\u00a0Sebastian Church\u00a0is \u201cthe heart of this community,\u201d said\u00a0Connor,\u00a0a lifelong parishioner.\u00a0He noted that\u00a0Donovan\u2019s Pub is the go-to place for many\u00a0churchgoers\u00a0for parties for baptisms, communion, confirmations, and even weddings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0just\u00a0go great together, and everything that happens in this community happens between these buildings, whether\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0getting married, or having a baptism,\u00a0or saying goodbye to someone you love,\u201d Connor said. \u201cIt all happens in that building across the street,\u00a0and then people come\u00a0here\u00a0and remember and celebrate\u00a0as well.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Father Patrick West, pastor of St. Sebastian\u00a0Church,\u00a0said\u00a0Donovan\u2019s Pub\u00a0is\u00a0\u201can institution in Woodside,\u00a0adding that the two are connected by community spirit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone from the neighborhood comes to worship, even from outside the neighborhood. People\u00a0who\u00a0have\u00a0moved from\u00a0here\u00a0are always\u00a0coming back,\u201d Father West said. \u201cDonovan\u2019s is an important part of\u00a0their growing up in family life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donovan\u2019s Pub\u00a0is famous for its hamburgers,\u00a0but\u00a0the restaurant\u00a0also prides itself on its corned beef and cabbage, which is a Thursday night tradition.\u00a0Father West\u00a0said his\u00a0favorite\u00a0dish\u00a0is\u00a0the\u00a0bacon cheeseburger, nicknamed\u00a0\u201cWoodside\u201d on the menu. He said\u00a0when he wants a healthier\u00a0option,\u00a0he turns to\u00a0the chicken breast with asparagus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supper Series: From Refugee Camp Meals to Papal Dinners, Celebrity Chef Lidia Bastianich Gives Back<\/a><\/p>\n

Connor also touted the restaurant\u2019s expertly poured Guinness.\u00a0Bartender Christine D\u2019Alonzo said the key to a perfect\u00a0Guinness\u00a0is\u00a0to let the foam settle for\u00a0nearly two\u00a0minutes before serving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re sitting at the bar having a drink, having dinner, we pour a proper Guinness like nobody else in New York,\u201d\u00a0Connor said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In another nod to\u00a0tradition,\u00a0Donovan\u2019s Pub\u00a0has not changed the main dining room, though it has expanded its dining areas over the years.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0modeled after a cozy Irish pub that one would find in Dublin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0one thing\u00a0we promised the community,\u201d\u00a0Connor said, \u201cis that if they still supported us, we would bring back a little more life, but we\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0change the charm.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WOODSIDE \u2014 They stand across a narrow, one-way\u00a0street from one another as two pillars of the community,\u00a0one feeding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-321609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321609","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=321609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}