As a longtime restaurant closes its doors, the building owner hopes to attract a tenant to provide the community with another dining option.
Developer Art Russo established Ale Mary’s — a gastropub and sports bar — at 126 Franklin Ave. in March 2014 and turned over management of the business to Wayne County-based Settlers Hospitality on July 1, 2025.
After the management change was announced, Settlers officials touted new appetizer and entrée options as “craveable and affordable.”
The final day for Ale Mary’s was Sunday, Russo said.
“I won’t reopen Ale Mary’s,” he said. “I just want to look for a tenant to come in and take it over. It was a very hard decision … it was just time for change.”
Russo said he cherished his time operating the restaurant and interacting with customers for more than a decade in downtown Scranton.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “We had a wonderful group of people that went there. The whole time was a pleasure. It was just something that I personally didn’t want to run anymore and that’s why I brought in the management company. I feel bad for the customers because I know it was a popular place.”
Settlers also relaunched Madame Jenny’s — a speakeasy-style nightclub inside the Ale Mary’s property — which originally opened in April 2019 and was named after Jennie Duffy, who operated a bawdy house in Scranton for many years in the early 20th century.
Settlers operates several hotels and restaurants in the Pocono Mountains and Lackawanna County, including the Settlers Inn, Glass – wine. bar. kitchen at Ledges Hotel, and Cocoon Coffeehouse and Bakery, all in Hawley; the Dock on Wallenpaupack at Silver Birches Resort in Palmyra Twp.; and Kōl Grill at Hotel Anthracite in Carbondale.
The Ale Mary’s building previously housed Whistles Pub & Eatery for 15 years before that business closed in November 2010.