Bob Hyland’s Sports Page Pub Celebrates 30th Anniversary
By Peter Gerken
Thirty years ago this Thursday, White Plains native, Stepinac alumni and former professional football player Bob Hyland opened his second restaurant. On December 15, 1981, the first drinks were served at Bob Hyland’s Sports Page Pub in White Plains. Today Hyland and his wife, Liz, run the sports bar/restaurant located at 200 Hamilton Avenue in downtown White Plains, a short walk from the Metro-North train station and a few minutes from city hall.
His first restaurant, which opened in 1973, was called The Single Wing and was located on Westchester Avenue. He owned The Single Wing for over 20 years before selling it.
Hyland is a White Plains native who played football at Stepinac before going on to star at Boston College. He was the ninth overall pick of the 1967 NFL draft. He went on to play for the Green Bay Packers (1967-1969, 1976), Chicago Bears (1970), New York Giants (1971- 1975) and the New England Patriots (1977).
Bob Hyland’s Sports Page Pub was originally located at 1205 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains. That site was the location for his restaurant until April 2006, when he decided to relocate to Hamilton Avenue because his landlord set the rent too high on Mamaroneck Avenue, he said.
At the old location, pro athletes would frequent Hyland’s restaurant. “It was a very popular place being right off the Hutchinson River Parkway,” Hyland recalled. “I remember John Davidson from the Rangers and quite a few of the guys when they were still practicing at Rye. Friends of mine from the Giants used to stop in all the time. We used to broadcast a Wednesday night radio show on WFAS; it was a sports talk show. Rob Astorino was the moderator as a matter of fact.”
With the move to Hamilton Avenue, Hyland knew there was going to be a little different feel to the Sports Page Pub and a different kind of clientele. “We were hoping that we would have a lot of walk-in traffic which we didn’t have at the old place. At the old place you had to drive there. It was a destination kind of restaurant. Here we thought with the various corporations and office buildings around here we would have a lot of walk-in people, you know. We had some but it certainly hasn’t reached my expectations but I think that’s more because of what happened to our economic climate.”
The Sports Page Pub is a very relaxing and entertaining place to watch a ballgame and spend time with family and friends. There are more televisions around the restaurant than you could count and the bar is decorated with some wonderful sports memordilia that is fascinating to look at. In fact, you can spend hours just looking at the pictures all over the restaurant.
You could go to the restaurant every day for two months and still not sample the number of choices Hyland has on the menu. In recent months Hyland has added barbeque food to the menu. You can try some different flavors of spare-ribs, brisket, pulled pork and smoked chicken. If you can’t decide on what to have and are wavering on what to order there are six different BBQ combo platters that will quench any appetite.
“We brought that in two or three months ago and people seem to be real happy with it. They like it. It’s an alternative from the menu that we have had over the years. Obviously we’re very big into burgers and steak sandwiches and that kind of thing so this was a new endeavour for us. As people try it and they become knowledgeable about us having it I think it’s going to help our business a lot.”
Don’t worry if you’re looking for something other than BBQ; there is a plethora of appetizers to select from, wings, salads, sandwiches, burgers, Mexican food and pizza to name a few selections. If you’re thirsty there are over 10 different draft beers and bottled beers.
Hyland is a very gracious host and is a wonderful storyteller. Don’t be surprised to see him mingling with guests throughout the day. He values all of his customers over the years and realizes the importance of having regular customers in the competitive restaurant industry.
“The life blood of any restaurant is repeat business. You’re hoping that you’re going to have those folks who can stop in once a week or a few times a month and so forth. Naturally we have some customers who are here every day. They’re some of our favorite people. If we just can have people who have us as part of their regular routine that’s what we really shoot for,” said Hyland. “We have a lot of families coming in here with their kids for lunch and dinner. We really enjoy that aspect of it.”
Bob Hyland’s Sports Page Pub’s website is www.sportspagepub.com and its Twitter handle is @SportsPagePub.
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