A new chapter begins for Queen’s Pub after five year closure

By Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist and Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

After closing down in 2020 due to COVID-19, Queen’s Pub has officially reopened this week in the newly renovated John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC) on Queen’s campus. 

Queen’s Pub is run by a central Queen’s undergraduate organization, the Alma Mater Society (AMS). 

The biggest changes are in the kitchen, with food being the main focus in this new chapter.  “The kitchen was a microwave, one fryer,” recounted Avery Papoulidis, one of the pub’s Assistant Managers. “Now we have a really fancy kitchen that’s huge and state of the art…”

The reopening does not include the return of The Underground nightclub, which was also previously run by AMS Pub Services. “Students don’t actually want to go to a student-run nightclub,” Head Manager Greyson Martyn noted, citing declining interest and revenue. “…times have changed, students have changed, and policies have changed a lot.”

“The only thing that’s missing [at Queen’s Pub] is a bit more character, which is what the next few years are going to do,” Martyn concluded.

Listen to the full story here.