One of Providence's Ultimate Neighborhood Bars Has New Owners
GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle
One of Providence's Ultimate Neighborhood Bars Has New Owners
His father Terry Oates had bought Gilligan’s Pub in 1992, in a space that has served as a neighborhood watering hole dating back to 1933.
According to Brenden Oates, bars are in his family’s lineage.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“My family had Oates Tavern in North Providence,” said Oates, noting his father had worked there in high school.
Now 32, Oates said he said among his earlier memories were going to see his father at Gilligan's with his mother on St. Patrick’s Day.
“It was always a group of friends and family,” said Oates.
After college at URI, Oates began picking up shifts to help out, and got to know the regulars, at the small — and cozy — bar, as the seating capacity stands at 25.
Among the regulars Oates got to know were folks in the restaurant industry who would stop by after their shifts were over.
“The staff at Los Andes are just the best,” said Oates, of a core group of regulars from the Peruvian restaurant just up the street that would come in. “They’d work hard and come down for a nightcap.”
It was there that the Oates family came to know Amanda Fullam, a Burrillville native who worked at Los Andes -- and came to love Gilligan's.
“She really stood out,” said Oates.
During the pandemic, Oates’ father Terry was diagnosed with cancer, and the devastating closures in the hospitality industry made him rethink his future owning the business.
Enter Fullam.
Fullam tells GoLocal after years in the restaurant industry, she knew what she wanted her next step to be — owning a bar.
“I probably made over 17,000 mojitos at Los Andes,” laughed Fullam, who says she has a passion for cocktails and introducing people to new beverages and drinks.
Fullam said she was looking around for an opportunity and had a couple of potential options that didn’t work out.
Enter the Oates.
“They actually approached me when Terry was looking to retire,” said Fullam.
From there, the seeds of the sale of the bar were sown.
Fullam said she began working at Gilligan's for the past few months to “get a feel” for the bar, and on November 9, it became official — Fullam and her husband became the new owners.
“Gilligan’s is just a great neighborhood pub,” said Fullam. “Very casual with affordable drinks.”
Fullam says she has plans to introduce some new local products — but otherwise, she plans to keep the bar pretty much exactly as it’s always been — an ultimate neighborhood bar.
Veteran bartenders have stayed on under the new ownership, and the annual Christmas party has already been scheduled and planned.
And for the Oates, they couldn’t be happier.
“It was important to us that the bar stayed pretty much the same,” said Oates, noting that it’s one of the last true neighborhood bars standing in the area.
“We love Providence. We love everything about Providence,” said Fullam of the young couple’s decision to invest in the city. “The food scene, the arts and culture — we’re excited to be an actual part of it.”