Something for everyone
By GARY PULEO
Times Herald Staff
NORRISTOWN — Is it an English Pub on the outskirts of town, or more of a family restaurant serving up tasty helpings of Mom’s Meatloaf?
Is it a hip hangout where both local celebrities and regular people alike can mingle over beers and Manhattans, or is it a cabaret stage where crooners and divas can bring down the house as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Patsy Cline?
If there’s any doubt what Beagle Tavern aims to be, well, all things to all people pretty much sums up Billy Frank’s philosophy.
“We welcome all walks of life in this establishment,” Frank said, sitting on the tavern’s front deck one recent afternoon, as a balmy breeze rustled the leaves of potted palms nearby.
With the noon hour closing in, the lunch crowd was trickling in from several directions. Some customers were wearing neckties, while others were hopping out of pickup trucks along Main Street, as if validating the diversity of the crowd the Beagle Tavern has been attracting since it opened a month ago.
Over 500 people showed up for an open house a few weeks back, Frank proudly pointed out.
“It was amazing how all kinds of people came together. It was a great feeling of community and people were coming from everywhere — King of Prussia, Bridgeport, Trooper, Philly, Bucks County. Since then we see a new face here every day.”
Though the Norristown native has made his name for the last 24 years via a decidedly different sort of business — William Frank Hair Designs in West Norriton — the veteran stylist had dreams that could no longer be defined by a pair of scissors and a blow dryer.