Lakeview Tavern looking for new home after nine years in Meredith Village

MEREDITH — Customers sit at tables, enjoying their food, as regulars sit at the bar, beer in hand, while locals help take down the bar top. Power tools ring, unscrewing bolts, breaking apart wood that sends pieces flying. Walking into the Lakeview Tavern on Feb. 7, you wouldn’t have known they were being evicted.

“Thank God for all the friends and people who are patrons of the Lakeview Tavern that helped us move,” owner Mark Young said. “These people worked their asses off basically for free beer.”

Customer Thomas Reddy usually comes to the Lakeview Tavern for dinner or to play pool with friends. On Feb. 7, he was taking down the bar top with his own tools. Reddy is appreciative of the owners, Young and his wife Tracy, and what they have provided Meredith with their business, so he decided to help.

“They have a friendly atmosphere here and I figured I’d just help out, save them some money, you know, without them having to hire somebody, because this is such an unfortunate situation,” he said.

While patrons eat, drink and break down the restaurant, regular Darryl Brown gives a surprise toast.

“It's such a great bar, a great place to hang out for all these years. We love you very much,” Brown said. “And somebody asked me to dedicate a song to you and it's not very loud, but here it is. You ready? ‘I Love This Bar!'”

Brown, with his phone in hand, played a recording of the song “I Love This Bar” by Toby Keith, as a tribute to a bar he will no longer frequent after this night. Once the music starts, the sounds of singing drown out the song from the phone speakers. This night was the end of an era.

“I moved here 22 years ago,” Young said. “Exit 23 was supposed to be a place of growing opportunity, but the bigger places [are] taking it over. The little guy don't have a chance around here no more.”

Issues with the lease

Young first signed a 12-year lease when he started the restaurant with his partners in 2015. Since then, the building has had many owners, including current owner Brad Leighton, who bought the property in August 2022. In January 2023, Leighton served Young an eviction notice. Young, caught off guard, took Leighton to court.

When Leighton bought the property in 2022, there was a misunderstanding about whether Young properly renewed his lease. Leighton believed Young’s lease had lapsed, and that he had become a month-to-month tenant.

“At no time during that time anybody told me I became a tenant-at-will,” Young said.

The district court ruled there was no “meeting of the minds” between the owner and the tenant laying out the essential terms to form a valid contract, deciding the case in favor of Leighton. The case was appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which also sided with Leighton.

At this time, Leighton decided to evict the Lakeview Tavern, with plans to lease to First Choice Foods, the restaurant group that owns The Breeze and Ellacoya Barn and Grille in Gilford.

First Choice confirmed they are opening a new restaurant, The Breeze: By The Bay, in a Facebook post on March 12.

According to RSA 540, a tenant-at-will can be evicted for “other good cause,” which could include legitimate business reasons of the landlord. Due to The Breeze: By The Bay’s rent being higher than that of the Lakeview Tavern, the court ruled in Leighton’s favor.

Leighton declined to comment for this story, and Ken Choice, owner of First Choice Foods, was unable to be reached after multiple attempts.

Moving into the future

With Lakeview Tavern closed, regulars are looking for a new haunt.

Ron Boucher runs Foosball Sports Vending, a company that sells recreational sports tables. He also manages “Tavern Players Magazine” highlighting pubs, bar games, distilleries and beer. Boucher had a pool table at Lakeview Tavern before it closed. He is disappointed the Lakeview Tavern is gone, as it was the only place in the area with a pool table available to the public.

“For those of us that like to go to places like the little bar where you could have a couple of beers, talk a little loud, but just have a good time and shoot a game, that's basically gone" from Meredith, Boucher said.

He suggested the eviction of Lakeview Tavern represents a bigger trend regarding tourism and affordability in Meredith.

“It's getting to a point where it's like this high society, high class type of every place you go into. And it's almost pushing out the middle-income person a little bit,” he said.

Boucher said he was treated respectfully by Leighton about getting his equipment back.

Like Boucher, Vynnie Hale, owner of The Galleries at 30 Main, visited the Lakeview Tavern for a drink during the week after work. He believes there isn’t another place in town to satisfy his needs. Now, every Thursday, he drives almost 30 minutes to sit at the bar at a Mexican restaurant in Tilton, Frontera.

“That’s my new hangout,” Hale chuckled. “The bartenders are really friendly.”

Despite the love many locals had for the Lakeview Tavern, social media points to The Breeze as a popular addition to Meredith. The Facebook post announcing the new restaurant amassed nearly 500 likes, more than 50 comments and over 100 shares, from Meredith residents, Lakes Region and New Hampshire locals as well as some out-of-staters. Lynn Leighton, who is a member of the Meredith Selectboard, Greater Meredith Program president, as well as co-chair for the Promotions Committee, and Brad Leighton’s wife, commented on the new restaurant addition.

“The majority of people in Meredith, in my view, welcome the addition of The Breeze in our community,” Lynn said. “It will be nice for the town of Meredith to have [an] additional choice for a dining experience.”

She hopes to leave the legal dispute in the past.

“Things happened, and now we look forward. There’s a reason why the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror,” she said. “I love the town of Meredith and I love the community, and we’re excited.”

Young is also looking forward. He intends to take the Lakeview Tavern elsewhere. Young and his wife are still looking for a new place. In the meantime, all the tables, chairs, kitchen equipment and anything else they kept from the restaurant is in a freight container in front of their house, as well as taking up a lot of space in their home.

“I got my sunroom full of chairs and stuff in there, I got my hallways in my house full of kitchen equipment, I got my driveway full of kitchen equipment. I can't even walk in my house, barely,” Young said. “I had to do something with all this stuff.”

With the Lakeview Tavern gone and with an uncertain future, Young doesn’t see a clear path to reopening. That being said, he will not give up in trying to restart his restaurant.

"We've got a long way to go, but most likely will wind up over out of town at some point,” Young said.

“There's nothing we can do," he continued. "We put up a good fight.”