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Finnegan’s Wake in Avon closes

Lauren Glendenning
lglendenning@vaildaily.com
Vail, CO Colorado

AVON, Colorado – Finnegan’s Wake in Avon announced Thursday that it has closed after 6 1/2 years in business.

Owners Tim and Maggie Parker are hosting a closing party this weekend that will include food and drink specials, as well as a garage sale-type sale of all of the restaurant’s memorabilia.

Maggie Parker said the closing is because of a significant rent increase by the building’s owner, a bank out of Ohio that took ownership of the property this past June after the previous owners went into foreclosure.



“There was going to be rent increases and we didn’t feel, at this point, we could do that,” Maggie Parker said.

Finnegan’s employees are sad to see the establishment go, said Paul Dority, who handled all of the live music bookings for the bar and restaurant.

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“I think it’s better to go ahead and hang it up, though,” Dority said.

Dority is helping to arrange the weekend festivities, which will include a lot of live music from many of the local bands and musicians who have played at Finnegan’s over the years, he said.

Jamie Mortakis, a manager at Finnegan’s for the last six months, said she has a job at a new restaurant opening in Beaver Creek this winter, but some other employees aren’t so lucky.

“Two staff members are moving (out of the valley),” she said. “I believe everyone else is scrambling for jobs.”

Mortakis will miss the local scene at Finnegan’s. She said it was a true local’s bar.

Maggie Parker said there are several people interested in the space and she expects to see a new restaurant open up there in the near future. She said relocating Finnegan’s to another location just wasn’t an option.

She said she’s sorry the restaurant has to close.

“It’s been good. We had some really good times here,” Maggie Parker said. “I can’t say I’m not sad to see it go, but life goes on, I guess. Everything happens for a reason.”

Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com.


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