BUSINESS

Seekonk's Old Grist Mill Tavern is for sale

Owner says the restaurant isn't closing, though

Herald News staff
The asking price for the Old Grist Mill Tavern in Seekonk, which repoened in 2014 two years after a catastrophic fire, is $3 million. Meanwhile, the tavern's owner is saying that it's business as usual at the restaurant in the meantime.

SEEKONK — Another iconic local venue is up for sale.

The Old Grist Mill Tavern, which reopened in 2014 two years after a catastrophic fire, is on the market. The asking price is $3 million.

Meanwhile, the owner says the business itself is not closing.

The Old Grist Mill Tavern, in Seekonk since 1745, closed after a fire in June of 2012. An out-of-control tractor-trailer carrying bananas crashed into a natural gas main and ignited an explosion, setting fire to the 18th-century building that housed a tavern, destroying it.

No one was in the building at the time.

The tavern was then partially rebuilt and reopened in November 2014.

The tavern building, at 390 Fall River Ave., was originally constructed in 1745 for grinding grain raised by area farmers, according to the tavern's website.

"The stories within these walls are measurable by memories, milestones, and especially the love that has gone into this building by its current owners," reads the listing for the property from Commercial Real Estate Exchange, a Massachusetts-based real estate business.

The tavern is situated over the Runnins River and features three huge stone fireplaces. The main dining room is graced by a waterfall that runs directly below it.

While the news is coming as a shock to patrons, especially on the heels of the news that the Venus de Milo in nearby Swansea is also closing, the people who run the tavern are assuring customers that they will still be able to eat and get takeout there.

In a post on their Facebook page, the tavern said it wasn't closing, despite the property being listed for sale.

In an interview with WJAR-TV, owner Greg Esmay said the same thing.

"It has nothing to do with coronavirus, nor any any financial issues," Esmay told WJAR. "We're totally solvent. There's not a problem in the world."