New 'Dockside Pub' Planned For Humphrey Street In Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — An oceanside pub is in line to come to the Swampscott waterfront this spring after the owners of the Village Tavern in Salem were approved for a liquor license transfer at their new Dockside Pub planned for 286 Humphrey Street.

Owners Andrew and Alex Ingemi described the location, which will take over the former ZestFriendz spot and liquor license, as planned to be a "comfortable pub-type atmosphere" with plans to sell traditional seafood fare both in the pub and via a to-go window near the beach.

"It seems to me that the town didn't have a pub," Andrew Ingemi, a Swampscott resident, told the Select Board. "We have 11 years of experience — 22 years combined between the two of us — and we want to put a seafood pub in that spot."

ZestFriendz closed in December with the final day of operation for the bakery/cocktail bar on Christmas Eve.

The was one public comment during the hearing expressing some concern about noise and litter from a pub in the location with hours approved from 7:30 a.m. (for a potential breakfast menu) until 1 a.m.

Andrew Ingemi said he expects the pub will close before 1 a.m. on most days and would be a much different concept than the Village Tavern.

"I want to put something here that I think the town lacks and would enjoy," he said. "The Tavern is its own beast with 14,000 square feet and 400 people in there. ... This will be a completely different situation, different community and different clientele."

Andrew Ingemi said in their 11 years of ownership the Village Tavern had "like four incidents" and that each time there is a situation "we correct it, we learn from it and those things don't happen again."

The owners said with the proper approvals the target for the Dockside Pub is to open before June 1.

A new website in development proclaimed the business as "coming soon" as of Monday.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)