J.W. Trainor’s to celebrate 40 years

Popular West End bar marks a milestone

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More than a year after it reopened following damage from Hurricane Sandy, J.W. Trainor’s, a popular bar and restaurant in the West End, will hold its 40th anniversary celebration next week.

“My father, Jim, and his partner, Mike Petillo, started it in 1974,” said Jim Trainor Jr., who owns the bar with his brother, Tim. “They were both airplane mechanics at Kennedy Airport, and they wanted to retire, so they bought the bar and it’s been in the family ever since.”

Trainor’s, at 912 W. Beech St., was previously a bar called the Virginian, Jim Trainor said. After his father and Petillo purchased the bar and building, they named it the Sand Bar, which was known for its nautical theme.

“It’s been a family-run establishment for 40 years,” Jim Trainor said. “It was the Sand Bar originally and later, when my father bought out his partner, he wanted a change so he changed it to his name, J.W. Trainor’s, and that’s been the name for about 15 years or so.”

Jim and his brothers, Tim and Michael, worked as bar-backs and bartenders. In 2004, when Jim Sr. retired, Jim and Tim Trainor bought the business. Their mother, Jane, cooked at the establishment, as did Tim, who took over when she retired about a decade ago.

Like many businesses in the West End, Trainor’s sustained significant damage during Sandy; last year, the business received help from Project Pay it Forward, a local organization dedicated to getting storm-ravaged Long Beach businesses rebuilt and off the ground.

“It was great because it afforded us the chance to have guys come in and hang sheet rock, paint and clean up without having to go into our pockets for all the materials,” Jim Trainor said.

“Otherwise we would have had to wait longer and we wouldn’t have been able to open as quickly as we did,” added Tim Trainor. “Insurance was dragging their feet — they wanted receipts for every single thing — I have coolers worth $2,000, but they’re a couple of years old. All of the receipts were in our office but they were washed away.”

Now that the business is up and running, the brothers said that they are looking forward to celebrating with family, friends and customers on April 26. The event will include free food, drink specials, live music, and giveaways.

And Jim Trainor said that they’re looking to reestablish the Sand Bar’s nautical theme in the near future.

“We want to kind of bring back that beach feel, bring that history back to it,” he said.

J.W. Trainor’s will hold its 40th anniversary celebration on Saturday, April 26, starting at 2 p.m. at 912 W. Beech St.