Connecticut Yankee Changes Hands, Remains Boston Sports Haven

Connecticut Yankee, Potrero Hill's safe haven for Boston sports fans, is changing ownership after more than 25 years under current owner Fritz Frisbie. Pour Guys (Tony Cooney, Joey Christensen, Eric Mejia, Stephen Crawford), the bar and restaurant group behind the divey Tempest and Louie's, will be taking over operations sometime in October (or as soon as the ABC license change comes through), Inside Scoop reports.

The group has been courting Frisbie for the past year, taking the time to convince him they wouldn’t change the essence of the place after he retires. "We reassured him we'd not change too much and not negate everything he's worked on for so long," Cooney told us. "Our style of business is keeping the tradition going of what it has been, just breathing some life into it."

Cooney said their first priority is to clean the place up a bit while learning what the bar needs over time, though chefs Stephen Crawford and Travis Miles will immediately focus on upgrading the food, keeping it bar-friendly with burgers, sandwiches and some Boston classics. Other improvements will include a new draft beer system and replacing some equipment, as well as general manager (and Boston sports fan) Jon Broyer overseeing day-to-day operations.

Bottom line: it will stay the Yankee, just version 2.0. "People are worried we may change it, but people who know us know we’re not going to," Cooney said. "It's a Boston sports bar, and it will stay a Boston sports bar. We just want to get in there and start having fun." And so just like the Patriots' stunning disregard for rules, the Yankee as we know it will live on.