Life stirs at The Wycombe Inn

UPDATE July 21, 2010: The Wycombe Pub & Grill is now open for business! Just a soft opening for now, with a grand opening planned for the future. Casual menu, reasonably priced. Nice staff! We’ll write something more in the future.

When we tell people that we live in Wycombe we usually get asked about The Wycombe Inn. Funny thing. On one hand, people say how out of the way it is. And, yet, everyone seems to know where it is, and has a fond memory of one of its incarnations.

The Inn has been closed for over a year, much to our dismay (how nice to have a place within walking distance!). But as we drove by a couple of weeks ago, both of our heads snapped to the left. There was a bright orange neon “Public Notice of Application / Alcoholic beverages” sticker on the window. Yippee.

I stopped in yesterday to snoop around and met the new owner, local Kevin Dougherty, who extended a plaster and paint-splattered hand in welcome. Kevin has been very busy renovating the place. Gone is the tired old carpet, replaced by earth-tone ceramic tiles. The walls are light, a new bar extends from the previous bar and the overall feeling is of a space that has been freed from its recent dark past.

I didn’t want to take up too much of Kevin’s time, but asked him to call me as they get closer to opening – which he hopes will be in six weeks. He did tell me the menu will be “casual.” And I did request that they stock some decent bourbon.