By Cecilia Nasmith
It's official – the former Queens Hotel in Colborne is open again, and a few changes have been made.
A happy crowd gathered at the newly christened Royal Crown Pub and Grill at 4 King St. E. for Sunday's ribbon-cutting, entertained by the music of Taylored Post and Kevin Parrish, as well as baskets of freshly-fried-up home-made potato chips at each table.
But the change is not in name only, said new owner Maddy Shivarama.
The Queen's was a wonderful Irish pub, he said. As The Royal Crown, it will certainly be more English – but instead of a pub, it will be a pub and restaurant.
Shivarama's customers are delighted to drop in just to order a burger or wings and – instead of pub tables – they sit in new comfortable booths. An accessible bathroom is now located upstairs, in addition to the downstairs ones. And if you're really serious about nice quiet dining, there's an adjacent dining room.
The railings he put up in front of the building encircle the new patio that lets people enjoy the summer while they may. And inside, there's a beautiful old pool table that is free for anyone to use. You can enjoy live entertainment Saturdays and karaoke Fridays.
Shivarama moved to Northumberland County from Scarborough little more than a year ago, settling in Brighton and discovering the Colborne hotel. He is looking forward to becoming a part of his adopted community and delighted to reopen such a key part of the village's downtown.
The Queens Hotel, as it was known for about half a century, was opened by the Gilligan family on April Fool's Day 1973. It closed on St. Patrick's Day 2020. For a few years, Ruth Van Egmond's lovely mural of Colborne's early days covered the brick side of the building on Division Street, which featured a lovelorn young lady dubbed Miss Colborne. (though, unfortunately, the upkeep to keep it fresh was too much for the owners).
The beautiful stone-arch entrance remains, however, welcoming you inside to see what's going on these days at the Royal Crown.
