Nevin and Collins will pass the bar’s legacy on to a new owner
After more than 40 years serving the Allegany and St. Bonaventure communities delicious burgers, cold beer and great memories, The Burton has been put up for sale.
The restaurant and bar posted to Facebook on March 18 detailing the reasons the owners, siblings Crisanne Nevin and Chuck Collins, decided to sell. Nevin and her family plan to move to Buffalo, and Collins needs eye surgery, which will keep him out of work for up to a year during recovery.
“My husband took a job in Buffalo, and he’s currently commuting every day,” Nevin said. “We’re going to relocate next year when my daughter graduates high school. My brother’s eyesight is diminishing rapidly. He has to get a cornea transplant, and when that happens, he could take up to a year to recover and not be able to work at all. I can’t do it by myself. We decided now is the time.”
The Burton has been a staple for Allegany residents during the week and Bonaventure students at night for many years. Patsy Collins, Nevin’s father, bought the bar in 1975 and owned it until deciding to sell it to his children six years ago.
“My brother and I purchased it from him in 2013, but despite only owning it for six years, we’ve been in the business for a long time,” Nevin said. “I’ve been in it for about 25 years, and he’s been in it about 40.”
St. Bonaventure alumni and current students had an array of emotions hearing of The Burton being put up for sale.
“My first reaction was shock,” Neil Bommele, an ‘87 accounting graduate, said. “I figured Crisanne would be there forever.”
“It was definitely sad to hear the decision,” Will Delaney, a junior accounting student who currently works at the bar, said. “The decision makes sense, though. Eventually there comes a point when everyone has to move on.”
Some people mistakenly heard the news and thought The Burton would be closing.
“I thought that it meant it was closing, which I didn’t understand at all,” LB Hayes, a ’16 ’17 marketing graduate. “After I read the article and the Facebook post made by the owner, I was actually happy for them. They have put so much into that bar and made it an amazing place for so many years, and most people wouldn’t want to give something like that up.”
“We aren’t closing the doors, and we’ll be operating as usual until the sale is final,” Nevin said. “A lot of people were under the assumption we’re closing, but we’re not closing. We’re not desperate to sell, so we’ll be here until the end.”
Over its lifetime, The Burton has created lasting memories for everyone who walks through its doors. Alumni were quick to share some of their favorite times.
“My friends and I would go into town to the Burton once or twice a week for dinner,” Joe O’Halloran, a ’09 journalism graduate, said. “It has a home-style feel we all looked forward to and would give us an escape from the books and campus.”
Delaney said he’s come to love Thursdays when The Burton has $5 burgers.
“It’s become such a regular with my girlfriend that the waitress Chelsea knows our order by heart,” Delaney said.
“I was there my freshman year, the fall of 1990, and there were a couple of guys singing ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ to this girl, and they were leaning on the pinball machine,” Ron Motta, a ’94 English graduate, said. “And almost as if in slow motion, the pinball machine started tipping over and over, then all of a sudden crashed on the floor. It was a Saturday night, the place was packed, but you could hear a pin drop after that.”
“My other favorite memory was around 2006,” Motta said. “My friend Tim asked to go to lunch, and we decided, ‘let’s go get a Burton burger.’ So I’m about to enter the Burton with my nine-month-old son in my arms, his diaper bag over one shoulder and his booster seat over the other shoulder. I walked in, and there at the bar was Patsy Collins, and I said, ‘Hey Patsy, do you need to see his ID?’ and he said, “Nah, he’s fine.’”
One thing the Burton is known for is ending the night by playing “Piano Man” by Billy Joel while everyone gathers into a circle to sway to the beat.
“The Burton would always be open the night after graduation for the graduating class to come in one last time,” Hayes said. “It’s an extremely emotional night, but it kind of wraps up your Bonaventure experience and allows you one last night with your best friends to sing at the top of your lungs, cry and experience Piano Man one last time.”
Nevin’s favorite part of working at and owning The Burton has been being able to meet and interact with so many people throughout the years.
“I don’t have a reason to go to a bar or somewhere to socialize because I get to do that every day of my life,” Nevin said. “I am definitely going to miss that: the people. It’s the locals that come in every day, the college students that come in now and the college students who are now alums. We’ve met a lot of great people.”
Until the sale is final and new ownership takes over, there’s no telling what the future of The Burton has in store. The general consensus is a want for The Burton to remain a restaurant and bar with the same atmosphere as it has always had.
“Even if it’s different owners, it adds to the downtown feeling that one gets in Allegany,” O’Halloran said. “There’s a lot of small shops and restaurants, and that’s your quintessential college town. I hope future classes of Bonnies are able to enjoy that, because that’s one of the things that sold me on the university.”
“I hope whoever ends up purchasing it ends up keeping it as a student bar,” Carolyn Ryer, a ’17 strategic communication and digital media graduate. “I know student bars are a lot of work and a lot to take care of, and it’ll be a change for a lot of people. But if they can update it and give it a little facelift, it will be great, because everyone wants it as a space to go and hang out with friends at night.”
“We’ve always been known as where Allegany and Bona’s comes together, and I hope that tradition continues,” Nevin said.
Of great importance to customers, Nevin said they would pass on how to make a Burton burger in order to carry on the tradition.
“Whoever buys this place is buying it for the name,” Nevin said. “It’s ‘The Burton.’ They’d be crazy to try to come in here and change things up too much. It needs to stay a bar; it needs to stay a restaurant where they serve the Burton burger. Whatever they do in between that is up to them.”
With the chapter of the Collins family owning The Bur ton coming to a close, Ryer said she wanted to thank them for their years of service to the people of Allegany and Bonaventure.
“I just want to say thank you to Crisanne and Chuck,” Ryer said. “They’re a part of the Bonaventure family by having the bar and making students feel welcome. It’s important for them to know we all appreciate it.”
Nevin also wanted to be sure to thank her father for beginning the Burton tradition in 1975.
“He’s the name everybody remembers this place by,” Nevin said, “He started it, and people love him and respect him. We were lucky enough to be here and be able to carry the tradition on. I would also like to thank all our customers, the Allegany community, the Bona community and the Bona alumni for all the great years and great memories.”
The Burton remains open for burgers, drinks and good times, and current students, alumni and locals all hope for 40 more years under new ownership.
“There is no Bonaventure without the Burton, and I wish the new owners the best of luck,” Hayes said.
