Cameo closes as McGillion prepares to open ‘Mac A-Foose’
New bar currently slated for a March opening
The Cameo Bar has closed after nearly 50 years operating on Main Street.
Asbury Park entrepreneur John McGillion, owner of Johnny Mac House of Spirits on Main Street, confirmed the landmark art deco structure on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues [shown at right] saw its last night of service Tuesday.
Within the weeks ahead, McGillion will move the two cameos that have dutifully stood watch behind the bar for nearly half a century to a new location on Mattison Avenue called “Mac A-Foose” [shown above].
The new bar, located at 722 Mattison Avenue, is situated in the same area as the Johnny Mac’s complex, a multi-story facility with a beer garden, mezzanine structure and new bar “Mary Mac” currently under construction and slated for full completion by July 2018.
Mac A-Foose will feature a roof terrace above a roughly 2,000 square foot interior, which will be similar to Johnny Mac’s, he said, and he’s building a 5-story structure behind the building to accommodate a banquet facility.
McGillion purchased the Cameo Bar in July from Angela Dottore, whose family had operated the bar for decades, in July of 2013 and turned it into a location that catered to the city’s gay clientele. He previously told the Sun he believes the bar will “do better” in the complex.
The Cameo bar once had a cameo role in Mickey Rourke’s film “Homeboys.”
While the bar was still located on Main Street he decided to keep the name as-is to preserve the history, but with the Main Street move McGillion will stay on-brand and rename it to fit into the Irish-themed complex.
“We liked Mac A-Foose the best because it’s so different and out of place,” he said.
The bar is slated for a March opening, he said. All of the contiguous properties at the Johnny Mac’s site will operate under the same liquor license, and McGillion will hold on to the Cameo license for now. He plans to either sell or rent the Cameo location, he said.
McGillion’s portfolio of Asbury Park properties include Kim Marie’s Eat and Drink Away on Kingsley Street in the waterfront zone and the former YMCA building on Main Street, which he put up for sale in October of last year for $2.8 million but has since removed from the market, he said. He uses the building as storage space and and rents the ground floor to an elder care facility.
Future plans for the building could include condos, rental units or another bar, he said.
“We’ll be at the Y forever, we just have to figure out what to do,” said McGillion.
Back in 2007, McGillion caught the attention of the New York Times for his innovative free food bars — similar to his Johnny Mac concept — in the Williamsburg and Greenpoint sections of Brooklyn.
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