10 Years of The Goat’s Beard: Cheered, Revered, & Endeared

By Leo Dillinger

Photos by Melissa Kelly Photography

Sean Coyle stands at the bar laser-focused as he preps pans of pizza dough to deliver to his Wayne location. He takes a break to refill his glass as he reflects on the 10-year anniversary of The Goat’s Beard. “Talk to me, Goose,” Sean says, channeling his inner Maverick and ready to answer any question thrown at him as he returns to his work station.

The hospitality industry has flown through Sean’s blood his entire life, going back to the years when he helped out at his parents’ restaurant, Binni & Flynn’s. Ever since those early days, Sean had always wanted to open a restaurant of his own. That dream began to unfold one day as he drove through Manayunk.

He noticed a “For Rent” sign on a building at 4321 Main Street, but after contacting the landlord, Sean soon found himself touring a different, much larger space located at 2 Rector Street. One thing led to another and by age 25, Sean officially opened Bourbon Blue. After successfully operating Bourbon Blue for more than six years, he eventually decided to sell the business to his long-time employee, Brendan McGrew, in 2008.

“I decided at that time in my life I let it all get away from me. I wasn’t the person I wanted to be and I wanted to get out of the business,” Sean said. “Then I realized I didn’t really know how to do anything else, so my business partner, Mike MacCrory, encouraged me to get back into the game.”

After taking some time away from the industry, Sean started planning his next move. He looked at more than 15 spaces all across the Main Line for a location to open his newest venture. But by some twist of fate, Sean wound up driving down Main Street once again and found that Thomas’ Restaurant at 4201 Main Street had closed.

Sean had always admired this bar during his time working at Bourbon Blue and as he reflected on all of those memories, he knew this had to be more than just a coincidence. On March 26th, 2013, Sean and his team officially opened the unusually-named restaurant that quickly became a Manayunk staple: The Goat’s Beard.

“I wanted to focus on a homegrown farm-to-table concept that represented Pennsylvania with fresh and local ingredients,” Sean said. “I told my wife about that as she was working in her garden, and she was moving around this plant called goat’s beard. She said that it was a local plant and it’s cute and that’s what we should name the business. I looked at her like she was crazy if she thought I was going to name a restaurant The Goat’s Beard.

But a month later, I began thinking about how I could brand it with a little goat mascot. I brought the name to my partnership, and they told me the name was ridiculous…which is why I did it.”

Upon entering the two-story restaurant, you’ll notice a quaint farmhouse-style ambiance, boasting a sleek marble bar top, Edison bulbs, and warm white walls accented with wood paneling and rustic garden tools. But there is so much more than meets the eye at The Goat’s Beard. Both the kitchen and bar staff aim to satisfy your taste buds by offering rotating seasonal specialties among their signature staples. The keystones to their cocktail list include the 30-Day Strawberry (a house-infused margarita), the Friendly Neighbor (Vodka, elderflower, lemon juice, with simple syrup, champagne, and muddled cucumber and mint), and the aptly-titled “Goat’s Beard”, which is their take on a whiskey smash. As for the food, dishes like the Steak Mac & Cheese and Goat Nuggets have withstood the tests of time, becoming immediate fan favorites with no alterations since the grand opening.

But perhaps the greatest changes that came to The Goat’s Beard took place following the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Sean and his team to pivot by offering a line of Detroit Style Pizzas.

“Our food didn’t travel well at the time and I’m thinking ‘Oh my god, are we going to be a delivery service for the next year?’” Sean said. “We were a date night spot and nobody wants to eat high-end cuisine from a takeout container. During that time, I started nosediving into these pizzas and honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. They now make up 30% of our menu and it’s a huge part of our business model.”

Around the same time as the pizza, Sean also reunited with his former employee and longtime friend, Brendan McGrew. Brendan initially joined the team as a consultant in October 2020 as The Goat’s Beard first began launching the pizza program, but by March 2021, he was leading all operations at the Manayunk location.

“It is a true partnership back and forth,” Brendan said. “Sean has the full level of trust, and I have the full level of support. That’s how we’ve been able to grow and that’s how we want to continue to grow, by finding other like-minded people who we can both rely on and really be that support system for each other.”

For the last 10 years, the team at The Goat’s Beard has strived to provide their guests with a memorable dining experience. While the menu and the atmosphere are vital to keeping customers coming back, Sean and Brendan both acknowledge it’s the staff that keeps The Goat’s Beard alive and thriving. Together, they have cultivated an indispensable team of managers, chefs, servers, bartenders, hosts & hostesses, and dishwashers. With roughly 30 employees in Manayunk and another 50 at their second location in Wayne, The Goat’s Beard has surrounded itself with a dedicated family of talented individuals.

“Our staff, both here and in Wayne, are incredible,” Sean said. “We have good people that enjoy coming to work, they enjoy each other’s company, and they want to make sure the guest satisfaction is through the roof. For us, our staff comes first and that’s why people come back.”

“They continue to get better and better every year, which I’m amazed that we have the quality people we do,” Brendan said. “I think a lot of that starts from Sean’s mindset of always wanting to make sure to take care of staff. I’ve learned that from him and carried that on. I can’t do my job without having great people working with me.”

So, what’s in store for the future of the team at The Goat’s Beard? First off, the team anticipates a Goat’s Beard spinoff location opening in Conshohocken by this fall. While it may not necessarily be called “The Goat’s Beard”, the name will still pay homage to their goat mascot, “Daisy”. And in more recent news, Sean and Brendan have plans to open up a brand-new restaurant concept further down Main Street in Manayunk later this summer. As guests patiently await these two endeavors, The Goat’s Beard team has hopes to keep growing and expanding. Who knows, perhaps in the next 10 years, we will start to see a much larger Goat’s Beard hospitality group.

Sean says that The Goat’s Beard has been busier now than ever before, indicating that they’ve crafted a winning formula with their food, drinks, aesthetic, and service. When Sean first arrived in Manayunk 20 years ago, he thought the neighborhood was so much bigger and intimidating. But that perspective has changed as he has watched Main Street evolve and he has transformed his role from being the new guy on the block to a legacy Manayunk restaurateur. His advice to young entrepreneurs getting their start is to find yourself a tightknit community to open your business, get close with your neighbors, and to get involved any way possible.

“Manayunk just feels like home to me,” Sean said. “When you’ve been here for this long, you start to realize how much you love this place. I’m grateful to be in this town and there’s a great crew of people down here that are working their butts off to make this town better.”

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