Rob Mahon
Rob — who was born in New York to Irish parents, John and Geraldine, but raised in Dublin — began his career as a finance broker. He compares his time in that high-powered profession to The Wolf of Wall Street: “It was like what you see in that movie,” he says. “It’s very intense, and you’re sitting at your desk for 6am every morning. You can do what you want, just as long as you’re making money.” He fondly recalls his time as a stockbroker, but seems more content with his current role — taking over Manhattan, one bar at a time.
It’s a family affair dating back to the late 1960s, when Rob’s father, John, pooled his tips with the late Pete McGee, and they opened their first pub in New York, the Pig ’n’ Whistle.
Fifty years later, Rob is continuing in his father’s footsteps. Along with his father’s long-term business partners, Rob knows how to successfully operate bars and restaurants, and has 13 of them under the Pig ’n’ Whistle group. Twelve are in Manhattan — including The Flying Cock, PJ Moran’s and Foxy John’s — while Kennedy’s Bar and Restaurant, primarily run by his brother John, is on the corner of Westland Row in Dublin. They seem to put everything into each new venture they take on. Since taking over Kennedy’s two years ago, Rob says they have doubled the trade.
Last August, Rob married his long-term girlfriend Angela (pictured left) in the small village of Mougins, just outside of Cannes, surrounded by 150 of their closest family and friends. “The venue was beautiful, a small castle on the water,” Rob says. “It was more of a three-day affair!” The Cote d’Azur holds a special place in both Rob and Angela’s hearts, as it’s where Rob proposed the previous year. Now, they live in a penthouse in midtown Manhattan.
Rob credits the prime locations of the bars — think Times Square, the Rockefeller Centre and Wall Street — for the success of the group, but an entrepreneurial nature and the ability to bring unique angles to the fiercely competitive New York hospitality scene are vital elements of that success. “You need to differentiate yourself, and stand out from the crowd,” he says. “There is a saturation of Irish-style bars in New York, so we have decided to go down different routes.” He provides a day-time burlesque show to the workers on Wall Street in his new Mexicanthemed restaurant, Toro Loco, and he hosts private events for clients in Broadstone, his three-story American-style bar and kitchen on the corner of Broad and Stone Streets.
As well as regulars and tourists, some well-known faces have passed through the doors over the years. “Last year, we welcomed Leo Varadkar to PJ Moran’s, one of our pubs near the Rockefeller Centre, for breakfast on St Patrick’s Day. Muhammad Ali stopped by Langan’s any time he was in town, and Liam Neeson and Jimmy Kimmel have been in, too,” Rob says.
Rob shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. He spends some of his weekends in the summer relaxing and catching up with friends in Montauk, and playing GAA in Brooklyn.
Will he ever return to Ireland? “I wouldn’t rule out moving back,” he says, “but the ideal scenario would be commuting between here and Ireland every few weeks.”