Tony Castaneda and his wife, Maria, opened the doors to their remodeled Tony’s Top Cat Bar & Grill the day before Thanksgiving.

“We had a quiet opening to see how everything was working,” Tony Castaneda told The Press recently. “We did most of the work ourselves, so it took a little longer than I planned.”

Local historian Debra Mellish tossed out a little history on the 607 Front St., Catasauqua, business.

“This is the oldest commercial tavern in the borough,” she said. “McCarty’s is the oldest family-owned place.”

Tony’s Top Cat opened in 1859 as the St. George Hotel, owned by George Kopp of the Catasauqua Rifles. Ernest Nagle took over in 1872 when he married Kopp’s widow. Nagle was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He ran the business until 1893.

Leopold Ehle married Frances Kopp and took over the hotel when Nagle passed. He renamed the hotel Ehle’s Café. The signature marketing plan was to have free lunch on Saturday. Ehle managed the café until 1916 with a stint as a supervisor at Allentown Iron Company. He collected unusual animals and had a miniature zoo behind the business, including a flock of exotic chickens that won several awards.

Joseph Waddick purchased the business and renamed it Waddick’s Café. He ran it until his passing when his daughters took over and ran it until 1947.

Carl Nicklas married Helen Waddick and renamed it Nicklas’ Bar, which lasted until 1955. Joseph and Doris Zemba took over and renamed it the Sportsman’s Bar. After Zemba died, his wife, Doris, continued to operate the bar until 2001, when Castaneda bought the building and the business. He updated the bar in 2001 and opened it Nov. 3.

The latest renovation is an extensive undertaking. Thick brick walls between two buildings were opened, the floors were reworked, and even the bathrooms were redone. The quaint bar is still in place, but the seating area is expanded and greatly improved.

Online reviews of Tony’s Top Cat have always emphasized the quality of the food, cooked on site by the Castanedas, but comments about the ambiance of the interior indicated patrons thought there was room for improvement.

“We took aim at most of the complaints that we saw on the reviews and brought the place up to date,” Tony Castaneda said. “We have more tables where people can sit down to drink and eat.

“We want to keep the things people like – our food, the service and our staff.”