Partition Street Is Changing Hands, and the New Owners Learned the Street First
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"You don't have to do this, but if someone else takes that space and does the idea you were going to do, how would you feel? You're going to see it across the street every day."
Ryan Viator, a chef and restaurateur, said that to his wife Sarah when the storefront at 83 Partition Street came open. She has owned Miss Lucy's Kitchen, directly across the street, since July 2020. The space she would have been looking at every day became Margaux Bar, which opened in late August. A few doors down, Mirabella's at 123 Partition Street got a new owner this summer, Brian Brock, a Saugerties resident since 2012.
Two of the village's best-known evening spots are going through ownership changes in the same season. In both cases the new person in charge knew the block well before taking over, and both plans start with keeping what already works.
Viator's history with Partition Street started long before she bought anything on it. She began at Miss Lucy's in 2005 as a server, then worked as a bartender, then spent years as the restaurant's manager. She went back to school at SUNY Ulster and New Paltz along the way. She told Chronogram she celebrated her 21st birthday in Miss Lucy's back room.
The cocktail bar idea is roughly a decade old. Around 2015, Viator signed a lease on the corner space that now houses Ohana, and the deal fell through. Not long after, Mark Proper, who owned Miss Lucy's, kept suggesting she buy the restaurant instead. Eventually she did.
How she handled that purchase helps explain how she approached Margaux. She took down the aprons in the windows, cleared some things off the walls, and painted over the yellow. She changed very little on the menu. "I really tried to keep Miss Lucy's as Miss Lucy's," she told Hudson Valley One, "because I kind of joke that I don't even own it. Miss Lucy's owns itself."
Margaux grew out of something Viator kept seeing at the small bar inside Miss Lucy's. Couples on dates would finish dinner and ask where to get a cocktail. She would send them to the Pig or the Dutch, and she thought it would be good to have that next stop herself. She described it to Chronogram this way: "There are so many wonderful places in town that all have their own vibe, but there wasn't really a place where you could go after dinner, during a date night, to just be chill with a cocktail or a martini. I thought I could fill that niche."
She also made a point of separating Margaux from the bars Saugerties already has, which she called "institutions." She wanted to add something different to the street.
What that looks like inside:
The name is personal too. Margaux is Viator's daughter's middle name.
Late August is an awkward time to open, with the summer crowd leaving and school starting. Viator said as much, but added that weekends have been strong and she is already seeing repeat customers. When Hudson Valley One visited just after 5 p.m. on a Thursday, less than a month after opening, the room was already filling with groups of friends and couples.
So the same owner now runs both ends of a night out. You can have dinner at Miss Lucy's and walk across Partition Street for a drink at Margaux without leaving the block.
The second handoff is at Mirabella's, the sports bar and restaurant at 123 Partition Street. Brendan Amodio opened it at age 22, exactly 20 years before he sold it this June. Over those years it moved once, to a bigger space as the business grew.
Brian Brock is the new owner, and the plans for the restaurant come from him and his wife, Lindsay. Brock's father ran a restaurant upstate for 20 years, and Brock called the purchase "the realization of a dream to carry on his legacy."
Here is how the two handoffs compare:
| Margaux Bar / Miss Lucy's Kitchen | Mirabella's | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 83 Partition St. / across the street | 123 Partition St. |
| Owner's history with the business | Worked at Miss Lucy's starting in 2005; owner since 2020 | Brock has lived in Saugerties since 2012; his father ran a restaurant for 20 years |
| What's staying | Miss Lucy's kept largely as it was | "Cold beer, hot wings and good times" |
| What's new | An after-dinner cocktail bar across the street | A new look and updated menu; the license plate wall is coming down |
The Brocks planned to stay open through the summer, close briefly for renovations in September or October, and hold a grand reopening this fall. They promised a new look and an updated menu while keeping the spirit of the place. The biggest visible change is that the license plate wall is coming down. Brock has invited anyone who donated a plate to come pick it up. If one of those plates is yours, now is the time to claim it.
As of early October, we found no public announcement saying the renovation has happened or setting a reopening date. One sign of the plan is a ticket listing for a Chillout Comedy Club stand-up night at Mirabella's on November 7, which tells guests they can order from the full food and bar menu. Call ahead before planning a night there around the renovation window.
Brock's own promise to the community was short: "I look forward to serving your people cold beer, hot wings and good times." Amodio said he had "complete faith" the new owners would keep Mirabella's a place where "games are watched, stories are shared, and memories are made."
The festival weekends are mostly over. The Kiwanis Club of Saugerties ran the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival at the Cantine Memorial Complex on September 26 and 27. The Mum Festival is in Seamon Park today, October 4. The village's own page lists two different start times, so check before you go. After that, the season moves indoors and spreads out, with plenty of evenings near Partition Street for trying out the new spots.
Event times and venues can change, and several of these listings have no publication date. Confirm with each organizer before you go.
Before Margaux opened, Viator told Hudson Valley One she always thought Saugerties could use a space like this. Mirabella's next chapter will be clearer once the new owners finish the renovation and announce the reopening.
Changing hands smoothly takes good timing, good documentation and a buyer who understands the block. If you own a restaurant, bar or storefront in Saugerties and are thinking about a transition, or you're an operator looking for a Partition Street space with a working kitchen, Berardi Realty handles businesses-for-sale and commercial deals across Ulster County with the financial detail those transactions need. Request a Consultation & Free Property Valuation, and let's talk about what your next owner should know.
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