Interview with Bobby Gagnon - Owner of The Gate

Bobby Gagnon is one of three co-founders of The Gate, a bar on the corner of 5th Ave and 3rd street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It has a nice outdoor tavern as well as an old school indoor bar. It is a hotspot for many residents in Park Slope, and is a staple of one of Brooklyn’s finest neighborhoods. I’ve known Bobby for as long as I can remember, as his son Owen was my best friend growing up. The Gagnon family is like a second family to me, and I was able to get inside of The Gate many years before I was legally allowed to drink, so it is a place I’m quite familiar with.

Park Slope was a different place 30 years ago, and its luxuries today were far from that when Bobby began his venture. It was a neighborhood with high crime rates and was filled with low-income families. The park across from The Gate, JJ Byrne, was worn down and filled with trash. Bobby even said that my childhood street (2nd street) was not a safe place to walk at night, just one block away from the bar. However, as you traveled further up the neighborhood, you’d notice some beautiful brownstones on your way to Prospect Park, the second largest park in New York City and my personal favorite place on the planet. In addition, the craft beer scene was almost non-existent in New York City at the time, which certainly isn’t the case today. Bobby now considers himself a pioneer of the craft beer industry in the city, owning a major establishment in one of the city's highest profile neighborhoods. Bobby saw the potential for this neighborhood and capitalized on it.

Let's backtrack a little bit to Bobby’s life before The Gate. He didn’t come from much, but came from a blue-collar family which showed him how to maintain a hard work ethic. Everyone in his family lived by the ‘do it yourself’ motto and were all working people without degrees. His biggest role model growing up was his grandfather, who emphasized tardiness and always had something to work on. He was a musician, something extremely inspiring to Bobby, who is now an excellent guitarist (something Owen is now working on as well). As a teenager, Bobby bounced from job to job, working from places like McDonalds to tile factories. Shortly after high school, Bobby started working as a bartender, and that is where the story begins.

Bobby’s early life as a bartender wasn’t the best, and he worked for and with some people whose presence he didn’t necessarily enjoy. However, he instantly felt passionate about the business, and found people who he really enjoyed working with towards his later bartending days. One of these people eventually started his own bar, eventually inspiring Bobby to do the same. Bobby was able to visit the bar’s offices and picked up on the business side of things relatively quickly.

Bobby and his two business partners saw a great venue in a neighborhood they predicted would grow, and thus began The Gate. Bobby didn’t have a degree, but his two co-founders did, one in business and one in writing. They used the business partners sample business model, but weren’t especially attached to it. Luckily, said business school alum happened to have a lot of connections in the bar world, which was a huge resource for the group. They brought in some investors as well to match the financial requirements as well. That being said, Bobby said the most important resource that he or any of the group could provide was passion. There hasn’t been a day in the last 30 years where Bobby hasn’t felt passionate about the bar. The people, the sounds, the vibes, the beer all fueled Bobby toward success, as he wanted to create a place to bring all of this together.

The Gate struggled for its first few years, as Park Slope was still nowhere near the neighborhood it was on its way to becoming. Bobby’s biggest career struggle was that he over promised his investors, and could not meet his promises. They were coming in and out of the bar asking for updates, which created a large disturbance in the bar, simultaneously halting the businesses these investors had invested in. His main goal was to not drive the business into the ground, which certainly could have been a reality for the group. He just wanted to gain traction for when the neighborhood took off economically, which took a few years longer than he expected. They tried implementing live music and even considered adding a kitchen to the venue. I asked him if he ever wished they started the venture a few years later, and for a time he did, but now, in hindsight, he’s glad they opened The Gate when they did because he was able to learn from the times where the business was rough.

Eventually, Park Slope surged, and so did The Gate. Bobby’s two co-owners were certainly a big influence in its success, but Bobby was the one spending 10-12 hours a day at the bar ensuring that business was operating smoothly. Essentially, his partners worked harder on the business side of things and were trusted to run the bar if Bobby needed to step away. After some time and great success, Bobby bought out his partners and assumed full ownership of The Gate. There were never control issues amongst the group, but it was a great accomplishment for Bobby and allowed him to fully lean into his visions for the bar. This allowed Bobby to hire more staff of his choosing, a task that he has not found easy.

Bobby’s main struggle since The Gate has been successful has been managing his staff, as there are some situations he wishes he had handled differently. In addition, he has appointed a few managers for the bar in attempts to gain more time off. Some of them were good, however, some not so much, and Bobby has erased that position since and taken the role back on himself (which isn’t something he minds). He has a consistent goal of maintaining the lease of the venue as well as the future of the bar. He would love to winterize The Gate’s outdoor patio, as the discrepancy between their business in the winter and summer is still very large (that's how great the patio is). There are also some structural things that can be upgraded, such as the bar itself, which has been going strong for 27 years now.

Bobby recently has been looking into smaller venues to open a new bar nearby. His vision for this is a small Irish pub with a 50-person capacity, and he wants to open it in the next year or two. At the end of the day, Bobby is passionate about craft beer and serving people, so I can’t see Bobby not being successful in this when you add his experience to the mix. He was considering opening a restaurant before COVID, but I don’t think I have to explain what happens next. In addition, there have been an infinite number of restaurants who haven’t made it in Park Slope, so Bobby decided to stick to what he knows best. Bobby said he doesn’t have an exit strategy, and would like to work until he physically can’t anymore. This definitely stems from his upbringing, and I look forward to seeing how his work ethic gets passed on to Owen as we grow into the world. I asked if The Gate will get passed onto Owen one day, as he has worked there while he’s been home from college, which Bobby admitted is possible. One of his higher up employees has advocated for him to get the business one day as well, but Bobby didn’t seem thrilled with the idea of that.

Overall, I learned a lot from and about Bobby, which was awesome to me given that he was a prominent figure in my childhood. My main takeaway from this interview was how much Bobby cares about his business, and not the financial aspect of the business. His favorite moments are when someone will tell him they miss the bar after moving, or that they met their wife at the bar. He loves creating an ambiance for people to come together and enjoy themselves, and The Gate does a fantastic job of doing just that. It was truly eye opening to me how despite not having much education or experience in business, Bobby still became super successful with The Gate. It just goes to show how if you’re passionate about something, the hard work won’t feel like hard work, as Bobby still spends just about every day at the bar. You just have to have enthusiasm about your business, and you really must believe in the business to make it through the rough times. My most important takeaway, however, is that I’ll be getting a free drink or two this July when I finally turn 21. Bobby, if you’re reading this, best believe I’m going to hold you to that promise.