Tun Tavern sparks a skirmish as two groups vie to re-create the birthplace of the Marine Corps
Montgomery Dahm, who owns Tun Tavern in Atlantic City and the trademark for the name, says he is buying an Old City restaurant. Meanwhile, a nonprofit has plans for its own Tun nearby.
On the eve of the U.S. Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary, not one but two groups are lining up to re-create Tun Tavern, the colonial gathering place that served as the Corps’ first recruiting station.
In April 2024, a nonprofit organization, led by Marine veterans as well as four Philadelphia-area groups that trace their inceptions to the Tun, bought a parking lot on Second Street south of Market in Old City, and announced plans to build a three-story restaurant and museum called the Tun. It also applied to trademark “The Tun.”
Two months later, Montgomery Dahm, the retired Marine who founded the Tun Tavern brewpub in Atlantic City in 1998 and has owned the “Tun Tavern” trademark since 2013, sued the group in U.S. District Court, seeking to block its use of “Tun.” The suit is still pending.
In the latest salvo, Dahm announced earlier this month that he plans to buy Lucha Cartel restaurant at 207 Chestnut St. — 400 feet from the nonprofit’s site — and begin converting it into a Tun Tavern location.
Dahm said he planned to invest $2.5 million to $3 million of his own money on his project, and was targeting a soft opening on Nov. 10, the Corps’ 250th anniversary. Dahm said he plans to change the facade at first, and later add at least two floors to the single-story building to accommodate meetings and events. The whole building, he said, will become a living museum. The real estate deal was first reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Dahm said he was creating a nonprofit, called Friends of Tun Tavern, that would send a portion of revenue to veterans’ organizations. He also said his Tun Tavern would support the Freemasons, a group that also traces its history to the original tavern.
The nonprofit, Tun Legacy Foundation — which called itself Tun Tavern Legacy Foundation when it first divulged its plans — told The Inquirer on Monday that architectural drawings and construction documents were complete.
Board member Craig Mills, himself a retired Marine, said the group — including representatives of the Freemasons (founded in 1731), the St. Andrews Society (1747), the Friendly Sons & Daughters of St. Patrick (1771), and the Society of St. George (1772) — has raised about $9 million and hopes to secure a construction loan and begin construction soon. He declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Tun Tavern was built in the 1690s at Water Street and Tun Alley, on the Delaware River between what is now Chestnut and Walnut Streets. It was accessible by steps leading down from Front Street. The site, which was filled in years ago as part of waterfront development, is now beneath the southbound lanes of I-95.
It’s about three blocks from the rival sites.
The only sign of the Tun today is a historical marker on Front Street near Sansom Walk, several blocks away.
No one knows what the original Tun looked like. It was razed in 1781. Artist Frank Taylor, whose 1922 drawing is the top hit in most online searches, wasn’t born until 1846.
Dahm’s Tun Tavern rendering depicts a Colonial Revival building with a brick facade, gabled roof with dormers, and a front porch with columns.
The tavern planned by the nonprofit group for Second Street has similarities, though its Gambrel-style roofline seems more Georgian Colonial, typical of the late 18th century.
Dahm said Lucha Cartel would not close between the initial transition to Tun Tavern. He said he had offered jobs to all Lucha Cartel’s employees.
MBB Management, a Philadelphia hospitality company that manages operations for such restaurant brands as Tony Luke’s, Martorano’s, and Greens & Grains, will operate the Tun Tavern, said John Moser, MBB’s chief executive.
Moser said his staff was researching food for a tavern-style menu — mainly “colonial favorites with a contemporary spin.”
Dahm, 60, an artillery meteorologist when he served in the mid-1980s, said his lawsuit would continue.
“I will fight to the end,” he said. “It’s all about patriotism and everyone who served. This is the number one reason I’m doing this.”