A year after taking over the Victory Pub in Orient Heights Square the burgers are still juicy, the beer is still cold and the music is still good at Renegade’s Pub on Bennington Street.
While that combination is pretty much all you need for a good neighborhood spot you still need the support of devout patrons.
Recently, Renegade’s owners, a venture by Chelmsford native Peter Ackerman and his partners Greg Weinstock and Ryan Pozerycki, celebrated their one year anniversary in Eastie with a Sunday afternoon party. The party’s mission was two fold. Hitting the one year mark was reason enough to celebrate but the owners wanted to do something a little more.
“Our first year has flown by, and it was great to celebrate with some of our regulars, family members, and to raise money for Boston’s Wounded Vet Run,” said Weinstock. On May 20, Eastie hosted the 8th Annual Wounded Vet Run founded by neighborhood native and U.S. Marine veteran Andrew Biggio.
The Wounded Vet Run is an annual motorcycle charity ride dedicated to wounded veterans from New England. All proceeds benefit selected wounded veterans and charities of their choice.
This year’s event raised over $170,000 for wounded vets Captain Greg Galeazzi, Sergeant Brandon Korona, Sergeant Peter Rooney and Corporal Brian Johnston.
“It’s good to see a new business in town reach out on how to help locally and just not mailing a check away to an out of state organization,” said Biggio. “We brought most of our volunteers down to their one year anniversary party introduced ourselves and had a good time. They raised $500 for us just at the door.”
A year ago Renegade’s owners transformed the old Victory Pub into a no-frills pub complete with wooden tables, a zig zag bar, a large chalkboard listing the constantly rotating beer selection and huge mural commemorating all things Eastie.
The limited menu lives up to Renegade’s motto of ‘Beers, Burgers and Bourbon’.
The appetizers range from $3 fries, to $4 onion rings to $7 Engine 56 fries with smoked bacon, renegade sauce, crumbled bleu cheese, fried jalapeños. There are also stuffed tater tots, buffalo wings, panko crusted chicken tenders and two different salads.
All burgers will run you $6 to $8 and are large enough to fill a hungry stomach but not so overpowering that you’ll need a nap after downing one of these juicy treats.
The staple burger is the Renegade Burger with renegade sauce, muenster, arugula, and red onion jam. There’s the Blue Burger with bacon, red onion, arugula, local bleu cheese, and bleu cheese sauce or, our favorite, the Bandit Burger with bourbon BBQ sauce, fried onions, bacon, cheddar and red onion jam.
Renegade’s also offers up a veggie burger with quinoa, black beans, garlic mayo, cucumber, tomato and lettuce, a blackened salmon burger and fried or grilled chicken sandwiches done two different ways.
“We would like to thank all of the guests over the past year who have welcomed us to the neighborhood and made Renegade’s a wonderful success,” said Weinstock. ““We are proud to have made Orient Heights, and East Boston our home.”