Barrister's Restaurant for sale

Barrister’s Restaurant, a Southampton Village mainstay for the past 30 years, is up for sale for $4.5 million.

Richard “Digger” McMahon and Michael Ferran, who both graduated 
from Southampton College, opened the restaurant in 1979 and have been running it together ever since. But for at least the last year, they both have been thinking about selling the establishment.

“Thirty years is way more than enough,” said Mr. McMahon, who also noted that he has been ill. “It’s time to go ... We’ve been here long enough.”

Mr. McMahon said he and Mr. Ferran are planning to retire once the business is out of their hands.

Mr. Ferran and Mr. McMahon are selling the entire building at 36 Main Street, including the two apartments located above Barrister’s, through Engel & Völkers, a global real estate firm with an office on Main Street in Southampton. The building is currently on the market for $4.5 million.

The building officially went on the market a couple of weeks ago, said David Saland, the real estate agent who has the exclusive listing on it.

According to the Engel & Völkers website, the restaurant, including outdoor seating in the front and back of the building, seats a total of 136 people. Mr. Ferran said that there is a two-bedroom apartment and a three-bedroom apartment above the restaurant.

Mr. Ferran said that he has no idea how long it will take to sell the business, but Mr. Saland said that he has already had a few interested parties. “We’ve had a couple of international buyers looking at it,” he said.

A couple of restaurants in Manhattan have also looked at the building as a potential place to house a summertime satellite operation.

Mr. Ferran said that it does not matter to him whether or not the restaurant continues to be owned by someone from the area.

Mr. Saland would like to see an establishment similar to the Blue Parrot on Main Street in East Hampton occupy the Barrister’s space. “It’s a very trendy bar, a surfer’s hangout,” Mr. Saland said. “They have bright colors and reggae music.”

Although Mr. Ferran has raised his family in Southampton, and worked almost every single day for the past 30 years at Barrister’s, he is not yet feeling sad about leaving his livelihood behind.

“I won’t know if I’m sad until the day it happens,” Mr. Ferran said, referring to the sale of the building.