garage bars
P
hil DiGiulio, who had
moved recently from New
York City to Millburn with
his family, was commuting
to the city by train in 2015
when he struck up a con-
versation with Maplewood resident
John Garbarino. A few months later,
DiGiuluio visited Garbarino at his
home and was blown away by what
he saw: Garbarino had transformed
his 400-square-foot garage, which
features cathedral-like ceilings and
dark wood details, into The GarBar.
Featuring a 14-foot oak bar
Garbarino built himself, The GarBar
includes an antique bar mirror a
friend found in Massachusetts,
antique signage, including a Guinness
sign hanging outside, a wood-burning
fireplace and miscellaneous items
contributed by guests. The décor
was inspired by the Spring Lounge,
a New York City dive bar and the
hangout where Garbarino met his
wife. He cites the Spring Lounge as
an example of the type of iconic bar
that is rapidly disappearing.
With its own website, the GarBar
is no joke, but it started modestly.
Garbarino’s wife had a birthday com-
ing up, and he wanted to throw her
an Oktoberfest-themed party. He
decided to use the garage as a tent,
since all it needed was some upgrad-
ed electrical work and floor repairs.
Once that was done, “it was off to
the races,” says Garbarino.
He added a TV, wine fridge and
some lawn chairs, and built the bar.
The endeavor continued to snowball
as people brought over bar-worthy
knickknacks to complete the experi-
ence. “People would come over and
say ‘Oh my God, where am I? I feel
like I just walked into a pub in the
East Village,’” says Garbarino.
PULLING UP TO
THE BARPORT
The feeling wasn’t lost on
DiGiulio, who had a carport attached
to the garage behind his house that
seemed too narrow to house a car.
“The minute you enter his bar, you
30
BACK TO SCHOOL 2019 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
get the urge to do something in your
space, too, so the seed was planted.”
Last fall, DiGiulio’s Barport was
born. It includes a painted sign cre-
ated by DiGiulio’s daughter, Penn,
who was 7 years old when she made
it last year. With modern gray and
white tones, the concrete L-shaped
bar housed under the carport’s roof
includes a custom wooden bench,
greenery and bamboo.
“The bar was initially built to feed
my own interests, but it’s become
a lot more than that — it’s a place
of refuge after a long day,” says
DiGiulio, who often works in the
space. “I’ll come home and the kids
will be eating ice cream out there,
and we will have dinner there at
night – it’s like being on vacation. It’s
not just a bar, and that’s oftentimes
the last thing it is.”