The Peanut Bar, the Penn Street tavern that has fed Reading its free peanuts and cold beer for more than a century, is officially for sale. Owner Michael Leifer has listed the business and its building at 332 Penn St. for $950,000, closing out more than 100 years of continuous ownership by one family.
Leifer told 69 News he is selling the family business and that it felt like the right time to step away as he gets older. According to Reading Eagle, a health scare over the past year prompted him to reconsider his priorities and the demands of running the restaurant as its sole owner. Leifer also pointed to his health as a driving factor in his decision, as reported by 69 News.
The Peanut Bar's roots trace back to 1924, when Leifer's grandfather, Jimmie Kramer, entered the hospitality business, according to the station's report. The Reading Eagle notes that Kramer moved his operation several times before settling at 332 Penn St. in 1933. That year, per the Berks History Center, Kramer bought the Penn Street building and named the tavern the Old Central Cafe.
From a Mountain Hotel to a Reading Institution
Before it ever reached Penn Street, the business got its start far from downtown Reading. Jimmie Kramer's Peanut Bar recounts that the venture began in 1924 at the Green Terrace Hotel in South Mountain, Wernersville, during Prohibition. The first legal liquor license for the 332 Penn Street address followed in March 1934, the business's own history notes.
In 1935, Kramer began offering customers free peanuts, a gesture that eventually inspired the establishment's name, per the same account from the Reading Eagle. The family later formalized its identity, changing the business's name to Jimmie Kramer's The Peanut Bar, Inc. in 1958, according to the Berks History Center. The bar has operated under different names and in various locations over the decades before becoming the fixture Reading knows today.
A Family Legacy Spanning Generations
The business stayed in the family long after Kramer's era. Michael Leifer joined his father in the business full time in 1979, the Reading Eagle reports, continuing a line of ownership that has now stretched past a century. 69 News describes him simply as the owner of Jimmie Kramer's Peanut Bar restaurant, a title that reflects decades spent behind the bar his grandparents founded.
Now that legacy is listed for sale at $950,000, according to the online listing cited by 69 News. The Peanut Bar has been in the Leifer family for more than 100 years, and its departure from family hands would mark the end of an era for one of Reading's most recognizable restaurant names.
