If you’re looking for a sappy farewell from Bill Pliakos – who’s selling the Pit Road Lounge after owning it for 23 years – look elsewhere.

Pliakos, born in Greece, is not that kind of guy. His staff is, though. They love the guy, they’re loyal to the guy and they’ll miss the guy as well.

Take longtime bartender Jennifer Perkins, of Epsom, for example. She was there at the Pit Road on Thursday, four days after Pliakos had closed his doors for good, following one final pool tournament.

She worked for Pliakos for 23 years, and on this day, Perkins swung by to help her former boss clean up. Vacuuming, sorting through a few decades of stuff, choosing what Pliakos might need and what can be tossed out.

“He’s amazing,” said Perkins, seated with Pliakos at a table in the lounge, near the empty dance floor and stacked chairs. “They have been a family through the years, much more than an owner. Everybody they took on became family if they worked here or hung out long enough. That’s why it worked.”

When asked if he had sentimental feelings after listening to Perkins explain the deep affection she and others felt for him, Pliakos said, “Not me. I closed down my other restaurant (in Manchester) 30 years ago, and it didn’t bother me then.”

He sold that restaurant, called the Mansion House, and never figured to work until the age of 71. Instead, he had planned to sell the Pit Road Lounge well before this year.

“When I sold the other one, I would have gotten out of here, too,” Pliakos said. “My purpose was to run it until I could get rid of it. But sometimes it goes longer than that. It doesn’t seem like I’ve been here for 23 years, but that’s the way it goes.”

This is not a cold-hearted man. He’s gentle and soft-spoken behind wire-rimmed glasses, rarely one to allow stress to get the best of him, change him into a hard-boiled egg. He planned on visiting Perkins and her family later on Thursday.

A family visit, per se.

“The only thing I’ll miss from both places is the people,” Pliakos said. “Once you close, you don’t get to see them as often, but I won’t miss the work.”

He built a two-restaurant business, which provided him enough income to have a home in Manchester and another in Florida. He worked 60 hours per week for decades. He grew tired.

His backstory plays a big role in America’s identity. Pliakos was 4 when his parents brought their eight children from Greece to Manchester in 1956 to live with a relative.

For the Pliakoses, this was an escape from war. Greece had fought the Germans and Italians during World War II. Then came the Cold War and the Soviet Union’s push across Eastern Europe.

Soon, though, his parents grew homesick and brought their family back to Greece. Pliakos was 12 when he returned to Manchester with his 17-year-old brother in 1962 to find work and settle into a peaceful environment. The majority of siblings found their way back here over the ensuing years.

He and his brother opened the Mansion House on South Mammoth Road in Manchester in 1978, two years after Pliakos married an American girl. The establishment was only 1,200 square feet, which meant the focus was on food, not entertainment.

They bought what was then Jimmy’s Seafood in 1986. At first, they leased the building, which became Chuggers, a bar that eventually earned the reputation as a biker bar with really thirsty, energetic patrons.

He opened the Pit Road Lounge 23 years ago, turning a 4,500-square-foot facility into a restaurant and rock-and-roll bar, featuring live music and pool.

The Lounge maintained its reputation as a rowdy biker bar, a perception that Pliakos said quickly grew outdated.

“It hasn’t been a biker bar in 24 years,” Pliakos said. “Chuggers was that way, so people think this was a biker bar.”

Pliakos said he forgot the name of the new owner, and he was unsure what business will open. He said the final paperwork should be signed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Lounge closed for good on Aug. 28. Pliakos stopped booking bands once COVID hit two years ago. He hosted one final pool tournament on that final day. Sixteen two-person teams competed. A big crowd showed up to say goodbye.

Pliakos’ days of getting home during the wee hours are done. He won’t miss it. He’ll spend time in Florida. He’ll play golf.

“Some people here were emotional,” Pliakos said, referring to that final night. “Not me, but someone else.”

That was Perkins and her sister, who began working at the Lounge two years before Perkins arrived. They had a different view.

Near the end of the night, past midnight, Perkins’ sister moved toward the door for the last time. The sisters made eye contact.

“She went to leave,” Perkins said. “We looked at each other, and she did the shrug. Nothing was said, but I knew what it meant.

“She was upset.”

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