LaFontaine’s Rooftop Lounge may have the ambience of a big-city hot spot, but it retains Huntington’s hometown vibe.
By Jean Hardiman
HQ 118 | SUMMER 2022
In the summertime, you’ll see old friends sharing a laugh and a toast as the sky turns pink over Huntington. In the fall, you’ll see Marshall University fans gathering by the fire and rehashing the football game. In the winter, you can see professionals relaxing with a cigar on the covered, heated patio and watching the snow fall after a hard day’s work.
LaFontaine’s Rooftop Lounge, which opened last fall above the longstanding LaFontaine’s Tobacco & Wine Shop at 420 10th St., brings a feeling of a bigger city to Huntington, but with Huntington’s familiar hometown vibe.
And it’s the result that occurs when the members of one family with an entrepreneurial spirit and some definite business savvy come together and make things happen.
Bob Gleason, a longtime Huntington businessman and owner of Wellman O’Shea Jewelers and LaFontaine’s Tobacco & Wine Shop, wasn’t immediately sold when his youngest son, John, pitched the idea of opening a rooftop bar over the shop. John Gleason is a visionary, a home renovation guru in Huntington, and to say he pitched the idea might not fully describe his relentless effort to urge his family to take on this rooftop project.
“John built it on his computer and bugged us for probably five years,” said his mother, Melanie Gleason, whose maiden name is LaFontaine, the namesake of two family businesses. “Every time someone came over, he was showing us his presentation — and it really happened. I was not for it. I thought, ‘I’m ready to retire — we don’t need a bar.’ But I was wrong — it’s going great. It’s gorgeous up there. You never know who you will see on any given night.”
Parents of four (Maggie Gleason Crawford, Mack, John and the late Bobby Gleason), the Gleasons are quick to point out that they’re proud of all their children. But in terms of this newest business, they’re grateful for John’s vision and for Mack, who runs the day-to-day business.
Mack Gleason returned to Huntington after some years in Charlotte working in experiential marketing for Diageo and its products like Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Ciroc, Smirnoff and more. His knowledge of the bar industry has helped make John’s vision into a success story.
“I wanted to bring that bigger city feel that other markets have to a smaller market like Huntington,” Mack said.
He said he loves being part of the young entrepreneurial energy in Huntington and providing something that appeals to all generations.
“You don’t have the same day twice,” Mack said. “You can have a 22-year-old customer sitting next to a 72-year-old, both enjoying a cigar and a cocktail. It’s all-encompassing up here. We’ve reached multiple demographics. You can start with Steely Dan at 5 p.m. and then it goes to Dua Lipa at 9 p.m.”
Mack said he wants to spread the word that there is indoor seating as well for the nights when the weather isn’t cooperating, but added that it’s a beautiful setting to relax on the patio even in cooler temperatures because of the fire pits and heaters that keep it cozy.
LaFontaine’s Rooftop Lounge offers wine, beer and cocktails. It’s quickly gaining a reputation for its house cocktails and charcuterie boards. It also sells popular menu items such as pretzels and beer cheese dip, bruschetta, local pepperoni rolls, bar snacks and desserts.
“The Rooftop Lounge is a great way to extend the business my father started,” Mack said. “It’s one of the few places in the region for the cigar lovers, who can not only enjoy a cigar on the patio but keep their cigars in a humidor right inside the lounge.”
Humidors are air-tight containers or cabinets that keep cigars at the proper humidity.
“We have a humidor with lockers,” Mack explained. “Each of those lockers can be rented out. Customers have their own key and can store their own cigars in there.”
And cigars aren’t just for men.
“It’s amazing to see how many women are smoking cigars,” Mack said. “For many it’s simply something different to experience. Maybe it’s their thing, and maybe it’s not. But this is a good space with knowledgeable people to show you the ins and outs. We offer everything from flavored cigars to full-bodied higher-end cigars.”
In the retail shop downstairs, they not only sell cigars but a broad selection of wine as well. For the Gleason family it has been nice to see some of their customers work their way up to the rooftop.
The Rooftop Lounge wasn’t an overnight development project. It required significant investment to add extra steel beams to reinforce the roof, the installation of an elevator and all the beautification measures that make it a first-rate experience.
“It’s nice being up there on a Friday or Saturday night and listening to people as they get off the elevator,” Bob Gleason said. “They ‘ooh’ and ‘aah.’ This was John’s idea and Mack has really taken the reins. I’m proud of them, and I’m proud of all my kids.”
