Family Matters.
As well-conceived as it is, you’d think Will’s + Bill’s is a corporate-owned chain. You’d be wrong. The world’s only other Wills and Bills is a will-writing and bill-paying business in England.
Owners are Delco-born Bill Mangan, Jr. and his son, Will III, who also operate McKenzie Brew Houses in Malvern and Chadds Ford. Although they graduated 36 years apart, both attended Cornell’s vaunted hospitality school.
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY.
Proprietors Bill and Will Mangan at their new Berwyn pub. Behind them is a portrait of another Bill Mangan, their father, grandfather and former business partner. It was painted by Bill Sr.’s wife, Chester County artist Caroline Mangan, shortly after her husband passed last spring.
“Will has single-handedly brought us into the 21st century,” Bill Jr. says. “Working with my son is a gift and I appreciate it every day – especially since he’s so damn good at what he does!”
The duo’s rebrand in Berwyn “pays tribute to my son and to my father – Bill Mangan, Sr. who recently passed,” Bill tells SAVVY.
“Will has single-handedly brought us into the 21st century,” Bill Jr. says. “Working with my son is a gift and I appreciate it every day – especially since he’s so damn good at what he does!”
The late Bill Mangan and the son he called “Junior” worked side by side for 40 years, operating The Drexel Ale House in Upper Darby, La Grande in Chadds Ford, Café La Grande in Malvern, and more recently, McKenzie Brew Houses in three locations. “I thought this would be something special. My dad never had a restaurant with his name on it,” Bill says.
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