Paceville, the Maltese version of ‘the city that never sleeps’. In a constant state of development, one establishment that has stood witness to the changing facades over the past 30 years, and the town’s unmistakable hustle and bustle, is The Beer Garden.

Blessed with a legion of loyal customers, WhosWho.mt, met up with Donald Bonnici, the man behind the bar. It was 1992 when 23-year-old Donald, barely having any experience in the catering world let alone as a bar owner, was approached by a friend, on an ordinary workday.

“He told me that he had found this pub in St Julians called The Sun in Splendour, and I had no idea where it was or what it was,” he explains. After checking out the place, Mr Bonnici and his then partner made an offer and after  negotiations, they finally managed to secure the pub.

“It took some time for us to get started. When you don’t have much business going, it’s difficult to employ staff, especially on certain days. Obviously, this takes away a lot of time from our families, but I was given a lot of support,” Donald adds.

After a while, he started noticing that they were attracting several British nationals to their pub, at a time when they did not open in the mornings. “My full-time job required a shift and so every second I had available, I would open the pub.”

After five years, Donald and his business-partner parted ways, and he found it difficult to manage the business by himself. Back then, him and his partner Daniela were both working at the bar - but with children and other commitments they sometimes had to work opposing shifts.

However, he adds that one cannot have a business without sacrifices and commitment. Donald explains that building a clientele does not come out of thin air and for an owner to find loyal customers, or customers at all, they must work for it. For Mr Bonnici this included a lot of brainstorming on ways to entertain visitors, including foreign students that came to Malta in the early days of the business, and now as well.

“Students used to start coming in around the beginning of June and would leave in August. We used to have many activities in the pub. We had karaoke and live music, to count a few. We also had Ira Losco performing way back when she started singing,” Mr Bonnici says. This, he explains, used to attract a lot of young students that used to go home and tell their friends all about The Beer Garden.

He also recalls that, given the bar’s proximity to the Hilton, it was often frequented by employees looking for a drink to shake off the day’s work: “Hilton used to host billiard tournaments and we used to have many supporters who would spend their days and nights at the pub, until it was over. There were also many conferences which helped with business.”

In an effort to attract more clients, Donald states that he used to sponsor futsal, football and volleyball clubs. Some of the players, he says, although grown up, still go to the pub.

In the meantime, he adds, he managed to form a very good relationship with his own employees, some of which have been working for him for several years. One important element that  an employer must have is trust, he asserts, trust in his own employees. He adds that he has had many employees that came to work to Malta only for a few months, went back home and eventually went to work at The Beer Garden again.

Something he will never forget is the number of personalities who sat on the pub’s barstools. The Beer Garden saw several world-known actors, including Sean Bean, the actor portraying Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, as well as Rory McCann, known to portray “the Hound” in the same show.

“A few years back we had this tourist coming into the pub. We thought he was an ordinary man, coming in every day. He was always wearing tracksuit pants covered with paint droppings and a white tank top. While I was standing behind the bar, I told him that the day before Sean Bean had visited and he nonchalantly told me that he was also in Game of Thrones,” says Donald smiling.

Donald also says that it means a lot to him that the pub manages to keep up with traditions started years ago. The pub also celebrates Remembrance Day, where hundreds of visitors come to the pub annually and head to the parade afterwards. Showing WhosWho.mt three pictures, he remembered previous clients such as war veterans and even another soldier that was on the convoy of Santa Marija.

Things change and although upon entering The Beer Garden you are transported to a typical British Pub in England, it also had to adapt to new challenges, regulations, and like any other business, it had to grow. Donald highlights that in the past, smoking regulations changed and at the time he had already started to think of extending the parameters of the pub to accommodate more people. “Business was doing very well,” he continues.

Asked about the constant changes in St Julians, Donald expresses that change is inevitable and sometimes, he does think about implementing new things. However, he notes that Paceville is not what it used to be, and if he were to start his business from scratch, St Julians would not be the location for him.

“In Paceville we have a problem with drugs, and I hate that. Sometimes I politely decline clients or request for parties, because I won’t allow certain things to happen in my pub. I don’t judge anyone, because everyone is free to do whatever they want, and most people that I had to decline are good people, but there are standards that need to be kept,” Mr Bonnici says.

Like any other business in Malta, COVID-19 left a hurdle, so much so, that he described it as a stab in the back. “As a business owner you have to be strong enough to prepare for such eventualities. Yes, we had some help, but rent still needed to be paid. Closing for the first time wasn’t as bad, but the fact that we had to open and close multiple times, it was discouraging.”

Another hit for the businesses in Paceville, he says, were the betting companies. Donald explains that the rent increases in offices scared the companies away from the locality, which meant losing customers, “but overall, I’m not complaining, things are going well.”

What’s next? He shares that he does not know what the future holds and that he loves the pub. “I’ll keep on working until my body proves me otherwise. Every now and then I do pass on a cheeky comment to the children that they can have the pub, but I won’t pressure them. At the end of the day, it’s up to them,” he concludes.