Roslyn and Nate Goldsmith, of the former Mother Goldsmith's, pose with Joe Mack, proprietor of Seven Horse Pub, which now occupies 43 Phila St. Mack is holding a caricature of Mr. Goldsmith drawn by Sy Wallick in the late 1940s. Other caricatures by Wallick hang on the restaurant's walls.

 (photo provided by Mark Bolles of Creative Photo and Graphic)

Business at Seven Horse Pub, a restaurant and bar at 43 Phila St., is picking up speed as the colder season gets under way.

Builder and restaurateur Joseph A. Mack, former owner of the Horseshoe Inn Bar & Grill, has quietly been serving dinner in his newly renovated second-floor dining room there since July, although the downstairs pub has been open since August 2009.

On Saturday, he held a grand opening event for the dining room, honoring Nate Goldsmith, the proprietor of Mother Goldsmith’s, a restaurant that occupied the building in the 1940s.

Built in 1885, the venue started as a three-story boarding house and, with the establishment of Mother Goldsmith’s, drew well-known Saratogians who mingled there during the mid-1900s. One of the patrons of the era was the artist Sy Wallick, who drew caricatures of those famous patrons.

Mack bought the building in 2008 and found Wallick’s drawings buried on the third floor. Now, they line the walls of the dining room. The third floor has been carved out and a post-and-beam structure, built with wood from a century-old barn, has been installed, giving diners on the second floor a high ceiling and lots of light.

“We’ve tried to stay familiar with what Saratoga would be like in years past, so the actual character of the building stays the same,” Mack said.

The dining room seats up to 50 people, and there’s room for a few more at the bar — a bird’s eye maple structure from when the venue was 43 Phila Bistro. The space can accommodate private parties of 30 people or more.

Dinner is served nightly, upstairs and downstairs. You’ll find $10 burgers and entrees for $14-$24, as well as salads, pasta, pizza, steaks and seafood. Several beers on tap and a dozen wines by the glass round out the offerings.

For more information, call Seven Horse Pub at 581-0777.