After closing temporarily in March, Maloney’s Tavern, on University Drive just east of Rural Road, will return as the Devil’s Advocate Bar and Grill on Oct. 2, the owner said.

The Devil’s Advocate will be modernized with an ASU theme, a dance floor and a brand new menu after being purchased by JHS Ventures, a group of former Maloney’s managers and ASU alumni, said Jarred Stetser, president of the group.

“We’re not doing, like, a full-on renovation, so we’re just basically updating the style,” Stetser said. “It’s just going to be less of a generic bar and more devoted to ASU.”

Stetser said the bar’s new theme will be like a museum of Tempe and ASU history.

“People can come in that graduated from ASU, and see pictures of things that happened on campus when they were here and reminisce,” he said.

Though Devil’s Advocate will have differences from Maloney’s, Stetser said the new bar will retain the best parts of its predecessor.

“We want to keep it the same kind of neighborhood feel where you walk in and everybody knows your name,” Stetser said. “It’s going to be the same great place it was before but even better,” Stetser said the changes were all taken from suggestions made by Maloney’s customers when he and his partners were managers there.

“We’re acting on all those suggestions,” Stetser said. “The regular Maloney’s people are going to come in and see their input basically in action.”

One of those customers, Tempe resident Ian Flescher, 30, said he was disappointed in Maloney’s old menu and pushed for a better one.

“You only ate there out of necessity, not for desire,” Flescher said. “We only ate there because we were there out of convenience. So a menu was a big deal to me and as well as everybody else.”

Some selections on the new menu will be named after famous ASU figures as well as the most cherished Maloney’s employees and customers.

Flescher, an ASU alumnus who has been a Maloney’s customer since he was 21, said he’s also glad JHS Ventures is bringing a dance floor back to the bar after it was removed during 2004 renovations.

“If you can get a good combination of sports, ASU loyalty, a classy bar, a nice restaurant, a place for women to dance and guys to hang out, you got the ingredients for a perfect bar,” he said.

Finance junior Tyler Tocco said he was a big fan of Maloney’s and was sad to see it go.

“You don’t want to see one of the best bars in your town close,” Tocco said. “I’m definitely looking forward to going back and seeing the changes.”

When it opens, Devil’s Advocate will accept Sun Dollars. Tocco said going with an ASU theme and accepting Sun Dollars could turn the already-popular bar into ASU’s go-to bar.

“You go to most college towns and there’s always a bar where the students go,” Tocco said. “If they’re doing stuff like that … I don’t see any reason why when it opens up it won’t be just as busy, if not more.”

Reach the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu.