Malone's is back.

The popular Town of Tonawanda watering hole - and sponsor of countless softball, hockey and other recreational sports teams - has returned to the man who owned it for 24 years. A few weeks ago, retired General Motors worker David Niemann took back control of the Delaware Avenue bar and restaurant.

Niemann thought he had served his last order of chicken wings a few months ago when he sold Malone's. The deal fell apart, however, and now the place is back in his hands.

"I was getting ready to spend more time in Florida," he said, half-joking. "I guess that won't be happening."

With all due respect to Malone's brief new owners, they were messing with success and a local legacy as they tried to shift it from being a neighborhood sports bar to something  more trendy.

It didn't work.

Malone's is the type of place one goes to after playing softball or hockey to hang out, have a few beers and eat some wings. It is on the far end of the pretentious scale. Summertime sees people there in shorts and T-shirts, relaxing and having a good time. During the winter, jeans and fleece take over as people crowd around to watch the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills.

Malone's legacy, by the way, goes beyond the 716 area code. In Las Vegas, there is a bar/restaurant way off "the Strip" called All Stars. It's where former Buffalo residents congregate to watch Bills and Sabres games via satellite TV. They eat real Buffalo chicken wings there while drinking local favorites such as Labatt and Genesee beers. The walls are loaded with framed Bruce Smith jerseys and an autographed Rob Ray hockey stick - along with a photo of Rayzor and then-Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi fighting. It screams Buffalo, even through it's thousands of miles away.

The owners proudly say their bar is patterned after Malone's.

Niemann, who owned Malone's with business partner Richard Anthony for 24 years, said he decided to sell it earlier this year. It was a tough decision.

"I put a lot of my heart into the place," he said, "but I felt it was time."

A deal was struck and the new ownership team stepped in, and Malone's began to shift. The menu was changed; the atmosphere was different.

Eventually, Niemann got it back - by mutual agreement - and his first order of business was to bring back the feel of the old place.

"I'm using our original menu," he said.

That means a heavy dose of burgers, wings, beef on weck and all things Buffalo, including the popular Friday night fish fry.

"I hope people give us another chance," he said.

Early returns show that he's getting it: The place has been packed. One night, TV sets alternated between showing the Boston Red Sox-Texas Rangers game and the rain-delayed season opener for Notre Dame football.

It felt right; it felt like Malone's.

As for the future, Niemann said he'll hold on to the business. Maybe, someday, he'll sell again; maybe not. It remains an open-ended question.

"I'll see how it goes," he said.

One thing's for sure: He knows how his customers feel.

Deals, deals and more deals

Among the recent real estate transactions to make their way through the closing process in the Erie County Clerk's office were:

• Local businessman and investor James Maguire purchased two apartment complexes in Amherst. He paid $302,000 for a series of apartments on Garnet Road and $1,112,000 for another series on Wehrle Drive. Both had been owned by the Harold L. Peters Marital Trust.

• In what appears to be a tax exchange of properties, Fra d Holdings LLC sold some real estate at 2545 Millersport Highway in Amherst to 2545 Getzville LLC, an investment group based in Boynton Beach, Fla. A Rite Aid pharmacy sits on the property and remains open.

Frad paid $2,560,555 for the 2.48-acre parcel.

• The property where the Falafel Bar is located at 3689 Sheridan Drive in Amherst changed owners. Laura Ammer sold the property to 3689 Sheridan Drive LLC for $140,000. Falafel Bar is open and not affected by the sale.

• Delux Laserworks Inc. paid $91,000 for a multi-tenant property at 5011 Broadway in Depew, buying it from John Aquino. It houses such tenants as the Foot Health Center.

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Now that Save-A-Lot is moving ahead with new, deep-discount supermarkets in Buffalo and Cheektowaga, look for the chain to consider a number of other sites including Hamburg and Niagara Falls.