Many were shocked to find The Pub & Grill at Santa Fe Brewing Company shuttered Monday and Tuesday, leading to rumors that the music venue/brewing company/restaurant was closing indefinitely. According to owner Brian Lock, circumscribed hours are part of the SFBC's new direction.
"We just decided to close Mondays and Tuesdays for winter," Lock says of the decision made this weekend. "We're not closing. We're staying open, refining our direction."
SFBC will be open this Thursday for music. Lock says, in the future, the event space will be open for larger concerts and private shows.
"In my opinion, it's the last decent music venue in the city, especially for outdoors," he says.
Lock is working with Jamie Lenfestey, owner of Fan Man Productions, which has organized many shows there in the past, to coordinate future programming.
The fate of the restaurant is less certain, and Lock says it will open only for certain events.
"As a full-service restaurant, open seven days a week, that part is changing," Lock says.
"It's a tough economy. People don't come out and eat like they used to and it's been a tough location as a full-service restaurant for long time," Lock says.
The taproom/distribution portion of Santa Fe Brewing Company remains unchanged. SFBC plans to put out a press release detailing all the changes this weekend.
According Lenfestey, "The dust will all be settled by Friday. It's actually going to be better."
Last decent music venue in the city? Cool. I guess we will have to let Corazón and The Cowgirl and The Lensic and The Underground and Warehouse 21 and The Underground and Little Wing and High Mayhem and all those other places know they can't compete with this amazing place, this pinnacle of musical brilliance, this shining beacon which stands alone as the only decent Santa Fe music venue Obviously Brewing Co. is so wonderful as proven by this new direction it is taking.
It is sad to hear that the restaurant is being shuttered but not surprising. Food quality has been inconsistent and never truly great since they opened. They have gone through a few changes but never seemed to follow through. For example, they advertised the start of table service in radio spots but on several occassions we found no wait staff upon arrival. It was, apparently, based on how staffed they were on any particular day.
Still, it is a lovely spot. The bands that play there tend to be top-notch and the outdoor shows spectacular.
I know the brewing operations are a separate company - so glad that was protected thus.