Unusual wine, craft-beer bar on Magnolia Avenue closes

Magnolia Avenue is losing one of its more unusual spots.

Wine bar/craft-beer bar/restaurant 44Bootlegger is closing, according to a post by co-owner Tammy Brown on Facebook.

The 4-year-old restaurant got its name, in part, from its beverage list: 44 beers on tap and in cans and bottles, and 44 wines by the glass. The menu changed but the numbers stayed the same.

What didn't stay the same was the food; originally, 44Bootlegger didn't offer it, but customers could order from other places such as Italian restaurant Nonna Tata across the street. Eventually, 44Bootlegger launched its own French-food-oriented menu.

When owners Tommy and Tammy Brown opened 44Bootlegger, it wasn't a bar: It was a boutique clothing shop. But the name, which sounded like a bar, threw some people off (it’s named after Tommy’s grandmother, who actually was a bootlegger).

The Browns wanted to sell wine by the glass in the boutique, but there were legal issues with that. Because a lot of people thought it was a bar anyway, they went with the flow.

UPDATE: On Tuesday evening, this official announcement appeared on the 44Bootlegger Facebook page.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Unusual wine, craft-beer bar on Magnolia Avenue closes."