This $3 million brewery in Fort Worth is closing as West 7th changes continue
Deep Ellum Brewing’s $3 million Fort Worth craft brewery on University Drive is closed, ending a 1-year run that began in controversy and ended with a pandemic.
It is the fifth major West 7th-area restaurant to close this year and the second directly related to the coronavirus pandemic as West 7th goes through a turnover of operators and concepts.
Deep Ellum Brewing’s retail sales continue and its Dallas location is expected to reopen.
The Dallas-based company ran afoul of Fort Worth city code before opening, when city officials ordered a giant “mural” of the nickname “Funkytown Fermatorium” removed as an illegal business sign.
After a delay due to a federal government shutdown, Deep Ellum eventually opened to large crowds. But it struggled to establish a restaurant business, despite Neapolitan-style pizzas, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and inexpensive dinner specials.
The building was put on the market in mid-June, although owners did not say then whether the brewpub would reopen.
Deep Ellum Brewing’s statement also attributed the closing to Texas law banning large breweries from selling beer to go, bypassing distributors and retailers.
The shuttering of Deep Ellum Brewing follows the closure of the $2.5 million Foch Street location of Colorado-based Punch Bowl Social, which has since closed all its locations. In the Crockett Row shopping center, anchor Cork & Pig Tavern closed along with the pandemic. Terra Mediterranean Grill and El Bolero had already closed, and several tenants in a food hall have been replaced.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 3:12 PM.
