Wooden Robot pauses taproom; Charlotte Beer Garden to close dining room after Monday
Editor’s note: On Tuesday morning, Gov. Roy Cooper said he will order North Carolina restaurants and bars closed except for takeout and delivery orders. The executive order will be effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday and will also include an expansion of unemployment insurance.
The COVID-19 outbreak is continuing to impact local businesses, this time causing the temporary closure of the city’s beloved Sycamore Brewing. The company announced on its Instagram page Friday that it will pause operations at its Hawkins Street Taproom, effective immediately.
“This is about making sacrifices for the greater good of our community. Those on the front lines — firemen, nurses, physicians, police, etc. — do not have a choice about doing their jobs,” owner Sarah Brigham told CharlotteFive on Sunday night.
“The private sector has an obligation to minimize the risk to those public servants just as it has an obligation to protect employees and customers and the most vulnerable in our community. As it relates to our business, we believe the way the beer community ignores or confronts the COVID-19 risk in an ineffective way, the downstream effects, although somewhat hidden, are most certainly worsened.”
The move was made out of an abundance of caution for Sycamore employees and customers, and the post noted that the decision will be evaluated on an ongoing basis.
We reached out to other local breweries to find out about their plans during this unprecedented time.
Birdsong Brewing Co. remains open and continues to monitor the situation.
Brewers at 4001 Yancey is still open and has taken extra steps to improve customer and staff safety, such as adding cleaning protocols and increasing hand sanitizing stations. “We are moving to single-use menus and pens and will not be refilling glasses from pitchers. One of the nice things about our location is that we have space. We will be seating guests with social distancing principles in mind. Finally, we have a great staff here and we are encouraging them to look out for each other and take the proper precautions. We have implemented an employee health log to track illness and recovery and will be doing temperature checks on all production and taproom staff,” a statement from the brewery said.
Charlotte Beer Garden will be closing at 10 p.m. Monday, March 16, for in-house dining. Takeout and curb-side pickup will be available beginning March 19. Details on ordering will be available in the coming days.
Devil’s Logic’s taproom will remain open. Owner Brian Wallace said, “We are carefully monitoring the situation and, as always, encouraging high levels of sanitation. We also have crowlers if someone wants to snag some tasty brew to enjoy at home.”
Divine Barrel Brewing is remaining open for now. “We’re operating as normal while taking extra steps towards maintaining a sanitary taproom and work environment,” owner and head brewer Ben Dolphens said. We will also continue to sell crowlers of beer to go if people prefer the grab-and-go method.”
NoDa Brewing decided to close its taproom and cancel all events until further notice. A new drive-through option is available, so swing by to pick up four packs, crowlers, gift cards and merch to-go.
Olde Mecklenburg Brewery is rescheduling its 11th Anniversary Party, scheduled for March 21 and 22, to a later date, but remains open.
Protagonist will be closed for at least one week, beginning Monday. The team will be making updates on its social platforms about to-go, pickup, and delivery options soon. “We want to make sure we keep the beer flowing in a responsible way for our amazing beer community. We love y’all,” a post stated on its Instagram.
Wooden Robot is pausing taproom operations during this time. The brewery is offering to-go options until further notice. All crowlers are on sale for $10 at the South End location.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
