Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. will not reopen the U.R.B., its pilot brewery and pizzeria at 4501 Manchester Avenue in the Grove in Forest Park Southeast.
The U.R.B., which opened in late 2016 directly across South Taylor Avenue from Urban Chestnut鈥檚 Grove Brewery & Bierhall, has been dormant for some time during the pandemic. However, a reader contacted Off the Menu last week to report that the storefront鈥檚 windows are now covered.
Urban Chestnut co-founder David Wolfe confirmed the closure.
鈥淒uring COVID, we made the decision to move the pizza ovens and U.R.B. operations into The Grove Bierhall last summer to keep things under one roof,鈥 he said in a statement emailed to Off the Menu.
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鈥淗aving the ability to do to-go pizza and beers during the pandemic was a huge win for us and something we look forward to continuing.鈥
Not only is the U.R.B.鈥檚 pizza continuing at the Bierhall, so are its feedback surveys on new products on a "semi-regular" basis.
鈥淭he craft beer community and corresponding database that we established via the online U.R.B. portal has been very valuable to our new product development process and has helped us launch new products like our line of Urban Seltzers, Hallertau Haze, and Lil' Fritz,鈥 Wolfe said.
Meanwhile, the former U.R.B. space might not be vacant for long. Illustrations of a platypus now decorate the storefront. The new project聽鈥 whatever it is聽鈥 is not connected to Urban Chestnut.
鈥淲e look forward to having new neighbors in our old space, and we are excited to add another great venue in The Grove,鈥 Wolfe said.
More on the mysterious platypus as Off the Menu learns it.