The restaurant and brewery industry has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to sudden economic challenges and limited capacity operations, around 2,600 businesses of this type were forced to close their doors permanently, including 2,500 restaurants and about a dozen breweries in Texas alone.
The list of closures has not yet seen its final entry, as three top-notch Dallas-Fort Worth breweries have recently shut down.
Located in Denton, Armadillo Ale Works is the most recent to close, shutting down after 12 years of operation. Other closures include Braindead Brewing, from Deep Ellum, shutting its doors after 7 years, and Legal Draft Beer Co. from Arlington, closing after 6 years.
The prolonged imposition of business restrictions due to the pandemic took a toll on the sales of Armadillo Ale Works.
“While containing the spread of the virus was critical, the state’s restrictions affected both our taproom sales and the sales of all of our wholesaler and retailer partners,” the founders posted on Facebook. “Due to this, we have been unable to maintain a level of revenue to offset our expenses and must vacate our building.”
It is not clear whether Armadillo Ale Works will make a comeback in the future or not. For now, some of its products are available through its retailers, and the founders have asked people to continue purchasing them.
As for Legal Draft Beer Co., no official statement has been issued by the founders regarding the reason for shutting down. The establishment closed with a note posted on its taproom saying the company owed almost $165,000 to the landlord.
On their website, a notice by the co-founders read, “With heavy hearts, we say goodbye…we can’t thank all of you enough for the outpouring of love and support over these last six years.”
Founders for Braindead Brewing did not comment regarding the reasons for closing their doors. According to a report in Dallas County, they had a debt dispute going on that was resolved in January 2022.
The brewery’s goodbye post said, “We appreciate every person that has ever walked in our doors and given us any of your time and hard-earned money. We’re sorry that we gotta go, but we love you and wish you the best!”
In addition to these Dallas losses, Houston-based 6 Wards and Bearded Fox Brewing from Tomball are two other Texas breweries that have shut down in the past few days.
According to Caroline Wallace from Texas Craft Brewers Guild, amidst the pandemic, more than 300 breweries ended up taking huge debts.
“Just because your favorite brewery has seemingly made it through the pandemic, it doesn’t mean they’re not still reeling from the impacts of business from the past few years,” she said, “It’s really an important time to support your local businesses.”
