ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A beloved restaurant is closing after nearly three decades of business.
A1A Ale Works' last day will be Sunday, May 26th.
Staff tells First Coast News the closing comes after a breakdown in the lease negotiations between SPB Hospitality, the company that owns the restaurant, and the White family which owns the building.
Doug Murr worked there for 16 years, mostly as the brewmaster when the restaurant made its own beer. He now owns Dog Rose Brewery.
Thinking about why it's so popular for locals and tourists, he said, "To sit on the bayfront on that upstairs balcony and overlook the bay is hard to beat."
A1A Ale Works is in downtown St. Augustine, right across from the Bridge of Lions and on the plaza. It opened in 1995.
Remembering his time while working there, Murr said, "It was well known in this town, this was the best job in town was at A1A. It was busy. You could make money."
When the restaurant unexpectedly announced Thursday that its last day will be Sunday, Murr and his wife went right over to see it again.
"It was mildly emotional, you know, kind of looking at the brewery," Murr said. "That’s how I raised my family. I was working there and brewing, right?"
Angela Shrewsbury of Tennessee spoke on the closing and the lease issue.
"It’s sad. And it’s 30 years. It’s part of the history," Shrewsbury said. "These are the restaurants when travelers like me come down, these are the places we want to eat."
Shrewsbury ate at A1A Ale Works for the first time with friends Friday, and said staff told them they’re concerned about finding new jobs. However, another told First Coast News the company is providing for them.
Some of the people who work here at A1A Ale Works have worked here for years. Murr said, "They have a guy in the kitchen, Pete, who was the from the very first day they opened. A lot of people have grown up there."
When A1A Ale Works stopped making beer, Murr got the beer equipment, and that’s what’s producing the beer in his place now on Bridge Street now.
Even though he says businesses come and go, he and others will miss the A1A Ale Works. "It’s like losing your childhood home, you know … the parents finally selling the childhood home. That's how a lot of people feel about it."