The 51 North Taproom closing is set for Dec. 13, Earthlings. Owner Will Shuff told NewsChannel 5 and Focal News that rising costs and a lease ending at the end of the year have made the Nashville beer bar and restaurant unsustainable.
51 North sits at 704 51st Ave. N. in The Nations, per the Nashville Business Journal. It opened in 2017 and its website advertises 30 taps plus bottles and cans. It is a taproom and kitchen, not a brewery.
Why the 51 North Taproom closing is happening
Shuff said business never fully recovered from the pandemic. Federal PPP money kept the place open and most staff employed, but food, repairs, labor and rent all kept climbing.
“Our lease is coming to an end at the end of the year. And now we just can’t afford it. It’s just not sustainable,” Shuff told NewsChannel 5.
Second closure this year
The 51 North Taproom closing follows 12 South Taproom, Shuff’s original spot, which closed in May after 20 years. The 51 North site says co-owners Jamy Borda and Will Shuff opened 12 South in 2006 before choosing The Nations for a second taproom. Shuff described the whole thing as “just kind of a passion. I love beer and cooking.”
The pattern is familiar to the Bureau. Earlier this month, Crosstown Brewing closed its Memphis taproom, another Tennessee casualty of rising costs.
How to say goodbye
The taproom is asking regulars to visit before the last day and to consider gift cards and merchandise as holiday gifts. With the 51 North Taproom closing on Dec. 13, gift cards will stop being useful after that, so the Bureau suggests spending them, not saving them.
Transmission complete. Go have one more burger in The Nations.
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