Imbibe Food & Drink in Kitchener closing
Kitchener, ON – Imbibe Food & Drink, a local-focused restaurant on King St. in Kitchener, today announced its pending closure.
The shut down is a result of rising lease costs at TheMuseum, a not-for-profit space where Imbibe rents the first floor.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to come to agreeable terms for the lease. The increase in rent was not insignificant and simply could not be absorbed into our business model. What this means for Imbibe is that we will be shutting down before June,” says owner Bill MacTavish, owner of The Boathouse in Victoria Park which was recently reopened.
MacTavish adds, “While Imbibe seems like a downtown institution, we did only open less than three years ago. We are still a new business. As such, we don’t have the financial capital to invest in a new space. I am keeping all of my options open. But for the immediate future, I will focus on spending more time with my family and The Boathouse.”
Imbibe hosted many cask beer nights and beer events including Craftoberfest and the first public screening of documentary Straight Up: The Issue of Alcohol in Ontario.
It is slated to close by June 2015.
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