Closing time

This is the final post on the Sipsey Tavern website.

At the end of July, we will no longer be open at our location in 5 Points.

This isn’t due to the economy, or poor management (although no one would ever accuse us of savvy management). After a year and a half, we had worked out the kinks and were making money. Not an outrageous amount of money–but enough to pay the bills and put some in the bank.

The reasons that we are moving on, we probably can’t go into. Suffice it to say, we want to continue operating in our current location. But, for reasons beyond our control, that is not going to happen.

There are many people that put a tremendous amount of work into renovating the bar. When we first occupied the building, it was in pretty rough shape. It’s just now starting to feel like we’ve moved in, and we’ll be moving out in less than a month.

We were fortunate to have so many dedicated friends that kept us in business. The saving grace of Birmingham is that we have so many talented and creative people that live here that refuse to let the city die. 5 Points is not the busy, thriving hub that it was 10 years ago, but there are still plenty of people who support the district. We made some great friends over the year, and we look forward to seeing you at our next bar–wherever that happens to be.

Please continue to support our friends in 5 Points–Dave’s, J Clyde, Cosmos, Mellow Mushroom and all the others. Come out for Birmingham Restaurant Week this Fall. The district is having a tough time weathering the storm through recessions and the realities of the economic climate in the city. But 5 Points is worth saving, and there are dedicated people who are working hard to preserve it.

We’ll miss all the bands that came through. We got to hear some great music, and the lineup for the rest of the month is strong. Alabama is producing some great music right now, and we are grateful to so many bands (Jasper Coal, Dai Kaiju, Doc Daily & Magnolia Devil, Red Mouth, Voices in the Trees, Rollin’ in the Hay, Banditos, the mighty Renegades of Folk, Motel Ice Machine and on on…) that stopped in to play on several occasions. Special thanks to Arturo for setting up his Sunday night showcase, and to Randy for running Open Mic’s throughout the year.

Finally, we could never have made it this far without our bartenders. Ryan, Gretta, Leslie, Jay, Jennifer and everyone else who worked here–thank you for working so hard to make sure everyone had an excellent time. The most important asset for any bar is a good bartender, and we were lucky that you all were there to help out.

Thank you all for supporting the Sipsey Tavern. We’ll see you again soon.