Geneva’s Old Towne, Beer Cellar both close in city’s downtown

GENEVA – Two businesses closed in Geneva’s downtown last week, Old Towne Pub and Eatery, 2012 W. State St., and The Beer Cellar, 204 W. State St.

The Beer Cellar had been open since December 2019. A message on its Facebook page announced that its last day in Geneva was Feb. 25 and referred customers to its Glen Ellyn location, which is still open.

“We’re disappointed, but after the past four and a half years, we’re not at all surprised that we’ve come to this point,” according to the Facebook post.

“Opening a new business is always a risk and because we opened our doors just months before COVID[-19] hit, the struggle to get going was amplified in ways we never imagined. We kept trying to adapt and grow, hoping we’d really be able to make it work, but last fall, we realized it was time to pull the plug. We made the choice to look for someone to take over our lease and close our doors,” according to the post.

In an email, Beer Cellar owner David Hawley wrote, “The short answer is we opened shortly before COVID[-19] hit and just never got off the ground the way we needed to. We eventually decided we were spending more energy than it was worth to keep it open, so we decided to close and focus all our energy on our flagship store in Glen Ellyn.”

Old Towne Pub and Eatery opened in 2001 and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021.

The restaurant’s phone is disconnected, its website is down and the last entry on its Facebook page is from July 8, 2022. A message left for the owner was not returned.

Geneva attorney Rick Williams said in a voicemail message that “the reason Old Towne closed is because their lease expired and the landlord was not interested in renewing it.”