Craft brewery Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur is due to close on Monday after nearly 33 years there.
Co-founder and owner Brendan Moylan said there were a number of reasons for closing the 6,000 square foot restaurant and dining hall at the Marin Country Mart shopping center opposite the Larkspur ferry terminal.
“COVID was the main reason, being closed and closed,” he said.
That didn’t help with the revenue needed to pay the rent, and eventually the Jamestown landlord decided it was time for the brewer to move on.
Finding enough staff was the other big contributor. But other factors, according to Moylan, made the situation worse: not getting a portion of the Federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund, money to help struggling establishments during the pandemic, and an expanded food court at the mall. .
The brewery opened at the mall, then called Larkspur Landing, on April 1, 1989.
In August 1995, Moylan opened Moylan’s Brewery and Restaurant at Rowland Plaza, 15 Rowland Way, Novato. Some beers poured at Larkspur will continue to be poured at Novato, he said. Opening hours will soon be extended to seven days a week.
The brewery also sells beer in bottles, cans and kegs to retail, but that has become more difficult as craft breweries have proliferated, Moylan said.
He also operates the Moylan Distillery in Petaluma.
Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Prior to The Business Journal, he wrote for Bay City News Service in San Francisco. He graduated from Walla Walla University. Contact him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256.
