After 13 years in downtown Kent, the Airways Bistro & Beer Garden will close by the end of October.
An unexpected long closure of the patio for remodeling and a large rent increase led Alex Dittmar, founder of Airways Brewing, to close the business at 320 W. Harrison St., with the final day expected to be Oct. 26 at the latest. The Airways Tap Room & Brewery, 8611 S. 212th St., will remain open.
“In the late spring of last year, we started to face significant challenges at that location,” Dittmar said about the bistro in an Oct. 10 email to the Kent Reporter. “The landlord at the time, initiated a patio remodel project that was supposed to take two weeks, but ended up lasting four months during our busiest time of year. That led to huge financial losses and a loss of momentum. Those, combined with a very large rent increase at the beginning of this year created a hole too big to dig ourselves out of on our own.”
Dittmar explained further in a phone interview that “we lost six figures in revenue” because of the patio closure in the summer of 2023. He said the plan looked good, but the work began in May 2023 and wasn’t finished until September 2023. A few other problems also needed to be fixed pushing the completion date to May 2024.
“We’re a small business and in the restaurant world, the loss like that and the lost of momentum, it’s an extremely tough challenge,” Dittmar said.
On top of the revenue loss, rent went up 31%, he said.
“We have seen the restaurant business is always tough and this on top of the normal things made it too hard to climb out of,” he said.
Ten employees will be let go, five servers and five kitchen workers.
“It was extremely tough and painful,” Dittmar said about closing. “We built that location from nothing to something but at some point you’ve got to move on.”
The initial landlord sold the property and building in late 2023. Dittmar said he is negotiating the lease exit with the current owner.
Dittmar opened the Tap Room & Brewery in 2016 at its current site. Airways was founded in 2010 at 6644 S. 196th St. The bistro opened in 2011.
“The Tap Room is humming along,” Dittmar said. “The brewing business has challenges. It expanded at an unhealthy rate pre-Covid and now it’s kind of righting itself, but it’s harder than it was pre-Covid.”
Future changes at the Tap Room remain to be determined.
“We’re looking how we can improve it, and whether to make changes to make it more like the bistro and family friendly, but right now we’re working our way through the closure,” Dittmar said.
The Tap Room is for adults 21 and older. It is open 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday. Bistro hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Sad customers
Customers of the bistro are sad to hear it’s closing.
“What??? Oh no!” posted one man on the Airways Facebook page. “This is terrible news, and I’m stunned and saddened to hear it. We love that location and your beers, will continue to support you at the tap room!”
Another customer had a similar reaction.
“Oh no! This makes me sad. I understand, but what a loss for the community.”
The theme continued.
“Oh wow, that’s so sad,” posted another customer. “Spent many hours in this spot over the years.”
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