On the last weekend in April, less than a year after opening their outdoor beer garden, the team at Return Brewing in Hudson hosted a joyous Grand Opening of their indoor taproom.
“It went better than we even dared to hope,” says cofounder Mikey Lenane. “We were packed from when we opened, around five o'clock on Friday, all the way through closing up on Sunday. The food vendors were sold out halfway through every service because it was going so well. The partner who curated the vintage Honky Tonk Market, the Hawk’s Nest Shop, did an excellent job and everyone promoted the heck out of it. And we just got so many people. We had tons of regulars supporting us but also lots of new people. So it was just fantastic.”
Patrons danced to live music from four bands and enjoyed a photo booth, tarot readings, and the flavors of Bad Luck BBQ. “After two and a half years of working on renovating the space, then running an outdoor-only, very lo-fi beer garden all of last year, to be able to welcome people into a fully renovated, beautiful location like we have now is just…It’s just hard for me to believe it's really happened,” says Lenane. “Truly amazing.”
The building, an old tire retreading factory that had been a storage unit for contractors for a decade or so, was “filthy, incredibly dusty, covered in oil slicks,” when the Return folks took over. “The renovation process was all during COVID, when the supply chain issues and pricing were at their craziest,” says Lenane. “Our initial funds ran out—that’s why we chose to open the exterior beer garden first. We poured that money back into the interior space, and we now have 2,000 square feet with a custom-made bar in the shape of our archway logo.”
Don’t fret if you missed the grand opening; the Return folks are going to be rocking it all summer long. “Our goal is to do something new and exciting every week,” says Lenane. “This week is the release of our Golden Mask summer lager—it’s extremely easy drinking. In honor of that, we’re throwing a masquerade party on Friday [May 3]—we have an amazing local band, the Birdhouse Babes, starting at 8pm, and we’ve got masks to give out to people. Then the next day, since it’s May 4, we’ll have Star Wars on the big screen in the afternoon. Then we're doing a Cinco de Mayo party, starting around 9pm and going to midnight. We've got a piña colada that we're going to break open and Hierba Buena, an excellent Mexican food truck, will be there. One of our bartenders, Tanisha, is a co-owner and her mom does most of the cooking, so she’ll be behind the bar and her family’s doing the food.”
Food trucks of one sort or another will be featured at Return Brewing every weekend, and guests can also order food from Isaan Thai across the street, scan a QR code, and have the food delivered fresh and hot in 15 to 20 minutes. There are plans in the works for some kickin’ good fun during Pride Month. To get informed, sign up for their newsletter or follow them on Instagram.
