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The last day of this month is the end of the road for Adams Morgan’s long-running bar and restaurant The Black Squirrel. After more than a decade in the neighborhood, The Black Squirrel will close its doors at 2427 18th Street NW on July 31.
But the new owner, Aj Fastow, is giving The Black Squirrel a big send-off before he transforms the space into a new craft beer-focused bar and restaurant called Seasons & Sessions, set to debut in early September. Fastow and co-owner Lorin Mones purchased The Black Squirrel a little more than a year ago, and now that they have a year’s worth of data under their belts, they’re ready to reveal a new endeavor. Seasons & Sessions Executive Chef Moe Atari is already on board, and has been working on Americana-inspired dishes for the new restaurant.
“One of the reason I got into the bar because I was a big fan of craft beer,” Fastow told Eater, noting that The Black Squirrel was one of D.C.’s first bars focused on craft beers when it opened more than a decade ago. “That’s definitely something we want to keep as part of the bar because it’s something we enjoy,” he said.
Fastow says the basement beer bar will stay more or less the same. “We want it to be a garage-y music space, which is sort of what is is now,” he says. Upstairs, there will be a whole remodel, adding brand-new bathrooms, booths, and communal seating and exposing the building’s rafters.
But The Black Squirrel fans will have time to say goodbye: expect special beer events, music, and close-out drink specials in July along with one last party on July 31 featuring local musicians and Columbus, Ohio-based band The Raquels. “It’s been a spot for locals in the area, it’s a big industry spot we get a lot of servers and bartenders,” Fastow says. “We feel it would be a big injustice to not give it a big sendoff.”
Plus, fans can always visit The Black Squirrel in Northern Virginia, which will continue on under separate ownership.
