It is a bit rare that we post a story late on a Friday afternoon, but it was not until a couple hours ago that any of us was able to trek on over to the Brewery District to check out the grand opening (reopening?) of a local brewpub.

Restaurants often close and then reopen under new ownership, but in the case of breweries, that is a far less frequent occurrence. Nonetheless, that is what happened as Cantero Brewing has reopened today, now owned by Lizard Tail Brewing. (UPDATE) Technically, all that Cantero signage will be coming down, we were informed several hours after this story was first published. The new location will be known as Lizard Tail Industrial.

For those who have not been following along, Cantero followed many other breweries and shut down at the start of the pandemic in March 20202, not even offering beer or food to go. As places were allowed to reopen, it remained closed. Even its brewer remained convinced that it would reopen eventually.

The twist is that it never did, at least not under its original ownership. The Crew heard rumors that the original owners had planned to sell the brewpub to a local restaurant even before the shutdown, but that did not come to pass. We were later informed that the brewing equipment had been put up for sale, but at some point before anything was sold, along came the owners of Lizard Tail, who ended up buying the whole thing.

Now the brewpub at 3351 Columbia Dr. NE, just a few blocks west of Canteen and La Cumbre, is back open. A quick visit found most of the original decor, and the Cantero name, still present at what will become Lizard Tail Industrial. The only main change inside that was completed for the grand opening is the big lizard painted on the wall over part of the bar area.

The beer list and food menu are different, of course. Lizard Tail kept the last chef from Cantero, but the menu is now built more around various hamburger styles than the semi-upscale menu from the previous owners. Much like the brewery on Eubank, the list of Lizard Tail styles on tap is quite long.

Lizard Tail has moved all of its brewing operations to the new location, finally escaping the too-small strip mall space (though that will remain open as a taproom, so the regulars further up in the Heights need not panic). This should definitely help keep the original location and the Rock Canyon Taproom in Carnuel fully stocked, and another offsite taproom set for Nob Hill is progressing as well.

The brewpub will be open seven days a week, and will have live music from The Dirt Cheap Band tonight from 7 to 11.

We will do our best to make direct contact with the Lizard Tail owners to learn more about this big move for their brewery, and their future plans. In the meantime, if you get the chance this week, stop on by and enjoy a pint and a burger, and then let us know what you think about Lizard Tail Industrial.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister