The World of Beer tavern in downtown Sarasota — the last of three in Sarasota and Manatee counties — has closed for good.
The pub at 1888 Main St. went out of business on Sunday. Its future had been unclear ever since the Tampa-based chain revoked its franchise agreement in January. The tavern, which opened in 2015, continued to present itself as a World of Beer despite not being part of World of Beer Franchising.
Dean Lambert, a representative of the local franchise owners SRQBeer LLC, said they plan to reopen under a different concept.
The Main Street closure comes after a judge sided in February with World of Beer Franchising in its legal dispute with SRQBeer, which also owned the World of Beer tavern at 8217 Tourist Center Drive. That pub closed in January and rebranded as JDub’s Dub Shack at UTC. The judge gave World of Beer Franchising until March 26 to decided if it wants to buy JDub’s Dub Shack. According to the judge’s order, it appears the Dub Shack may have to close after that date even if World of Beer decides not to make the purchase.
A third World of Beer tavern, at 497 Cortez Road W., closed in January.