Two years ago, Rob Theodosiou opened the doors to Abe Erb, a brewpub in uptown Waterloo and almost instantly, the new venue seemed like a hit among both students and residents of Waterloo.
Theodosiou was not new to the restaurant business upon opening Abe Erb, as he also runs Cora’s in uptown.
Within a relatively small space, Abe Erb is serving better-than-average bar food, brewing their own beer and operating a small beer store in the back of the restaurant where you can grab Abe Erb merch, or fill up reusable growlers for an inexpensive price.
With the level of success Abe Erb has experienced in the past two years, Theodosiou has decided to open a second and much larger location in the Tannery District in Downtown Kitchener.
In mid-August, the brewpub announced the new location on their Instagram with a photo of construction occurring in the Tannery District.
The caption read, “This larger space will offer a similar brewpub experience, but with increased brewing capabilities and some special design features that we hope will create another unique and vibrant place for enjoying some good food and drink.”
Theodosiou explained that heightened customer experience was a goal that he had when opening the first location and hopes to translate that into the new location.
“With Abe Erb, itself, we wanted to really concentrate on social experience,” he said. As for food and beer? Those aspects will undergo some changes, too.
“The facility itself, beer wise, will be twice the size and about six times the capacity and volume of beer,” Theodosiou said.
The existing location in Waterloo is currently launching a new menu as a pilot program for the new location.
Theodosiou explained that while the community is constantly asking when the new location will open, that is totally dependent on how quickly they can start brewing the beer and when they can finish construction.
While it may seem that Theodosiou could have his hands full with this newest project, he is currently working on several other business ventures, as well.
His uptown coffee shop, Settlement Co., will also be opening a new location in Downtown Kitchener and he has also made a deal to start selling his beer at the LCBO in the near future.
It is clear that Theodosiou understands that demand is up in K-W and soon enough, he will be creating the supplies to meet that demand.
