While most businesses make big splashes out of those hefty decades-old anniversaries, Eli Fish owners and staff are plenty happy with turning five this year, brewmaster Adam Burnett says.
And the brewery and restaurant that’s already become a staple of downtown’s Main Street will be celebrating on March 3 and 4.
“It’s to celebrate the successes I don’t think any of us saw coming,” Burnett said.
It was in March 2018 when owners Matt Gray and Jon Mager opened Eli Fish Brewing Company in the deceptively large building that stretched from Main Street back to Jackson Square. That included an on-site brewery, a kitchen for Eli and one for an incubator to temporarily house a start-up restaurant for training and experience before ideally moving on to a larger space of its own.
There was also plenty of seating and room for cornhole tournaments, special event bookings and trivia nights and occasional live musical groups.
The place has closed every March since opening to upgrade the brewery — with a minimum 20 percent growth each year, Burnett said — for production capacity that “more than doubled from when I got here four years ago,” he said.
The brewery has a distribution spanning across Western New York and just signed a contract with a major name that can’t be disclosed just yet, plus Eli Fish was invited to participate in a Rochester brew expo, which is newer territory for the more western-based brew, he said.
During its shutdown next month, the property will be filled with activity to build a banquet hall for parties up to 100, continue work on the outdoor deck next to Jackson Square, refine an elevated food menu, and expand Matty’s Pizza into the former Mama Dee’z Kitchen area. (See related story.)
As for the outdoor deck? “I would love to see it functioning before the first concert in Jackson Square,” Burnett said.
How’s the food? “We still do more food sales than beer sales,” he said. “It’s all about the full experience. With Matty’s expansion, that can take a load off of our kitchen. People come now expecting new things with an international flair.”
The anniversary celebration will feature “throwback” food specials from the last five years that include shrimp and grits, bahn mi sandwich, potstickers and more. Craft brews should bring on some nostalgia, he said, with the Brewer’s Wife, a blonde ale, Madam Edna, a nod to the infamous Edna Gruber of Batavia’s pre-urban renewal days, and Church Shoes.
Funny thing is, the Edna was created without anyone knowing that she was Burnett’s great-great-grandmother — a madam, for sure, she ran a brothel on Jackson Street and was reportedly rather philanthropic with her proceeds, donating money to those in need.
The celebration is just that, Burnett said: it's a way to acknowledge that Eli Fish has not just survived.
“But we’ve been thriving,” he said.
Eli Fish Brewing Company Chef Sam Hilburger and Master Brewer Adam Burnett prepare for the five-year celebration March 3 and 4 at 109 Main St., Batavia with food specials and nostalgic craft brews from the first year of operation. Photo by Howard Owens.
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