Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant started in 1996 with three friends, one of whom learned to brew from a homebrew kit. It was founded by Kevin Finn, Mark Edelson, and Kevin Davies. 20 years later, Iron Hill Brewery is a chain and has a new CEO, Chris Westcott. With 21 brewery restaurants all over the mid-Atlantic area, they show no sign of stopping.
Chris Wescott intends to continue to expand the brand in a way that doesn’t “cannibalize” its market per The Philadelphia Business Journal. Specifically, the chain is interested in expanding into Pennsylvania and South Jersey. South Jersey is admittedly an expensive market for liquor licenses which is a difficult situation for any restaurant or bar that comes into the area. There are no publicly announced plans as to where these new locations in the two states will be as yet.
According to The Philadelphia Business Journal, these new locations won’t be on the horizon until 2023. The company’s main focus in 2022 is revamping the already existing breweries in their roster due to the challenges that have been brought into the business by the Covid pandemic. Supply chain issues and labor shortages will make a dent in anyone’s plans and there’s very little warning when some of these issues arise.
The chain does have beer on tap, canned beers available for retail, wine, and cocktails along with an extensive menu of all the standards that you could expect from a high-end chain restaurant like appetizers, soup and salad, entrees, entree salads, hearth-baked pizzas, and burgers, sandwich, and taco options. The only thing that the menu seems to lack is a dessert option, but perhaps they didn’t feel that was necessary with everything else that is available. Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant seems posed to move cautiously into the future, but with purpose.
