'The industry has changed': Longtime Winooski bar and eatery will close this weekend

WINOOSKI ― A longtime hangout in Winooski has announced it will shut down after business on Saturday, Aug. 17.

McKee’s Pub & Grill holds a prominent spot at the top of the traffic rotary in Winooski’s compact downtown. The owners revealed Aug. 8 on social media that the bar/eatery known for serving burgers, wings and beer will be shutting down.

“Due to increased costs, insurances, new and additional taxes and the biggest factor, the ongoing and continuing construction issues affecting sales, we can no longer continue to operate at a loss,” according to the social-media post.

“Our last day of operation will be 8/17/24,” the post reads. “Please join us in the coming days to say goodbye and raise a glass to one of the best things that ever happened in our beloved one square mile on the banks of the onion river ...”

The construction the post alludes to is a $26 million Main Street revitalization project. A post on the city of Winooski website notes that the project, which will continue through the summer of 2026, will include pedestrian and bicycle facilities, upgrades to traffic signals, improved street lighting and landscaping, new stormwater infrastructure, improvements to sewer and water utilities and the relocation of power and telecommunications lines underground.

“We are down nearly 70% in sales,” the McKee’s social-media post reads. “We tried to stop the bleeding, shutting down for lunches that were not producing. We had great success with Trivia and Karaoke! But those two sales days a week are not enough to pay the bills and we have slipped further and further into a hole that we do not see us capable of crawling out of.”

“The industry has changed,” the post continues. “People do not seek out the companionship, comradery and the social aspect of places like ours as much as we did.”

In an ensuing post, McKee’s clarified that its two other properties, Papa McKee’s Pub & Pizza in Richmond and McKee’s Island Pub & Pizza in South Hero, remain open and “are doing just fine.”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com .

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: 'The industry has changed': Longtime Winooski bar and eatery will close this weekend