Providence’s Union Station Brewery to close after 30 years
Union Station Brewery will shut July 19, putting the 1993 Providence brewpub and its staff on a short clock after more than 30 years.
Union Station Brewery will close on July 19, giving bartenders, servers, cooks and hosts at 36 Exchange Terrace a fixed end date after more than 30 years in downtown Providence. The brewpub opened in 1993 inside the former Providence Union Railroad Station, a setting that made it look like a permanent part of the city rather than a business on borrowed time.
That kind of shutdown puts restaurant workers on a tight clock. Once a closing date is public, staff have to line up the next job fast, and federal WARN rules, when they apply, are built around giving workers 60 days of notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. Union Station’s own site says local restauranteurs and bar proprietors bought the business in 2019, shifting it from a corporate entity to a Rhode Island brewpub with a neighborhood feel.
The venue’s identity has always been tied to the old station itself. Visit Rhode Island calls Union Station Brewery the state’s original brew pub and neighborhood institution, and the brewery still serves food and beer on site, with a rotating mix of seasonal and specialty brews. Its events calendar shows recurring trivia and karaoke nights, details that help explain why the former train depot became a regular service shift for front-of-house staff as well as a beer destination for downtown regulars.
Ownership had already been in motion before the closure notice. In October 2025, Heritage Restaurant Group said it would acquire Crisp Restaurant Group, including Union Station Brewery and two Providence Coal Fired Pizza locations, and framed the move as a strategic expansion into Providence and a way to preserve a piece of Rhode Island craft beer history. A later report in May said that deal had been called off, leaving the brewery to absorb another round of uncertainty before the final shutdown date was set.
For restaurant workers, the message is plain: a 30-year run does not keep a closure from landing on the floor staff first. At Union Station Brewery, the last service will come with a calendar date, and the people who worked the bar, the line and the host stand will be the ones racing to the next shift when the doors shut.
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