Make more room for the mollusk! As of July 4 weekend, Rory McEvoy and Grainne Coen’s Kidd Squid Brewing Co. (11 Spring St., Sag Harbor) took over the adjacent space just next door, adding more beer-bestowing capacity to the popular community hub.
The space, formerly Sag Harbor Garden Center, shared a collaborative relationship with the Sag Harbor’s sole brewery for the last several years, using former owner Linnette Roe’s pretty garden center outdoor area as a make-shift beer garden. But as of July 1, the entire space is officially part of Kidd Squid, with expanded seating, outdoor games like bocce and pétanque, ping pong and corn hole, TVs for special events (like the World Cup, which they’re currently screening in the beer garden) and even a separate indoor space allotted just for merchandise.
“Kidd Squid Boutique is the working title [of the merch shop],” says McEvoy, which also offers more items than they’ve been able to sell in the tap room, like pastel-hued sweatshirts, trucker hats, bandanas, T-shirts and even dog treats from animal rescue non-profit Wags & Walks (which their new ARF-adopted pup, Potato, who spends a lot of time hanging around the brewery’s Sag Harbor spot, is extra excited about).
“It more than doubled our outside space,” says McEvoy, who notes that other potential future plans, like possibly adding on-site food, are on hold, pending decisions the Village is currently working through regarding how the farm brewery fits within the current business code.
“But that was one of the big reasons we wanted to take on the space, we were concerned about who would come in here if we didn’t,” says Coen. “It’s a big leap for us, but if we didn’t take it, this could become a chain store or a corporate thing.”
For decades, the space was home to Sag Harbor’s only in-town gardening shop, which Roe took over in 2022. According to a story in the Sag Harbor Express, multiple mitigating factors made sustaining the small business too much of a strain, not the least of which is the seasonal aspect of both in-flush gardening needs and second-home owners.
Roe, who now is working with Jackson Dodds in Southampton, is still keeping a bit of a hand in the space, though. In a creative turn of collaboration, she recently oversaw the installation of six shady crepe myrtle trees at the entrance to the beer garden from Dodds — all for sale. What happens when they’re sold? Each will be replaced to keep the garden in a continuous state of breezy, shady repose in the warmer months.
Pastries, petanque and Dreamy Coffee on tap in the morning add to Kidd Squid’s all-day gathering appeal with their new expanded space. (Photo credit: Amy Zavatto)
“Everything happened so fast. We just got it and had to do all this work and open last weekend,” says Coen. “But basically, Kidd Squid is doing all of the things it was doing before, but we’ve rounded out some other stuff.”
Aside from the extra space, another new aspect of the business is their new community-centered morning option, offering two kinds of Dreamy Coffee (regular and coconut) on nitro tap as well as fresh-baked pastries from Water Mill’s Alpina Bakery, staring at 10 a.m. daily.
“It looks like a Guinness!” she laughs. “It’s really smooth and delicious.”
