Kingshead Pub closes amid virus
Kingshead Pub, the British drinking den that held court with darts and beer-battered cod, has served its final pint in Pompano Beach.
The pub broke the news in a brief Facebook post to customers late Monday afternoon. “It’s with sadness that I regret to announce we can’t sustain longer,” current Kingshead owner Dhiren Chauhan wrote. “Thank you for your support, thank you for the memories. Thank you to our staff that endured.”
While the pub’s message doesn’t directly blame the COVID-19 pandemic for its permanent closure, the crisis has forced thousands of local businesses to fold between March and June. Many were big-name restaurants, forced to operate with half-empty dining rooms, and bars, which have remained
shut since coronavirus lockdowns began in March.
The closure won’t affect the flagship Kingshead Pub in Sunrise, operated since 2007 by owner Jeff Werth. Werth originally opened the second Kingshead Pub in Pompano Beach in January 2015 but sold it in September 2018 to Chauhan.
“I’m just heartbroken,” Werth told the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. He also shared well wishes on his Sunrise pub’s Facebook page. “It’s been a tougher struggle for Dhiren. His bottom line came from out-of-towners, snowbirds and folks who live in beach condos, and they all went away back in March.”
For five years the Kingshead occupied an obscure strip mall on Atlantic Boulevard, dishing 50-plus craft beers and ciders and gut-bursting pub grub such as Guinness gravy poutine and steak-and-ale pie from chef Adina Bourne.
Chauhan knew Kingshead Pub Pompano would shutter as late as last week, says Werth, a close friend who says Chauhan called him frequently during the pandemic, often “sounding super-bummed.”
“He’d call me and say, ‘I can’t do this anymore, business is slower than slow,’ ” Werth recalls. “There was the lack of revenue, barely any tips for staff. He’s the most upbeat guy you could meet so seeing him depressed is the worst.”
Meanwhile, Werth says that Kingshead Sunrise has stayed afloat with steady foot traffic from west Broward suburbanites. The Sunrise location is also attached to Werth’s British market, which sells imported goods, even though “tea bags and biscuits aren’t people’s top necessity right now,” he says.