Lease may be drying up for local watering hole Thirsty Bernie

(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) Will Thirsty Bernie close or move next year and leave its regulars parched?

The sports bar at 2163 N. Glebe Road, in the Glebe Lee Shopping Center, has largely kept doing its thing after previous talk of format and management changes. But this time around the tea leaves point to an even bigger change for the North Arlington staple.

A leasing chart for the shopping center says the restaurant space currently occupied by Thirsty Bernie Sports Bar & Grill will be “available June 1, 2023.” That follows a tip received by ARLnow in July that Thirsty Bernie was trying to find someone to take over the space.

ARLnow reached out to the business then and now and received a brief, non-specific denial both times.

“Thirsty Bernie has no plan to close in near future,” the bar said via email.

Should the current location — which remains open — close next year, it is not immediately clear whether Thirsty Bernie would move elsewhere, a la Whitlow’s, or simply close up shop entirely.

A long-term plan for the Langston Blvd corridor, including this shopping center, is currently making its way through a public process prior to an eventual County Board vote. The plan may see aging strip malls like this one replaced over the next couple of decades with taller, mixed-use developments.

Hat tip to Mike W.