The company behind Jack Astors will soon be opening a new restaurant in a space that was once home to Brickworks Cider House.

Many a Riverside resident was heartbroken to learn that Brickworks Cider House, a local success story, would be closing their doors for good as of January 2, 2024, but it looks like a new neighbourhood watering hole could soon fill the void.

From Service Inspired Restaurants, the comany behind big names like Jack Astors and Scaddabush, Duke's Refresher is a self-described "small bar" with "BIG attitude," and it's also the newest resident of the space left behind by Brickworks.

The restaurant concept boasts 40 beers on tap, rotating arcade games and activities alongside a menu of elevated pub fare, so should bring something to the neighbourhood that it hasn't seen yet.

"We couldn’t be happier to join this vibrant growing community," Anesie Johnson, VP of Marketing and Communications at SIR tells blogTO. "We are going to have a lot of fun together."

Anesie confirms that Duke's is, indeed, moving into the restaurant space at the corner of Queen East and Broadview, joining the first and only Duke's location at Front and Farquhar's Lane.

The restaurant space at 709 Queen East is something of a heavy-hitter, with sky-high ceilings and a secluded loft area, to say nothing of it's history of also being the original location of the legendary Real Jerk.

The space is currently under renovations, so there's no official opening date set as of yet, but Anesie tells blogTO that it should be coming this spring.

In the meantime, you can see what Duke's Refresher is all about by visiting their St. Lawrence Market location at 73 Front Street East.