Urban Garden Brewing—D.C.’s first Black woman-owned brick-and-mortar brewery—will open Friday in Shaw on T Street Northwest, with a full draft lineup, a dinner menu debut, and a grand opening celebration tied to go-go history.
The dream finally has a door you can walk through.
Urban Garden Brewing is opening its doors on Friday in Shaw. at a spot on T Street Northwest just next to the Howard Theatre. The brewery will also be housed inside the same building where founder Eamoni Collier first fell in love with making beer—during the era when the space belonged to Right Proper Brewing.
Collier, the brewery’s founder and co-owner, said the familiarity brought both comfort and disbelief. “It kind of made the experience a little bit more comfortable because I know the ins and outs,” she said. “But also a bit surreal because it’s now my space.”
She described Urban Garden as D.C.’s first Black woman-owned brick-and-mortar brewery. In an industry she says is often dominated by stereotypes, Collier’s approach—and presence—looks different. “I realized that there was a lack in representation. especially not just as Black American. but also like Black women. ” she said.
The location is steeped in family history. Collier said her grandfather used to perform at the Howard Theatre. She described him as a pioneer of go-go music who worked with Chuck Brown. Inside the brewery. a dedicated area called the Joe Tate Listening Lounge will honor his legacy. complete with vinyl records and a mural painted in his honor.
The beer. brewed on site. also reflects a different kind of inspiration—built less around standard brewery assumptions and more around everyday nature. Collier said the brewery’s approach emphasizes botanicals found in people’s gardens rather than simply chasing hop intensity. “We focused a lot more on like the botanicals versus how hoppy we can make the beer,” she said. “We love hops. but we really like to explore different botanicals. flowers. herbs and spices to bring out the essence of the beer.”.
For Collier, getting to this point has taken years and multiple setbacks. She said she spent years contract brewing with other established. local brands before trying to open in a space along South Dakota Avenue in Northeast D.C.—only to lose the lease. The financial hit was significant, and she said it cost her real hope along the way. “I was really just focusing on the how — like, I want this, how can we have it?” she said.
Co-owner Malaika Tate-Scott—who also designed the interior of the space—described the fallout in blunt terms: “The losses are big — financially, it’s big,” she said. Still, she said the team kept moving with a “little glimmer.”
When that glimmer turned into something tangible, the feeling inside the brewery was immediate. Tate-Scott said she still can’t believe what they built. “I smile every time I think about it,” she added. “There aren’t many words. It’s a feeling really more than anything of like ‘Wow, look what we’ve done, right?. Look what, look who we supported, and how much she’s bloomed.’”.
Tate-Scott’s husband and co-owner, Renaud Scott, said his belief in the project began long before the ribbon. He told the story of tasting Collier’s homebrews in a backyard setting, including a beer called Lotus Flower Bomb. “There’s love, there’s joy, there’s history, there’s craft in this,” Scott said.
He said he started sharing the brewery’s story the same way he shared the taste. “I just started bragging about it, just because I loved it, right? Lotus flower bomb, lotus flower bomb, lotus flower bomb, all over with my friends and family, and such,” he said.
Friday’s grand opening is scheduled to begin with a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. The celebration will include a beer garden on the patio. build-your-own bouquets. DJs. tastings from other Black-owned brands. and a go-go party featuring N2L Band&Show. Collier said the full draft lineup of Urban Garden beers and the complete dinner menu will also debut that night.
Scott said the timing and location matter beyond the business itself. “We were raised here in D.C., so it means much more to us,” he said. “Not only just for the story. the background. the history. the legacy. but also for us as individuals growing up in the city. Seeing us own businesses, seeing us provide services and economical support to the community.”.
For Collier, the space is meant to bring people together, not just serve drinks. “This space for me is really about the gathering of the community,” she said.
Urban Garden Brewing Shaw Washington DC Howard Theatre go-go music Joe Tate Listening Lounge Eamoni Collier Malaika Tate-Scott Renaud Scott Black woman-owned brewery craft beer botanicals Lotus Flower Bomb N2L Band&Show