by Marc Hurwitz
[Ed note: This article was updated on April 10, 2019 to reflect a name given to the place along with other information.]
Yet another brewery is on its way to the region, with this one moving into a waterside space on the North Shore where a Chinese restaurant had been.
According to an article in Wicked Local, Hamilton resident John Collins is opening a brewery and restaurant in Essex at the former Fortune Palace II site on Main Street, with the plan being to have the brewery on the first floor and the dining area on the second floor. The post mentions that each floor will have a bar while a beer garden will be set up on the porch of the place, and the restaurant will be an "upscale American bistro" that is receiving help from an unnamed restaurant group.
Fortune Palace II had been in the space since the mid-1990s, moving from Peabody where it had been called Fortune Palace, first opening its doors in the early to mid-1980s.
[April 10, 2019 update: The Boston Globe reports that the name of the new brewery in Essex will be Great Marsh Brewing Company, and that the Webber Restaurant Group (Gibbet Hill Grill, Scarlet Oak Tavern, The Bancroft) will be running the restaurant there. If all goes as planned, the brewery and restaurant could be opening in October.]
[October 29, 2019 update: The Gloucester Daily Times mentions that Great Marsh Brewing Company plans to open its doors late next week, with a possible opening date of either Wednesday, November 6 or Thursday, November 7. (Thanks to a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page for bringing this to our attention.)
[November 5, 2019 update: A Facebook post indicates that the grand opening of Great Marsh Brewing Company will take place tomorrow (Wednesday, November 6).]
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[Related article from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): Slideshow--Ten Good Places to Get Beer in the Boston Area]
