Lucky Cat comedy club closing soon

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Lucky Cat, a brewery turned comedy club in southwest Cedar Rapids, has announced plans to close early next year.

Owners Haley and Travis Flenker, who started the space as Thew Brewing in 2018, plan to close the club at 301 Second Ave. SW at the end of their lease in February 2024.

“It’s been a labor of love, and we are fortunate to have been part of such an incredible community,” they said in a social media post on Dec. 7. “We are eternally grateful to everyone who has supported us these last several years.”

Thew Brewing relaunched as The Lucky Cat in May 2022, citing success from Thew Brewing’s prior comedy events. The couple decided to cease brewing operations — the most expensive part of staying in business — in anticipation of the $81.5 million First and First West development in the Kingston Village neighborhood.

A significant part of that development, Big Grove Brewery, opens its Cedar Rapids location Thursday.

The club’s Tuesday open mic nights will move to Iowa Brewing Company, 708 Third St. SE, in March.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.