“We have loved you as best we could,” wrote the owners of the Black Dog Cafe in a sign announcing the permanent closure of the Lowertown eatery and music venue. “We are grateful for each and everyone of you that has walked through these doors.”

Commenters on a Facebook post sharing the news immediately registered their disappointment. Those saying goodbye included musicians like Mae Simpson who played there; local knitters who used it as a gathering spot; and artists like Amy Clark who exhibited their work on its walls.

For the duration of its tenure, the Black Dog was owned by three siblings: Andrew, Sara, and Stacy Remke. In 1998, they opened their new venue in the space formerly occupied by the Kuppernicus Coffee Gallery. Sara Remke told the Pioneer Press the family aimed to create “a nice hub for Lowertown.”

Indeed, the Black Dog became that - not just a place to grab a bite or a drink, but a place to see original local artwork and to hear local music. The venue was particularly known for hosting jazz artists, including those exploring the genre’s borders.

The Black Dog’s Saturday Night Jazz series, founded by trumpeter Steve Kenney in 2014 after the nearby Artists’ Quarter closed, became a go-to for many local music fans. “If you’re a jazz and improvised music fan,” drummer JT Bates told The Current’s Simone Cazares in 2018, “you can trust that what’s happening here on most Saturday Nights is super happening with that music.”

In 2018, the Remkes remodeled the space - managing to do so without closing their doors. Now, with those doors closing permanently, they’re inviting community members to join them one last time on Jan. 15 “for a dram or a drink and a goodbye.”

On Sara Remke’s Facebook post about the Black Dog’s closure, writer Heid E. Erdrich commented, “Thank you for your hospitality and kindness to poets, artists, children and the shy and lonely. You have been a boon to your community. The times have made it hard to show, but your work has been deeply appreciated.”