(Photo courtesy of Duffy’s via Facebook)

After 12 years (and a fair bit of drama along the way), Duffy’s Irish Pub is moving from its U Street home (2106 Vermont Ave. NW) to H Street NE.

“We love U Street and the Shaw Neighborhood sooo much and can’t thank you enough for your patronage,” the bar said in its announcement on Facebook, posted Sunday. The long-planned development of the bar’s current building, at the corner of Florida and Vermont avenues NW, forced the closure.

Duffy’s owner Casey Callister tells DCist the Shaw bar’s last night in business will be September 15. “So come get the wings while you can,” he says. They’re not going away forever—the wings, and the rest of the entire menu, are coming to H Street.

The bar’s new location at 1016 H St. NE was formerly occupied by The Liberty Tree, a bistro specializing in burgers and pizzas that closed in the fall of 2017. Callister expects to open ahead of the start of college football season to appease Texas Longhorns fans who flock to the bar for games. “Don’t be surprised if you walk by one day and can just come on in for a beer,” he says.

Ahead of the opening, Callister is installing a new sound system in the bar to create “a magnificent game-watching experience inside.” The bar’s outdoor space is also a bit more private than the U Street patio, Callister says, and will have a beer garden-like environment for watching sports.

The cross-town move isn’t the first surprise announcement in Duffy’s recent history: In 2014, then-owner Andy Duffy announced the bar’s closing due to rising rent prices, only for it to reopen about nine months later when Callister swooped in as new owner. Though Duffy stayed on as general manager, he left the business about three years ago, Callister says. It might not be the last piece of news for Duffy’s either: Callister says that if he ever opens a second location of Duffy’s, Shaw is the neighborhood at the top of his list.

Callister is expecting a big crowd for the U Street location’s final night on September 15: There’s a Longhorns game that night at 8 p.m. And after last call, “When we shut the doors, we can hop on the 90 bus and be [at the new bar] in 5 minutes.” (A bit ambitious, maybe.)