PHOTO BY SEAN COLLIER

Club Cafe, the intimate venue for music, comedy, burlesque and more, will shutter in the New Year. As first reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the venue plans to host a final week of farewell events before ceasing operations; future plans for the sale of the building are to be announced.

The venue first opened in 1988 and rebranded a decade later; it has since 2011 been run by Opus One Productions, the promoter also responsible for venues including Mr. Smalls and Stage AE.

Club Cafe’s closure marks the end of a long decline for music in the South Side. East Carson Street and its neighbors once held live events nearly every night; the COVID-era closure of the Rex Theater, since rebranded as the nightclub Enclave, dramatically reduced the number of ticketed events in the neighborhood. Nick’s Fat City, arguably the neighborhood’s most significant venue, closed in 2004.

A full calendar of events is currently posted on Club Cafe’s website, including performances by the likes of Los Shadows and Pansy Division, as well as the popular Halloween show by the Smokin’ Betties burlesque troupe. Opus One told the Post-Gazette that shows would continue as scheduled through the end of the year.