Night Shift Will Expand Its Beer Garden Empire to Somerville’s Assembly Row

Ever-expanding local brewery empire Night Shift will add a new beer garden to its roster this summer, opening at the Assembly Row development in Somerville, Federal Realty announced today. The brewery — which has taprooms in Everett and Boston’s West End and two seasonal beer gardens, each known as an Owl’s Nest, along the Esplanade and in Allston — will open a new Owl’s Nest near the Smoke Shop, between Foley Street and Revolution Drive.

This won’t be Assembly Row’s first foray into hosting a beer garden; now-closed brewery Somerville Brewing Company, the makers of Slumbrew, ran an extremely popular beer garden at the development for several summers.

The forthcoming Owl’s Nest will feature barbecue from the Smoke Shop as well as pickleball and shuffleboard courts and cabanas from PKL Boston, not to mention a roster of fitness classes, live music, and other activities throughout the summer.

While this is Night Shift’s first official Somerville location, the brewery’s roots are actually in the city, as founders Rob Burns, Mike O’Mara, and Michael Oxton began home-brewing on Josephine Avenue back in 2007 before opening the Everett brewery five years later.

When the new Owl’s Nest debuts this summer, it will join a few other newcomers to Assembly Row, including Parla, Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, and Le Macaron, all slated to open in summer 2021.