The operators of Small Brewpub in Oak Cliff are closing the Jefferson Avenue restaurant and bar after dinner service on Dec. 7.

Its owners decided not to renew the lease, according to a post on the company’s website, after five years in business.

From its opening, Small Brewpub stood out as a “daring and original” restaurant: “a great place to experience some of the most interesting and ambitious cooking in Dallas at the moment,” we wrote in early 2015. Its chef was Misti Norris, who was plucked from the ambitious FT33 kitchen and later left Small to open Petra and the Beast, an inventive restaurant that made Bon Appetit’s list of nominees for the 50 best new restaurants in the United States.

(Bon Appetit had been following Norris’ work for years, having named Small Brewpub as one of their best new restaurants way back when, for its “offbeat brews and ambitious snacks.”)

From the start, Small Brewpub, Norris and her team served unexpected bar food like lamb country pâté, veal hearts and chicken feet. They went “really well with beer,” which was the whole point. One of Small’s best-known beers is the Black Pepper Pils.

Small Brewpub led a wave of brewpubs in North Texas, proving that a place serving craft beer can have a menu of unconventional food. It’s one of the eateries our beer reporter Tiney Ricciardi named in a story called “The rise of the brewpub brings North Texas elevated bar food [and] beer to go.”

Smoked tassione carrots are not a typical bar-food option. They were on the menu in 2016 at Small Brewpub, a unique and inventive restaurant and brewpub that's closing in late 2019. (Andy Jacobsohn / Staff Photographer)

Norris left Small in fall 2016, after it seemed that her out-of-the-ordinary bar menu was a little too daring. In a lookback story a year after Norris left, the Dallas Observer reported that Small’s owners took on second jobs and didn’t take paychecks from the Oak Cliff brewpub. They were trying to fix two problems: The food wasn’t approachable, and the neighborhood didn’t seem to get it.

Owners Daniel Bowman, Aaron Garcia, Benj Pocta, Joshua Dawn and Primo King hung on, but the restaurant — which now features more mainstream options like burgers, soft pretzels and deviled eggs — has finally found its end.

“Those of you who have worked with us in the many roles and responsibilities employed in a full-service restaurant, cocktail bar, and brewery, thank you. We wish we could have supported you better and paid you more," reads the statement on the web. “To our loyal patrons over the years, thank you. We wish we could keep serving you Black Pepper Pils, New Hats, and Beef Belly Buns forever.”

The owners promise a party on Dec. 7. In the weeks leading up to the closure, the brewpub will start pouring cellared beers like Mish Mish and Byzantium. They’ll also pour Ultimo — a good name for the brewpub’s final beer, no? — which is a strong ale (11% abv) with notes of Mexican vanilla and nutmeg.

Small Brewpub is at 333 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.