OREGON, Ohio — The Black Forest Cafe, which has served up German cuisine at Oak Shade Grove for years, announced Monday that it would shut down restaurant operations and make the transition into an event space. 

In a Facebook post, the cafe said it would officially end restaurant services at the end of the month. Its final day open will be Saturday, Sept. 27. 

“We cannot express how grateful we have been for our loyal patrons, guests, and community members for their business and support over the years,” the cafe’s operators wrote in the post. 

But it isn’t the end of the story for the cafe. In the post, owners said it would reopen shortly thereafter as a rental space under the name “The Black Forest Event Center,” beginning Oct. 1. The location from then forward will be exclusively available for party and event rentals. 

The business noted that those who have already booked the location for a future event do not need to do anything else; all current reservations are still in their calendar. 

Even if you haven’t visited the Black Forest Cafe, you may have seen the building in which it’s housed when visiting the German American Festival or other events at Oak Shade Grove. Its food, architecture and cuisine are modeled after what one might find in a German mountain lodge, and in addition to the rich history of its various decor, an enormous Swiss Alpenhorn is situated above the fireplace. 

Its name is an homage to Germany’s Black Forest, or Schwarzwald, which gets its name from the dense population of conifers in the region.