Kensington Market is one of the best places to eat in Toronto thanks to the wide array of restaurants, vendors and take out counters that call the neighbourhood home. And soon, they'll be one more way to imbibe there.

That's because the Kensington Brewing Company will finally open up at 299 Augusta Avenue. The brewery's been in the works for more than five years now.

“It is the longest kind of on-going joke in the industry at this point,” says Mike Gurr, the vice president of operations at Kensington Brewing Co.

He joined the team five years ago and worked at a desk in the back of the now-shuttered Burger Bar. He says they signed a lease for the 299 Augusta space back in 2013, but do to a whole spate of issues - regarding zoning and construction, to name a few - it's taken until now for them to get the doors open.

In the meantime, however, they've been contract brewing across the province - you might've tried their summery watermelon wheat beer at a local bar or at the LCBO.

A post shared by Kensington Brewing Company (@kensingtonbrewingcompany) on Dec 8, 2016 at 9:18am PST

For the bricks-and-mortar brewery, Gurr says Kensington Brewing Co. is getting a complete re-brand and a new lineup of beer.

The new space will feature a 40-seat bar and a bottle shop open from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day, including holidays. While it won't be a brew-pub, it will aim to highlight food in creative ways.

"If you ask someone who’s in their 20s what you do in Kensington, it’s always eat and drink," says Gurr. "So we wanted to kind of focus in on that and do so in an interesting way that was going to marry food and drink together."

He hopes to host food education events, butchery workshops and beer dinners in the space.

As for the rumours about Collective Arts Brewing and a Duggan's project opening in Kensington Market, Gurr couldn't confirm anything. Though he is excited about the possibility of Kensington being a craft beer destination.

"I think the more people that come to Kensington knowing it’s a destination for craft beer, the better for us and the better for the neighbourhood."