‘We’re back.’ The Barbary returns to its Fishtown home.

The Barbary is back, baby.

Fishtown’s two-story dance bar, known for its sweat-inducing dance parties and matinee punk shows, announced its return in an Instagram post on Monday.

“We’re back,” the post read.

After a soft opening late last week, which drew long-time partygoers back to the the strobe-lit floors, the nightlife escape will officially reopen starting Thursday, according to new owner Ravi Bayanker.

The Frankford Avenue bar and lounge, home to dance parties like Tigerbeats, Space James, and The Bounce, returns after a series of ownership changes and momentary closures.

In 2007, DJ John Redden purchased the red-brick venue with a group of silent partners for $735,000, plus $75,000 for the liquor license.

After nine years of managing the 4,872-square-foot space, which includes full bars and dance spaces on the first and second floors, and offices and a private bathroom on the third, Redden put the place up for sale for $2.2 million in 2016.

With the addition of The Fillmore, and a series of other entertainment spaces opening in Fishtown, Redden said the Barbary’s draw began to dwindle. “This is not the wild west out here anymore,” Redden said to The Inquirer in 2016. “A place like the Barbary always thrived by being off the beaten path.”

The Barbary was purchased by current ownersBayankernd his partner AJ Bathena in February 2019, who fixed pressing issues and later mapped out a full-scale renovation of the venue.

But at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barbary was forced to make another shift. With safety guidelines crippling traditional nightlife spaces, the venue pivoted from in-house events to sidewalk parties in early 2020 before reopening its doors in August 2021.

Seven months later, the Barbary took a “brief pause” in February 2022, citing the development of a “bigger, better, and crazier” venue, according to a since-deleted Instagram post.

Bayanker said he and Bathena decided to remove the staircase that originally split the dance floor, and stabilize the “wobbly” second floor. And with help from SL Commercial Construction, they expanded the size of the second floor, installed a new sound, lighting and HVAC system, designed a new lobby, and added an outdoor patio on the upper level.

With renovations now complete, Bayanker said The Barbary better aligns with the vision he and Bathena had when they first purchased the historic space. “The look, feel and flow have changed dramatically but what will never change is our be-yourself attitude,” he said in a statement.

After three years in the dark, the Barbary welcomed patrons back for an unannounced soft launch over the weekend, according to an Instagram post by Wooder Ice.

In response to the video, many long-time patrons celebrated the long-awaited return of the favored nightlife attraction.

“A mercury retrograde MIRACLE!!!! beacon of light in these dark times!,” one user wrote.

With Barbary’s return to the lower end of Frankford Avenue, the music venue will join other recently opened restaurants and nightlife hangs in the area, a list that includes the cocktail and music lounge Margolis and the New York-based chain Mamajuana Cafe.

Update: This story has been updated with information about the building’s renovations and current ownership.