While the rest of us bitch that downtown Westport virtually shuts down before the sun sets, Bob Le Rose, the owner of Bobby Q’s Barbeque & Grill, and the president of the Downtown Merchant’s Association, is slyly doing something about it, turning his popular rooftop bar into a funky Beer Garden, complete with a thousand twinkling outdoor lights, a newly installed garden and a respectable selection of domestic microbrews.

“We’ve been sitting on this terrific asset for six years now,” says LeRose, about the newly opened Bobby’s Rooftop Beer Garden, a rooftop space that has long been the site for live music, well before Bobby Q’s came to town. Though Bobby Q’s had been using the space for live music and private parties, LeRose said he didn’t fully throw his resources behind it until the town started banging the drum for more nightlife. He says, “When P&Z started loosening up their regulations about outdoor spaces, we thought, “Let’s carve out a place in the community that is totally unique.