Forget wine bars and cocktail lounges, beer halls are so hot right now. Though the Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden in Astoria has been packing them in for a century, the recession has bred a new generation of halls and gardens in the last few years. Not only is business booming, new additions are coming fast. The beer hall and garden, a long lost New York staple, has returned.
How can you tell that times are gut? The latest addition to the scene, Hofbräu Bierhaus NYC opened last month at 45th and Third Avenue expecting to "crawl in the beginning." Instead business has been so fast and furious that folks are lining up on the weekends and they've had to hire 10 additional dirndl-wearing servers. The lesson being: Never underestimate a New Yorker's desire to Oktoberfest year-round.
So what is spurring this boomlet? The increased prominence of smaller breweries, and the relative cheapness of a pint of beer seem to be the biggest factors. Who knew that people would be happy to choose a $7 pint over a $12 cocktail!
And though the German beer halls have been getting most of the attention, the trend isn't just about suds from Deutschland. Though Italy isn't exactly known as the Axis power with the best beer, that isn't stopping Mario Batali and his Eataly crew from putting a huge new rooftop brewery, La Birreria, atop that massive re-store-aunt next month. Other planned gardens in the works include the former Water Taxi Beach at the South Street Seaport and one on the someday-they'll-finish-renovating-it Pier A. Not to mention Harlem Tavern which is aiming to open soon on West 116th Street.
As fans of beer gardens in general this is a trend we can prost to. What's your favorite beer garden in town?
