America's Best Beer Gardens
A traditional German beer garden is little more than a shaded grove with picnic tables, but US chefs and
restaurateurs are enhancing the concept with spectacular food and design innovations that range from whiskeybarrel tables to a multimillion-dollar retractable roof. Here, the best beer gardens in the U.S
Sheffield's, Chicago
This popular Lakeview garden concentrates on the beer, offering a strong selection of American craft
brews and a number of spectacular bottles from Belgium, like Brouwerij Verhaeghe's Duchesse de
Bourgogne, a complex fruity-and-sour blend of oak-aged ales. Cottonwood trees shade the picnic tables
on its comfy patio. sheffieldschicago.com
Birreria, New York City
This retracting-roof bar is an airy escape above the bustle of Mario Batali’s maximalist Italian market
complex, Eataly. The draw for beer lovers, however, is the brewing program. Two top Italian
brewmasters and Dogfish Head’s iconoclastic Sam Calagione collaborated with on-site brewer Peter
Hepp, Jr., to make a series of remarkable cask-conditioned ales, like one brewed with fragrant Italian
thyme. eataly.com.
Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, Queens, NY
Established in 1910 by a Czech community group, Astoria’s Bohemian Hall is today one of New York
City’s quintessential summer hangouts. Patrons eat Slovenian kielbasa sausages with $16 pitchers of
refreshing beers like Krusovice pilsener. bohemianhall.com.
Easy Tiger, Austin
This beer garden-bakery is the newest project from Top Chef Season 9 competitor Andrew Curren, and
the chef’s enthusiasm for well-done comfort food comes through in thick sandwiches piled with housemade corned beef and pastrami. The upstairs bakery, headed by expert baker David Norman, also turns
out chewy pretzels and flaky pastries, including the signature Tiger Claw with its spiced pecan filling. The
garden offers 30 tap beers, like North Coast Brewing Co.’s lauded Old Rasputin Imperial Stout.
easytigeraustin.com.
Der Biergarten, Atlanta
This über-traditional German-style beer garden goes all-out during Oktoberfest, then gears up for
Christmas with 26 trees and, it claims, more than 10,000 ornaments. The bar boasts that it was the first
in America to serve Germany’s ubiquitous Krombacher pilsner on draft, and the list also includes one of
the country’s most refreshing wheat beers, Weihenstephaner. derbiergarten.com.
Zeitgeist, San Francisco
With a punk rock jukebox and an official cycling team, Zeitgeist does not lack for Mission character, but
its large outdoor space has the comfortable feel of a traditional beer garden. Sixty-four taps pour a wide
variety of mostly American craft beers, including many from California and the Pacific Northwest.
zeitgeistsf.com
Sweet Cheeks Q, Boston
Top Chef competitor Tiffani Faison has added a homey outdoor space to her excellent barbecue joint
near Fenway Park. Whiskey barrels serve as standing-room tables, and patrons can order from four
rotating drafts and the full Sweet Cheeks menu. Faison's fatty Berkshire pulled pork is a favorite.
sweetcheeksq.com.
Drury Beer Garden, Philadelphia
Philadelphia's hip Midtown Village now has an excellent urban beer garden. Greek restaurant Opa
converted its backyard (a former parking lot) into a hangout with ping-pong tables and a short food
menu that includes pretzels and mustard made with Dale's Pale Ale. Four drafts include the spiced
Allagash White, and bottles include the excellent Saison Dupont farmhouse ale from Belgium.
opaphiladelphia.com.
Biergarten, San Francisco
This asphalt garden from the owners of the German restaurant Suppenkuche has a minimalist focus on
quality, serving just a handful of excellent pilsners, wheat beers and schwarzbiers in huge one-liter
steins. Snacks include flavorful bratwurst and fluffy pretzels. biergartensf.com
Lowry Beer Garden, Denver
Colorado's legendary craft beer industry is on display at this new 8,000-square-foot space, which offers
draft beers and bottles from the state's top breweries, such as Avery, Odell and Left Hand. Located next
to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, the bar is the latest addition to a converted 1939
Air Force hangar that currently hosts offices and a farmers' market. lowrybeergarden.com.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, San Diego
Known for producing some of America's most intensely hopped, bracingly bitter ales (like the flagship
Arrogant Bastard), Stone's namesake venue is one of the country's most pleasant and beautiful. A
12,000-square-foot restaurant adjoins a verdant one-acre organic garden with olive trees, a koi pond
and a fire pit along its paths—which are excellent for wandering with one of the bar's 30-plus draft beers
in hand. stoneworldbistro.com
The Red Lion Tavern, Los Angeles
Yes, it’s the kind of German bar that offers beer in “das boot”—a large glass shaped like a shoe—but the
Red Lion Tavern’s divey charm is one factor that makes it such a well-loved fixture (since 1959) of L.A.’s
arty Silver Lake neighborhood. The airy upstairs garden offers a strong lineup of German beers, like the
roasty-but-crisp Köstritzer schwarzbier. redliontavern.net.
Prost!, Portland, OR
The name means “cheers!”—something frequently said over this bar’s large communal tables. Excellent
wurst is on the menu, and the beers are all German—which sets it apart in the microbrewery-dense
Pacific Northwest. prostportland.com.
Village Pub & Beer Garden, Nashville
A focus on local breweries results in some excellent beers on draft, like Yazoo Brewing Company's
unusual Gerst, a refreshingly clean-tasting, cool-fermented ale that could be mistaken for a lager. Built in
a 1940s house, the bar's outdoor area consists of a large, covered wraparound patio.
riversidevillagepub.com.
Grünauer, Kansas City, MO
A tasty Viennese-style menu (think Hungarian beef goulash and Sacher torte) is one draw at this hugely
popular beer hall in Greater Downtown. Draft beers are largely German, though a convincing
Weizenbock-style beer from California’s Lagunitas is also in the lineup. The wine list includes a number
of excellent Austrian bottles, like the rich, floral Heidi Schröck Furmint. grunauerkc.com.
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