North County Business News: I Think They Spelled Beer Wrong

Beer Gardens date back to the early 19th century. They started in Bavaria as a practical extension of German breweries. Back then, brewers stored their beer barrels in cellars, where it slowly fermented. To keep the cellars cool and shady during the summer, brewers covered the ground with loose gravel and planted chestnut trees. When the Bavarian King Ludwig granted brewers the right to sell their beer on the spot, the beer garden was born.

Encinitas the past 5 years has had a run of drinking establishments pop up (Union, Regal Seagull, the soon to be open Solterra Winery, heck- even the Saloon is remodeling to keep up with the times), so you probably think we're at the bursting point. Luckily, most of these establishments have put their own spin on the traditional watering hole as you can take kids there for a burger, they're not smokey, and they have an abundance of windows; as in the case of the new Bier Garden in downtown Encinitas there's almost no walls.

Located next to Whole Foods/Pacific Station in downtown Encinitas, it occupies the former Barracuda restaurant. It was a bummer to see Barracuda leave as it was one of the nicer dining establishments in town, but they never utilized the patio in back to the fullest. The Bier Garden has changed that. With the addition of blowing out the walls in front of the building as well as the back, the Bier Garden is free flowing and seems like you're sitting outside- even in the middle of the restaurant. They had a soft opening for last weekend's Street Fair and the place was packed- a perfect place to people watch.

The building is interesting- besides the abundance of open windows- as it also has a large tree inside made of vines and it's V shaped which gives you a 270 degree view of the outside. As of Sunday, they didn't have a large sign out front so you'd drive right past it unless you knew it was next to Whole Foods. They've got 23 beers on tap and will serve everything from burgers to seafood to tacos. Currently they're open from 11-11 and may start serving brunch this summer. Even though they were primarily busy due to the Street Fair and soft opening this weekend, I get the feeling they'll be busy regardless due to the unique open structure of the building and foot traffic from Whole Foods. On that note, it's supposed to be close to 90 degrees tomorrow- a perfect time to sneak out to the Bier Garden.