NEW COCKTAIL LOUNGE IN TROY
The Berlin opened to the public Thursday
TROY, N.Y. >> The Collar City has a new cocktail lounge with the opening of The Berlin.
Located above Wolff’s Biergarten, at 2 King St. in Troy, The Berlin opened to the public on Thursday, debuting a new concept for the second story space.
Local entrepreneur Matt Baumgartner, who also is the owner of Wolff’s Biergarten, which is downstairs from The Berlin, has been working on this project for about three months.
“I guess I wanted a space that I would enjoy coming to to have a drink,” Baumgartner said on why he created The Berlin. “It seems like professionally I’ve always opened up things that felt fun for me at the time. So where I amin my life now I kind of want to sit down in a comfortable chair and have a nice glass of beer.”
Decorated with comfortable furniture and eclectic antique store artwork, the bar serves a variety of beer and wine, with a special focus on “Haus Cocktails” such as The Berlini, a Honey Old Fashioned, a Cold Brew Manhattan, a Ruby Red Margarita and a Wolff’s Whiskey Sour.
The Berlin is a primarily a place to have drinks, though guests can order
food from the Wolff’s menu.
When visitors come in to The Berlin, a hostess will seat them at a table or the bar. “That way you can always count on having a nice, relaxing time here without feeling like it’s ever going to be some packed bar, which I hope people like,” Baumgartner said
Named after the capital of Germany, Baumgartner hopes to invoke the feeling of “a throwback to a cocktail lounge in Berlin,” he said, sharing that the lounge will play 1940s and 50s jazz music.
Before its debut as The Berlin, the upstairs space was used as a private room associated with the bier- garten. Prior to that it was known as Troy Cantina, with Mexican fare and decor from the former Bombers Burrito Bar.
In addition to its evenings open to the public, The Berlin will host private parties including birthdays, wedding receptions, bridal and bachelor parties.
Baumgartner said his goal for the future of The Berlin is to book a lot of private parties. The Berlin is similar in design to The Pony Barn at Baumgartner’s other latest project June Farms, which is also an event venue, in West Sand Lake. As The Pony Barn recently closed for the season, the newly revamped Troy space will serve private parties from the farm and from Wolff’s.
The success of June Farms and The Pony Barn in its first full season gives Baumgartner confidence that those similar qualities will translate at The Berlin and it will become a hit with patrons.
The Berlin is now open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, starting at 5 p.m.
Reservations can be made for parties of four or more.
Private events, for which information is available on The Berlin’s website, are priced for 50 people.
More information about The Berlin is available online at TheBerlinLounge.com.
The Berlin can be contacted by calling or texting (518) 300-1984.