7 great Bay Area BEER GARDENS
Munich may have canceled Oktoberfest for the second consecutive year, but the Bavarian festival is on in the Bay Area, where new breweries and beer-focused restaurants from Mountain View to Concord are celebrating with beer and bratwurst specials, events, even commemorative T-shirts. And who says you need an international holiday to drink craft suds with your friends and family — yes, including your dog — in a beautiful beer garden? If you have a lager in hand and are standing under twinkly lights, it’s going to feel like Oktoberfest.
SIDE GATE BREWERY & BEER GARDEN, CONCORD
Newly opened this month from Bay Area natives Kevin Wilson and Paul Culbertson, Side Gate Brewery features a two-story, 10-barrel taproom and expansive beer garden in the heart of Concord’s Todos Santos Plaza. The historic building is estimated to be 100 years old and was formerly home to the Time Out, a sports bar and music venue. Wood for the taproom’s bar and tables were made from reclaimed Douglas fir that was part of the original building.
The co-brewers — Wilson is from Moraga, Culbertson lives in Walnut Creek — met as corporate finance co-workers and quickly bonded over their shared love of homebrewing, which they’ve been doing, combined, for decades. They unveiled the taproom and beer garden on Sept. 10 with a ribbon-cutting and rotating portfolio of six beers brewed on-site and available as tasters, flights as well as growlers and crowlers.
Look for a mix of lagers, IPAs and seasonal offerings,
like Emu Egg, brewed with 100% New Zealand pale ale and offering upfront notes of spruce and pine. First Round Draught, a medium-bodied lager, and Dankster’s Lab, a grapefruit-forward West Coast IPA, are also crowd-pleasers.
THE BEER GARDEN >> At 2,000 square feet, this greenery-filled beer garden and patio is the largest of its kind in the Concord area, with 12 tables outside, plus Adirondack chairs and a patio sofa for lounging. Inside, there are 12 seats at the bar and a total of 13 tables upstairs and down.
THE DISH >> Currently, just packaged snacks, but Side Gate is working with a few nearby restaurants to create QR codes for order and delivery to the brewery. Until then, you can bring any food you like. Given how recently Side Gate opened, there will be no Oktoberfest events this year, but you can certainly hoist your Hawk Hill Hef as high as you like.
DETAILS >> Hours vary. Open daily (except Tuesday) at 1822 Grant St., Concord; www.sidegatebrewing.com
LUDWIG’S, MOUNTAIN VIEW
There’s good reason to hoist a celebratory mug of hefeweizen here. In March, Germany-born chef Nicole Jacobi and her co-owners were finally able to bring a bierhaus back to this prime Castro Street corner. Yep, during the pandemic. But fresh-air tables — and plenty of them — have been a key ingredient in their success during this challenging time.
You’ll find 16 German and local brews on tap, including Paulaner’s Oktoberfest Märzen. A favorite on the suds menu is the thirst-quenching radler, which combines beer with fresh fruit juices and herbs. Variations include the kolsch with watermelon and tarragon and the Pilsner topped with grapefruit juice ($10 each).
On Saturday, this venue will host its very first Oktoberfest, with a DJ, a traditional stein-holding challenge, best-dressed contests for the lederhosen- and dirndl-wearers in the crowd — and lots of schweinshaxe and strudel.
THE BEER GARDEN >> Shaded seating is plentiful. There’s room for about 240 celebrants under the massive tree and canopies, with street benches accommodating up to 125 more.
THE DISH >> Standouts include the mushroom saucetopped jägerschnitzel with spätzle and lingonberries ($26.50) and Oma’s apple strudel, made in-house with spiced apples and rum-soaked raisins ($12). Fun shareable feasts are new: Brotzeitbrett (aka German charcuterie), with Black Forest ham, liver pate, bierknackers, obatzda and more ($32) and the Butcher Platter, with smoked pork chops, sausages, schnitzel, pretzels and sides ($111).
DETAILS >> Open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at 383 Castro St. in Mountain View; www. ludwigsmv.com
HEADLANDS BREWING COMPANY, LAFAYETTE
Wooden tasting palettes overflow with golden ales at this four-month-old modern brewery in Lafayette. Headlands, which has been kegging and canning its NorCal-themed beers since 2013, unveiled its beautifully landscaped space in June, with a large family-friendly garden, intimate taproom and 20-tap floating draft tower housing three core beers available year-round.
Look for a light and crispy Hawk Hill Hefeweizen, assertively aromatic Hill 88 Double IPA Headlands and the slightly spicy yet clean-sipping Pt. Bonita Pilsner. There are another six taproom-only suds coming off those taps, from the Rooster Tail Hazy IPA, with its tropical fruit-forward notes, to the easy-sipping Lafayette Light Lager.
THE BEER GARDEN >> Dynamic and impressive, with seating in so many forms — tables on the shade-covered “grassy” patio, a curved bench in the sun or coveted deck with fire pit — you have to come back to try them all. The wood-paneled indoor taproom offers another half-dozen tables. THE DISH >> Small menu of nachos, hot dogs and sausages (around $9 each) plus traditional sides, frosé and, on occasion, smashed burgers from the outdoor grill. Headlands will celebrate its first Oktoberfest from noon to close on Saturday and Oct. 3 with 1-liter stein specials, pretzels with beer cheese and live music by Polkageist West at 1 p.m. Oct. 3. Its Oktoberfest-style brew, Headlands Märzen, will be flowing.
DETAILS >> Hours vary. Open daily at 3420 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Suite A, Lafayette; headlandsbrewing.com
TESKE’S GERMANIA, SAN JOSE
Gaze at architectural gems like the Beatrice Building and you might feel as if you’ve been transported to 1890s San Jose. Step inside, and this could be a hunting lodge from Germany’s Black Forest, with a biergarten in the back courtyard.
For four decades, this building has been home to Teske’s Germania. Hans and Catherine Baumann took over in 1990, with the second generation — siblings Greg, Cynthia and Scott — running the operation now. Scott trained as a chef in the family’s homeland, the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Naturally, the taps deliver beers from Germany’s top breweries. Look for a rotating selection from a lineup that includes Andechs, Paulaner, Hofbräu, Bitburger, Weihenstephaner, Köstritzer and others.
A tradition resumes this year, with the popular Oktoberfest band the Internationals playing festive music in the biergarten on Fridays and Saturdays in October (except Oct. 16). Tables are first come, first served for these loud, joyous nights; you’ll want to arrive early to snag a seat.
THE BEER GARDEN >> Expect social distancing to lower the number of Oktoberfest celebrants at tables in this brick-walled courtyard. But there’s plenty of seating in the dining rooms.
THE DISH >> Sure, you can have a sausage platter, but we recommend you try the authentic fare coming out of the Baumanns’ kitchen. Consider that beef classic, sauerbraten ($25), or the kassler rippchen ($25), a Flintstones-size chop of tender smoked ham atop housemade sauerkraut and German potato salad. Trendy menu newcomers include goulash fries ($14), pork belly with peach marmalade and bacon ($15), and jalapeño cheese-stuffed pretzels ($10).
DETAILS >> Open 4 to 9 p.m. TuesdayWednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 4:30 p.m. to
midnight Saturday. 255 N. First St. at Devine St., San Jose. www.teskes-germania.com
BIERHAUS, WALNUT CREEK
One of the East Bay’s most authentic German restaurants and beer gardens, Bierhaus reopened in May after a six-month closure due to the COVID-19 economy. A new chef, Andrew Curley, former sous chef of San Francisco’s three-Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn, has refocused the lunch and dinner menus, which pair beautifully with the 18 or so beers on tap. There is a cocktail list coming and an amped-up wine list with Old World producers.
As for the suds, look for a healthy mix of German and Belgian suds, like the crisp Veltins Pilsner or Benediktiner Weisbier, served alongside selections from Ghost Town, Faction and other microlocal breweries. Don’t miss the bevy of board games, including Jenga, to entertain kiddos and the young at heart.
THE BEER GARDEN >> Street-side and a frequent perch for local musicians, the beer garden features 12 wooden tables direct from Munich, plus outdoor heaters and water bowls for four-legged friends.
THE DISH >> Fun to have options beyond bratwurst (though Bierhaus’ are solid). For dinner, look for starters ($4-$15) and entrees ($19-$23), including a better-thanever pork schnitzel with kohlrabi and apple slaw, housemade spätzle topped with whipped ricotta, and whole Mount Lassen trout with beurre blanc ($23). The farro salad ($15), with avocado, soft-cooked egg and roasted beets, is surprisingly craveable and big enough for dinner. Oktoberfest specials will be to-go only.
DETAILS >> Hours vary. Open WednesdaySunday at 1360 Locust St., Walnut Creek; bierha.us
WURSTHALL, SAN MATEO
Imagine a German beer hall with a Silicon Valley look, global ingredients and what its creators call a California point of view. That’s Wursthall, a downtown San Mateo destination since 2018.
Illuminated by strings of Edison-style lights, the huge, open restaurant has a minimalist table-and-bench look. The walls are free of adornment — not a decorative beer stein in sight. And the culinary concept skews eclectic, with vegan Impossible Turkish-ish sausages and El Presidente cocktails sharing menu space with bier bratwurst and Fruh Kolsch.
THE BEER GARDEN >> The city of San Mateo has allowed for street closures, so there are communal tables and smaller tables on both South B Street and Baldwin Avenue. THE DISH >> Start with the deviled eggs topped with aleppo pepper and dill (two for $4), a Wursthall mainstay, while you ponder which of the wildly creative sausages you want to try ($16, with your choice of side). The eight options, all made in-house, include the pastrami & Swisswurst, a beef-and-cheese sausage topped with sauerkraut and Russian dressing, and the porchetta, a pork sausage seasoned with rosemary, fennel and garlic and topped with gremolata. If you’re a currywurst fan, check out this version with a blackened ginger curry sauce.
DETAILS >> Open 4:30 to 9 p.m. TuesdayThursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday-Sunday at 310 Baldwin Ave., San Mateo. www. wursthall.com
HOFKUCHE, OAKLAND
Wheat wreaths and twinkly lights cue the start of Oktoberfest at this traditional German beer destination, which is celebrating the Bavarian festival and its own one-year anniversary with a bevy of beer and food specials. Hofkuche, from the founders of San Francisco’s Biergarten and the owners of Suppenküche, offers solid Bavarian eats. It’s less than a mile from the 19th Street BART Station and so dog-friendly, they serve bison brownies and chicken crackers for the pups.
There are typically eight to 10 mostly imported suds on tap ($7-$13). You might find a dry and light St. Georgen Kellerbier, smooth and fruity Hofbräu Hefeweizen and dark and malty Weltenburger Dunkel. A crisp grüner veltliner and blaufrankisch, a dry red, make wine drinkers feel at home, too.
THE BEER GARDEN >> The 20-table beer garden, flanked by a vine-covered building and lots of lush trees, is massive, with box gardens and those aforementioned twinkly lights, which zigzag overhead.
THE DISH >> You can’t go wrong with the half rotisserie chicken and creamy mashed potatoes ($23.50), but the pretzels (with mustard or Bavarian cheese) and pretzel knots (filled with prosciutto and brie or Swiss and cheddar) are the scene stealers ($7-$10). Look for beer and pretzel pairings, as well as other Oktoberfest specials, Saturdays through Oct. 30.
DETAILS >> Hours vary. Open WednesdaySunday at 478 25th St., Oakland; www. hofkuche.com