FOOD+DRINK
The cocktail bar on the first floor of Charlotte Beer Garden is one of four bars in the three-story building.
LO C AL F L AVO R
Earthly Delights, On Tap
Charlotte Beer Garden opened a few weeks before the stay-athome orders. Here’s what you can expect when it reopens BY ANDY SMITH
CHARLOTTE BEER GARDEN
1300 S. Tryon St. 704-375-1776 charlottebeergarden.com
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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // JULY 2020
THE CITY’S FIRST “CATHEDRAL TO BEER,” a highly anticipated, three-story bar and restaurant called Charlotte Beer Garden, opened in late February in South End. Its Instagram account already had accumulated thousands of followers by opening weekend, when lines stretched down South Tryon Street and garnered local and national coverage. That momentum continued until St. Patrick’s Day weekend, when the state began to discourage mass gatherings because of COVID-19. Within days, discouragement had become a ban, and the brand-new space was empty. At press time, Charlotte was weeks away from a scheduled reopening for restaurants and bars under Governor Roy Cooper’s reopening plan. If all goes well, those who didn’t get to visit the Beer Garden during its brief initial run will be able to see and spend time in owner Niall Hanley’s newest creation. The Ireland native, owner of several restaurants and bars in North Carolina’s Research Triangle region, says his 16,663-square-foot structure claims the largest selection of beer in the world (Hanley plans to apply for the Guinness Book record this fall). The Garden’s sister concept in Raleigh holds three Guinness Book records: “most
different beer brands on draft tap,” “most varieties of beer on draft tap,” and “largest tap takeover.” Without any members of the Guinness committee on staff, we can confirm only that the selection here is massive: 436 taps on three levels. The first floor has 190 beers, all from North Carolina, plus a cocktail bar for people who for some bizarre reason want something other than beer. The second has 222 taps with brews from around the globe. The top has 24 taps not dedicated to any location or genre. In the six years he’s run Raleigh Beer Garden, Hanley says the only learning curve for visitors involves getting used to the ordering system. “I highly recommend people download the (Untappd) app before they come in,” he says. “We can’t give you a paper menu because of how often we go through beer. With the system we have, a beer (keg) kicks, we update the system, and it updates the Untappd app right there.” Ordering by personal device works well with social distancing, too. Like the beer selection, the food menu here is broad, with wings and pizzas served alongside German bangers & mash, smoked salmon flatbread, and three poutine options. “We don’t have
