The folks behind the Westbrae Biergarten, a beer garden and food truck spot being planned for the corner lot of Gilman and Curtis streets in West Berkeley, have secured their permits — finally — and construction is about to begin on the much-anticipated project.
Two well-known local food trucks — Brazil Café and Roli Roti — have signed up to be regulars at the beer garden which now hopes to open in spring 2014. Brazil Café will have a permanent presence at the site, which hopes to be something like the Hayes Valley Biergarten on Octavia Street in San Francisco, and two other mobile food vendors are also slated to join the line-up.
Linda and Carl Lasagna, whose family founded Westbrae Nursery next door to the lot, but who are no longer owners, are behind the venture, which will see 3,400 sq ft of outdoor dining space with picnic-style seating served by the food trucks.
The beer garden, which is just across from the Ohlone Greenway, will feature two small structures, an accessible bathroom building and a covered outdoor serving area with an attached walk-in cooler for anchor tenant Brazil Café, according to architect Dietmar Lorenz of DSA Architects who is designing the project. There will also be new landscaping, an outdoor fireplace and water feature, gates, signage and lighting.
Seven months ago when we first brought you news of the proposed project, Lorenz said he hoped the beer and food garden would be open in early spring of this year. The anticipated timing was tied to the reopening of the Ohlone Path and the new West Street Pathway, which opened on Earth Day on April 20. The application to Berkeley’s planning department was filed on March 29. Such are the vagaries of the city’s permitting process, however, that this can now be seen as a wildly optimistic projection.
Many Berkeleyside readers had all but given up on the idea — noting the lack of activity on the site and the continued presence of a ‘For Rent’ sign on the property.
It’s all systems go, now, however, according to Lorenz. The Lasagnas have been working with Thomas Odermatt of Roli Roti since the conception of this project and Brazil Café has also been in the running for the permanent spot from the beginning.
It yet has to be determined how many days each of the three rotating vendors will be on site, Lorenz said. “One might complement the regular presence of some vendors with short-term gigs of alternating vendors to add variety,” he said.
The other vendors on site, added Lorenz, will be more typical food trucks, carts or stands that come and go on a daily basis and have no other fixed infrastructure, similar to farmer’s markets or Off The Grid food truck events.
Related:
Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo Room opens in Berkeley (11.26.13)
Plans afoot for Berkeley beer and food trucks garden (04.10.13)
Sierra Nevada’s Berkeley tasting room to open soon (10.01.13)
The Hog’s Apothecary: new to the Temescal neighborhood (09.25.13)
Plans afoot for Berkeley beer, food trucks garden (04.10.13)
Drinking around Berkeley: A Nosh guide (04.09.13)
The Mead Kitchen joins local artisan drinks boom [04.02.13]
Nano-brewpub and lounge planned for Alcatraz Ave. (03.21.13)
Sierra Nevada to open beer tasting room on 4th Street (03.20.13)
Beer garden burger spot to open in south Berkeley (03.15.13)
City approves sour beer brewery for beer geeks(03.10.13)
Burgers and beer duo debut on Friday (03.07.13)
Berkeleyside Nosh’s interactive “Drinking in Berkeley” map
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