SCENE
By Liza B. Zimmerman
Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant offers flights to
encourage guests to sample its vast draft selection.
E
mployees at tech companies like Facebook and Google hardly need
restaurants near their places of employment, given the multiple, in-office
venues serving every imaginable kind of food day and night. What they do
need is a local bar that offers great beers and a spot to socialize and even get some
sunshine. Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant seems to deliver on all fronts.
Since Steins opened two months ago, owner/beer curator Ted Kim says the
Mountain View, CA-based restaurant has been so busy that the wait time on a
weekend night can run up to two and a half hours. He estimates that about 6,000
guests visited the restaurant during its opening weekend of March 28-31. The
response has been so overwhelming that Steins had to discontinue the policy of
taking reservations, except for groups of 10 or more.
What's the big deal? Well, it's literally big: The 12,000-sq.- ft. venue can seat
300 inside and includes a large outdoor space. The rounded, barn-like beer hall
boasts long wood tables and a bar flanked by tap handles on one side.
A key challenge in dealing with such a large space is training a staff of more than
100 servers, Kim says. The waitstaff also has to keep up with Stein's beer menu,
which changes weekly and seasonally.
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| MAY 2013
The food menu, supervised by chef
Colby M. Reade, focuses on seasonal,
American comfort food; all the breads
and pretzels are made in-house.
Some of the offerings include a braised
lamb shoulder with parsnip puree and
kale for $19 and a dish called "Breakfast
for Dinner," made with smoked pork
belly, a poached egg and frisee, and
priced at $15.
Stein's Burger ($11), made from an
in-house selected grind of short ribs and
sirloin, is flying off the menu, Kim says.
Grilled steaks, served on house-made
ciabatt and priced at $12 have also been
popular. Guests can also add items such
as pork belly or a fried egg for $2.
www.cheersonline.com
MICHELLE MIN
A Beer Garden Blooms
in Silicon Valley