Beer gardens are nothing new as they have been adapted from the German “Biergarten,” which is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local cuisine are served. The concept originated in southern Germany, specifically Bavaria in the 19^th century where darker lager beer was most popular. Since then, the beer garden has become a generic term for open-air establishments where any type of beer is served.

The characteristics of a traditional beer garden usually include trees, wooden benches and solid meals, not snacks or something resembling fast food of any type. The largest traditional beer garden in the word the Hirschgarten in Munich, which seats 8,000. Beer gardens are all around the world including Austria, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Beer gardens have come to cater to all types of audiences, whether they are classic, for hipsters, or for frat boys and the like. Any type of food can incorporate a beer garden where they have beers that pair well with the food that they are serving.  Beer gardens happen to be recession friendly, since it’s meant to be a communal gathering that brings people together and doesn’t separate the elite from those who are average or even less than average.

Beer gardens are becoming quite popular in major metropolitan cities; for example, New York has about 54 currently. Beer gardens are easy to incorporate if a restaurant has a rooftop, for example, Eataly, Mario Batali’s restaurant on 23^rd street in Manhattan that just opened it’s own beer garden.

Beer gardens are all about creating an environment that you want others to experience all around big wood benches and selling beer.