What makes for a great Biergarten?

I'd heard Escondido could use a good beer garden -- good on yah!

 

Just look at those huge...steins. Yes. Steins.

Is this the plan for Berlin? Also would love something like that in SD.

 

Yes, the communal tables are what brings it all together. I visited ALL the gartens in Munich, as well as many throughout Germany, Praha, Belgium, Austria. As others have said, shade, food, music. Yes, and Wurst!

 

Smaller tables, 6 tops, maybe 8 at most. A nice selection of beer. Don't try to copy another style, make it your own. No TVs. If you want to watch sports at a bar, go inside. Make sure to offer smaller size glasses as well, so I can try more different types of beer. Good food, quickly served.

 

Picnic table service, good brats, pretzels, and lots of hellertau-hopped beer options. The Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten in Asbury Park, NJ, has a roof top garten. It's quite an enjoyable place.

 

1) Good amount of seating and aisle space
2) Good amount of tap stations to get refills
3) Decent food available and some covered spots.

Best example I've ever been to is Radegast in Brooklyn. Super awesome.

 

New Glarus.

 

Lots of shady trees
Lots of communal seating
No TV's
As close as you can get to being secluded from the surrounding city, either by distance or just a great location where you don't notice anything else.
Lots of beer and food I want to drink and eat.

 

Good beer (duh), good food, ample outdoor seating, temperate weather, no kids...

 

Sorry to intrude with reality, but Hofbrauhaus is not typical of German biergartens. It's hokey and caters almost exclusively to clueless tourists who come by the busload. The authentic ones are off the beaten track and are filled with Germans and a few travelers who are in the know

 

Beer Gardens need bier. A patio table with friends/family looking at the beautiful flora and fauna. Did I mention beer?

 

fresh air, good beer, and liter mugs!

 

When I was in my 20s I used to go here all the time. It's as old school as old school gets. A great place to lift a liter.

Now, it's Plattdeutsche Park in Franklin Square. A little close to home and now I go during the day, not the evening. Now, I have kids with me too. Haha.

 

Radegast is fantastic. Indoor, but their food is top notch and their beer selection is above average for your run-of-the-mill Biergarten.

 

They do have some good ones in Munich, and there were times we drank inside at Augustiner Keller as the Biergarten was closed due to the cold and snow.

 

I live in Yonkers so getting there by public transportation sucks. Driving there is a risk. A place like that you wind up drinking more than you should. PS: Your Walken avatar is better than mine.

 

I have to say - as a long time Queens resident - its just ok. Food is average to terrible (grilled menu especially), a few Czech drafts but not that many.
Gets crowded with the typical frat crowd and not as family friendly as it used to be. Went this weekend, have been there countless times. Don't imagine I'd go back. The trees are nice though.

 

When I was in college I used to enjoy going to the Rathskeller at Memorial Union at UW in Madison Wisconsin which is designed as a traditional german beer hall with large arches and murals on the walls. In the summer you could sit outside and listen to music and watch the boaters on the lake. The Rathskeller was the first student union in the country to serve pitchers of dark beer and they always had some good beer to choose from. My favorite activity was playing chess and I spent many summer afternoons there. I recently saw it and it is still there, but it is no longer the smokey, smelly, dirty place I remembered so it lost a little of its panache!

 

As someone who didn't go to Madison, I was really taken with the Rathskeller -- I was also happy, in a way, that I didn't go to Madison because I wondered if I'd have ever graduated with a place like that down the street!

My (now) wife introduced me to the place and we enjoy visiting as often as we can -- it may not be as smoky as it once was, but it's still a great place to enjoy a beer -- and many good choices.