The Hofbrauhaus in downtown St. Petersburg is ready to make their customers feel like they've been transported to a Bavarian beer hall in Germany.
“Every day we can’t keep people out of the front door," said Hofbrauhaus vice president Mike Matuschka. "They’re waiting for us to open. It’s created quite the buzz."
Potential customers like Arnold Schlappig popped into the new restaurant located at 123 4th St. S. on Thursday to check it out.
"I was curious to see when they finally open up," he said. "It really excites me to see that something like this is coming to St. Pete."
Matuschka said they spent the past 9 months and $6 million in renovations getting the 16,000 square-foot restaurant ready to open on Tuesday.
The authentic beer hall can seat 750 customers.
"It’s very unique as far as like the German culture and with the live music 7 days a week," Matuschka said. "The beer is imported directly from Munich. The food is authentic from the German recipes. All signature items from the Hofbrauhaus in Munich itself."
Matuschka said they're flying in musicians from Germany and putting them up in local hotels for up to 90 days at a time to play that live music. The owner also said he spent more than $1 million importing wood from Austria for the restaurant.
Hofbrauhaus has been brewing their beer for more than 400 years and customers can purchase a locker to hold their stein for $100 per year.
"That includes the salt glazed stein, the one liter stein with the pewter lid," said general manager Christian Schrangl. "Included in that is also one seasonal beer per month. So, you basically get almost $200 worth of value for $100 a year."
Even though the restaurant has not yet opened savvy customers have already snatched up more than half of the stein lockers.
The Hofbrauhaus also has a rooftop bar where patrons can enjoy their brew while overlooking the street level beer garden.
"I know that we can make an impact into downtown St. Petersburg when we open those doors next week," Schrangle said.
The general manager said the employees will wear traditional outfits and had to undergo spanking training for those customers who want one after finishing a flight of beer.
"Downtown St. Pete has a lot of very nice restaurants. No question about it," Schlappig said. "But they don’t have any German restaurants and this here is hopefully as authentic as it can possibly get."