Plans are moving forward for a beer garden at 3808 Government St. in Mid City but more slowly than expected. Co-owner Dave Remmetter says there isn’t any single factor delaying the project, which will be located at the intersection of Steele Boulevard on a 20,000-square-foot vacant lot. Rather, the partners are just taking their time finalizing plans for construction and layout.
“We have the plans drawn up but we’re still thinking about it and playing with it,” says Remmetter, who also co-owns the nearby the Radio Bar on Government Street as well as Cuban Liquor on Perkins Road. “We’re moving forward, just not as quickly as we were last year.”
Remmetter and his partner, photographer Brian Baiamonte, first announced plans for the beer garden in August 2015, when they filed for a rezoning request with the Planning Commission. The request was granted last fall but the partners have not yet filed for construction permits.
Tuesday, the partners placed stakes in the ground on the site to help them better visualize the layout of the beer garden and its parking lot. Remmetter says in the next month or so “we’ll be a lot farther along than we are now,” but he says it’s too soon to predict dates for a groundbreaking, much less an opening.
Late last year, Remmetter closed another of his establishments, Chelsea’s Cafe, after 10 years in operation. He says the loss of income related to the closure is partially responsible for the slower pace of the beer garden’s development. But he says it has not threatened to derail the project.
—Stephanie Riegel
