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An Austrio-Hungarian themed beer garden is yet another step closer to being realized in Asbury Park.

Attorney Andrew Karas, Paramus, guided several members of the team proposing the two-story beer garden at 527 Lake Ave. through descriptions of the look, lighting, landscaping, type of food to be served, music and overall atmosphere of the restaurant for members of the city’s planning board Monday night.

Andy Ivanov, who owns the Pilsener Haus restaurant and beer garden in Hoboken and was a principal owner of Radegast in Brooklyn, portrayed a full-service restaurant housed in a large, open space with lots of natural light, long wooden tables and no televisions. Ivanov will be the managing member of the establishment.

The beer garden, which owners have tentatively dubbed the Asbury Festhalle [pronounced fest-hall-ah] Biergarden—still only a working title—will be a “fresh alternative to the lounges and clubs” in the area, he said.

Festhalles are found throughout Germany and other Austrio-Hungarian nations, and serve as places for the community to gather, said restaurant partner Jennifer Lampert.

“The single most important concept is the community gathering,” said Ivanov.

DESIGN & ATMOSPHERE

The exterior of the structure will remain brick. Restaurant owners hope to achieve a feel that gives off a perception of the building to be at least a century old. Interior design and décor will stay faithful to the old country, providing a straightforward, industrial feel, Ivanov said.

“It is meant to be rustic,” said project architect Frank Minervini of NJ-based firm Minervini-Vandermark. “To make it seem like the place has been there for a very long time.”

The first floor totals 6,700 square feet of space, about half of which will be used as the communal space featuring multiple 12- to 14-foot wooden tables constructed from reclaimed lumber six inches thick.

“The long tables provide an atmosphere where everyone is equal,” Ivanov said.

Large windows will be added to take advantage of the building’s southern exposure.

“It’s not intended to be a dark space, but a big, light, open space,” Minervini said.

It will also house a 40-foot bar and full kitchen and will see additions of an elevator along with ramps to make the entire structure ADA compliant.

The rooftop area will see similar long tables, its own bar and outside grill and bathroom facilities. Planters filled with trees, bamboo and other landscaping items will line the rooftop space to help achieve a real, authentic beer garden feel. In addition to the landscaping, two 10 foot masonry walls will be constructed to help shield the view of the space from apartments in the area and contribute to keeping sounds from the rooftop beer garden on the restaurant’s side. All lighting will be shielded and deflected to the rooftop, which will only see seasonal use.

FOOD

The Festhalle will serve authentic-style Austrio-Hungarian foods like Wiener Schnitzel, Saurbraten, and pretzels. The pretzels are being imported from Germany and will be a marquee item on the menu. Original plans for a strictly European beer menu of pilseners, lagers, lambics and the like has also been updated to incorporate domestic craft beers from smaller breweries, which the restaurant owners recognize as a rising trend in the marketplace, Ivanov said.

MUSIC

The majority of live music will take place inside the beer garden, according to Lampert, who has been in charge of booking music for the Pilsener Haus beer garden in Hoboken for the past two years and will do the same in Asbury Park. She noted while the music will serve to enhance the atmosphere, it will not be the focus of the establishment.

For the Festhalle, Lampert will continue to seek music that fits the establishment, like gypsy jazz and horn ensembles. On occasion, she will bring in a blues band. During the summer months at the Festhalle, patrons may find an acoustic jazz trio on the rooftop, but not rock bands. During Octoberfest, polka bands from all over the country will be featured in the main hall.

Hours for the Festhalle’s live music are not set in stone, but the group has agreed they will cut all music on the rooftop, whether it is live or prerecorded, at 10 p.m. in consideration of those in neighboring apartments. Nearby residents had voiced their concerns about sounds a neighborhood beer garden would generate at a past city council meeting. An acoustical wall will be constructed on the roof to further reduce mid- to high-range tones, according to David Kotch, the project’s sound mitigation expert.

JOBS & HOURS

Ivanov anticipates the Festhalle will create 35 to 55 new permanent job opportunities. His preference will be to hire “mostly local people,” he said. Hours of operation have not been set, tentative plans project the Festhalle to open around 4 or 5 p.m. during the weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends for brunch. It will close around 2 a.m. The outdoor area is subject to the same hours, weather permitting.

Owners still have to present their ideas for the building’s signage at the next planning board meeting to be held Nov. 4, at which time the board may vote whether it will grant site plan approval.

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