It beats having four people who sit glumly by themselves,” said Dornbusch who noted there could be other tangible benefits to copying German style.
They respect [beer gardens] as almost a religious place,” he said. “You wouldn’t litter in a church and you don’t at beer gardens. It’s a cultural icon, revered and respected.” Rarely is the same said in American bars, especially ones with a party-like atmosphere. In the end, the mere act of taking a tried and true culture out of its native land and trying to recreate it elsewhere, something is going to get lost in translation.
It’s like, if you were to try bringing authentic sumo wrestling to Kentucky or a Paris café to Wichita.”
It’s not just the beer lovers that should visit the great beer gardens in Munich, but every person looking for a little extra culture and romance. However, in the absence of traveling to the real thing, places like Philadelphia’s Brauhaus Schmitz or the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden are good places to start.
The New Style
Back at Radegast Hall I asked my bartender Tom about the lack of certain German elements in a place that calls itself a Bavarian beer garden.
Lederhosen would just get in the way,” he explained.
My friends arrived and we moved from the bar to a back room where long tables were set up. There I saw patrons were imbibing, conversing, laughing and—like in Germany—not afraid to sit at a table with strangers.
We settled at one such table, raised a glass in acknowledgement and got down to the business of unwinding. As the night stretched on I saw people happily munching on schnitzel and tearing pieces from large soft pretzels while washing them down with cool swallows of lager. More people came in and plunked themselves down at a table with strangers and ordered beer.
The jazz band played on and people sang along.
While it certainly wasn’t “authentic,” it sure was fun, just like afternoons in the Bavarian institutions. It was about the beer, the conversation and the shared camaraderie. Imitation is nice, but the only way to get the real experience of a German beer garden is to visit Munich. In the absence of such a trip, if you can find a beer garden that offers a good time, that’s what matters.
Having my fill of lager, I exited back into the cold. Still a little disappointed in not getting the full-on German experience at the beer garden, I decided to serenade the streets on my walk to the subway.
“In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus, oans, zwoa, g’suffa!”
