Looking for a piece of Munich in Music City?

You’re in luck. Opry Mills is now home to a massive restaurant and beer hall celebrating all things Bavaria.

The nearly 650-seat, 15,000-square-foot Bavarian Bierhaus opened its doors quietly in late April at Opry Mills across the parking lot from the General Jackson Showboat dock.

The restaurant, which will stay open until midnight on the weekends, adds to Opry Mills’ late-night options.

“What I really wanted to do here is there are maybe 10 really famous, world famous, breweries (in Bavaria). I said, ‘Let me tell the story of all of them,' ” said Brian Kehl, the beer hall’s operating partner and one of the owners of the Hofbrau Beer Garden in Panama City Beach, Fla. “We’re trying to give the culture of Bavaria through food, entertainment, even our dress and through the beer.”

Kehl and his group of business partners take their German beer seriously. Beers are paired with glassware from specific breweries, and each beer style has its own type of glass. The glassware even has its own dishwashing system to ensure it’s as clean as possible, resulting in a better tasting brew.

“If you see bubbles stick to your glass that means there’s a fatty residue or build-up on your glass, so it’s not 100 percent clean. Here we have a separate dishwasher just for glasses,” Kehl said.

Bavarian Bierhaus has 12 taps with beers from seven breweries: Weihenstephaner, Paulaner Munchen, Hacker Pschorr, Franziskaner Brauerei, Spaten Munchen, Hofbrau Munchen and Bavarian Bierhaus’ own brew.

Customers can join a stein club to receive discounts and also get access to an iron locker to store their steins.

“In Germany it’s very popular. Families hand down steins from generations to generation, the family stein. So at these big beer halls you get your stein and the server fills it up for you,” Kehl said.

Kehl anticipates beer will account for about 40 percent of total sales, slightly less than the 50 percent at his Panama City Beach beer hall.

The kitchen is led by chef Dennis Stukel, a veteran chef from Milwaukee with extensive German cooking experience, including at a Michelin-star restaurant in Germany.

“When I think of a beer hall, it’s good, hearty food, but it’s never five star,” Kehl said. “What Dennis is putting out here is close to five star.”

The menu features items such as a giant pretzel with sweet mustard; Kartoffelpuffer potato pancakes with applesauce, sour cream and chives; Reuben rolls with Thousand Island Dusseldorf mustard sauce; beer cheese soup; chicken schnitzel sandwich topped with ham and cheese; a wurst plate with choice of two sausages, sauerkraut and rye bread; and Oktoberfest chicken stuffed with parsley, beer butter and onions and served with potato salad and red cabbage.

Prices aren’t available on the restaurant’s website.

The Bierhaus will have live entertainment, including German music from touring bands such as Grammy-nominated Lynn Marie, The Musik Meisters and polka band Apline Express. An entertainment calendar is available on Bavarian Bierhaus’ website.

“Opry Mills is more than just a shopping mall — it’s a destination,” Paula Hankins, director of marketing and business development at Opry Mills, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to welcome Bavarian Bierhaus to our roster of dining and entertainment options.”

Bavarian Bierhaus has more than 30 German beer hall tables in the main beer hall, in addition to a private events space with room for more than 100 people. A 120-seat outdoor patio lines the front of the restaurant.

Bavarian Bierhaus at 121 Opry Mills Drive is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The restaurant and beer hall has its own exterior entrance and is accessible from inside the shopping center.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at lalfs@tennessean.com or 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.