Getahn Ward

The Tennessean

Von Elrod's will offer 36 beers, ice coffee and wines.

The menu include 15 sausages made in-house, pretzels and rotisserie chicken.

The Ray-led group is investing more than $2 million to open Von Elrod's.

After Oktoberfest, Von Elrod's will start regular operations Wednesday, Oct. 11.

Talk about timing and location.

Von Elrod's Beer Garden & Sausage House will make its debut during the Nashville Oktoberfest festival Thursday through Sunday on the edge of historic Germantown.

The bar, restaurant and beer garden billed as offering "all the ingredients of a German beer hall, but a Nashville place" is the latest venture from Nashville restaurateur Austin Ray. His partners include Chef Jason Brumm, who carries the title chief sausage officer and is co-developer of the Von Elrod's brand.

"There's lot of people who kind of toss around the beer garden word, but this is what full commitment to the beer garden concept looks like," said Ray, who also owns M.L. Rose Craft Beer & Burgers and other restaurants.

Von Elrod's will offer 36 beers on tap, including American craft, German and Belgian brands, plus iced coffee and wines. The menu will include 15 hand-cranked sausages all made in-house and cooked over a hardwood charcoal fire, along with house-baked pretzels and rotisserie chicken.

So what about timing?

For Ray, opening Von Elrod's during the nation's second largest Oktoberfest —Nashville's oldest festival now in its 38th year — is a no-brainer.

On Friday and Saturday, walk-in patrons can try an all-you-can-eat buffet featuring pork shanks and other Oktoberfest favorites for $25 with beer to be available for purchase, along with live entertainment. A brunch planned for Sunday will feature a live New Orleans-style brass band providing music. Starting at 4 p.m. Thursday, the beer garden will be open during Oktoberfest for patrons age 21 and older.

Activities will include a stein holding competition with commemorative steins that bear the Oktoberfest and Von Elrod's logos available for purchase. "There are no pint-size glasses inside Von Elrod's, only steins," Ray said.

And now about location

Von Elrod's 1004 Fourth Ave. N. location puts the bar, restaurant and beer garden in the middle of this year's Nashville Oktoberfest. After years of operating in a nine-block span of historic Germantown, the festival featuring German beer, wine, food, music and vendors is moving this year to the other side of Jefferson Street around First Tennessee Park.

"We can't imagine a better scenario," Ray said. "Just like the ballpark we think will enhance the festival experience, vice versa the festival will enhance our experience too."

Last week, some patrons got to experience Von Elrod's beer garden during the Kings of Leon concert held at First Tennessee Park across the street. "We knew that baseball was going to be here, but then to have the concert, Oktoberfest come to our front door and then soccer firing up next summer across the street, it's incredible," Ray said. "Drinking beer on a patio goes hand-in-hand with all of those experiences."

Riding Germantown's growth

Ray traces genesis of Von Elrod's to his experience fresh out of college at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, at age 21 about 16 years ago. His history in Nashville's Germantown predates that trip with Ray recalling spending summers when home from college in 1999 and 2000 working in the kitchen at the former Mad Platter restaurant.

Now with Von Elrod's, Ray and his partners that also include Blackbird Cos.'s Trailblazer Station Investment Partners LLC subsidiary look to ride growth in one of Nashville's hottest neighborhoods.

"We would've done this project here without First Tennessee Park," Ray said about the ballpark that's home to the Nashville Sounds baseball team. "We feel that strongly about the neighborhood and that every neighborhood needs a great place to stroll down to and enjoy a beer in a very casual setting on a great patio. Our No. 1 mission is to offer that kind of experience to our neighbors."

The Ray-led partnership is investing more than $2 million in opening Von Elrod's, which has 7,500 square feet of space plus the beer garden. The bar, restaurant and beer garden is designed to accommodate large groups with a capacity for 197 inside the beer hall and seating for 96 on the patio, while the beer garden can accommodate 256 people.

Inside Von Elrod, the butcher room is visible from the dining area allowing patrons to see whole cuts of meats grounded and being made into sausages.

"German-style beer hall, a Nashville place"

A mural painted on the wall of the more than 100 employee bar, restaurant and beer garden provides a Nashville vibe. It features Hank Williams Sr. drinking beer, Minnie Pearl eating bratwurst, Athena from the Parthenon, a Mount Rushmore-like image of Jason & the Scorchers, King Kong on downtown's iconic L&C Tower, pin-up legend Bettie Page and "See Von Elrod's" on a barn that mimic the "See Rock City" sign near Chattanooga.

Custom-made benches that Ray refers to as "butt-huggers" provide seating inside Von Elrod's beer hall. "If we're going to ask you to sit on a bench and drink beer, we want you to be able to do it comfortably for two or three hours," he said.

Ray considers communal seating a core part of the experience.

"You might show up with a big group and get a whole table to yourself, but chances are you're going make new friends," he said. "It's fundamental to a beer garden in our eyes. It's being part of your community, with your community drinking beer — old and new friends."

After the Oktoberfest festival weekend, Von Elrod's will begin regular operations on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.