ASBURY PARK —In the new Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten in Asbury Park, patrons won't find any television sets to entertain them.

That's because the owners want their guests to experience a true European beer garden, which stresses community interaction.

So when Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten officially opened on Saturday, the only electronic devices around were patrons' cell phones - in use for taking pictures.

"I think people are starving to communicate and to be face to face with each other, said Jennifer Lampert, one of the 17 investors in the venture. "People are starving for that human interaction and contact."

The selection of long wooden picnic tables in the 6,000-square-foot dining hall downstairs was deliberate, she said, to allow strangers to get to know one another after seating themselves.

The interior, mainly the concept of partner Andy Ivanov, incorporates reclaimed doors, shutters and wood from European factories. What was built new (practically everything inside) was purposely painted and distressed to look old, Lampert said.

Ivanov was the brains behind the creation of similar beer gardens, Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Brooklyn and the Pilsener Haus & Biergarten in Hoboken. The Asbury location makes it the only authentic Austro-Hungarian beer garden at the Jersey Shore, Lampert said.

So what makes a beer garden authentic?

Lampert says it's the selection of beers. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of them have to be European imports. And there has to be at least 10 percent American craft, she said. Besides that, the interior design should be of the 1920s European aesthetics, she said.

And of course the food, including wursts and schnitzels, is Austro-Hungarian.

The building itself is around 100 years old, Lampert said. The earliest use of the building that Lampert could find was when it was a Lerner's department store in the 1930s. Later it was a marimba factory and a factory for Kramer Guitars, she said.

By March, the partners hope to have a 9,000-square-foot roof-top beer garden open. Lampert said the aim is to have it ready for the St. Patrick's Day parade in the city on March 8.

From Ivanov's standpoint, the partners pride themselves on the "easiness and unpretentiousness" of the place.

"You can sit here as long as you want," Ivanov said. "We don't push you out."

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.