Business at Hamilton’s Tavern had already fallen precipitously during the first year of the pandemic when a kitchen fire delivered a fatal blow to the South Park staple. With $1 million in damage and much of the interior unsalvageable, the bar closed in late 2020, its boarded-up space sitting vacant ever since.
Until now.
A new German-centric beer bar, along with a pie and artisanal ice cream shop, have just opened in a brand new building that replaces the former Hamilton’s and adjoining South Park Brewing Co., which also closed in 2020.
The $3 million project, which sits next door to the popular Kindred cocktail bar and vegan restaurant, promises to invigorate the southern commercial core of South Park, a much gentrified area that likely could have thrived even more were it not for the yearslong, boarded-up space on a high-profile corner at Beech and 30th streets.
In the little more than two weeks that the new businesses have been open, the street has appeared a lot livelier on the weekends, with people milling about outside or lining up for an ice cream cone.
Anchoring the redevelopment is Bock, the creation of veteran craft beer entrepreneur Brian Jensen, known for his string of Bottlecraft beer shops and tasting rooms that got started 14 years ago in Little Italy. A former South Park resident, Jensen reached out to former Hamilton’s owner Scott Donovan Blair early on in hopes of purchasing his liquor license, a move that he believes helped him eventually secure a lease with the property’s landlord in 2021.
At the time, he naively though his new 21-and-over bar, which includes German-inspired snacks and sandwiches to accompany his “old world” and “new world” beers, would open in a year. Instead it took four. He, like his landlord, believes it is arriving at a good time for South’s Park’s Beech Street hub, which includes the long popular Buona Forchetta and a more recent arrival, Harland Brewing.
“For so long, this was a cool little corner in the south end of South Park, but it has slowed a bit,” said Jensen, who owns six Bottlecraft locations, plus a Little Italy wine shop and bar, Vina Carta. “But now I think it’s going to be good for everyone, with more people, more visibility, even for Kindred. And even for the workers — like my staff will get off work and they’ll go over to Kindred, you know.”
Property owner Gilbert Lee, who had the unfortunate timing of purchasing the building that houses both the former Hamilton’s and Kindred just months before the onset of the pandemic, came up with the idea in just the last year to brand the collection of dining ventures South Park Commons. It was a way, he said, to not only raise their profile but also imbue the area with a cohesive, community feel that he thinks will fuel more activity in the area.
It also didn’t hurt to have neighboring businesses run by powerhouse operators with multiple venues of their own.
“I wanted to add to the community in a positive way,” said Lee, a local plastic surgeon and real estate investor. “My idea was to name that area as South Park Commons as a way for it to act as a draw to all the businesses in the area. When you’re next to a vacant space, it doesn’t do well for the adjacent businesses. So I think this will be a huge draw for the entire neighborhood and will give the community a focal point to gather, socialize and enjoy each other’s company.”
Steven Torres, co-founder of Pop Pie Co. and Stella Jean’s, also tenants in South Park Commons, said he was struck by the process employed by Lee to choose his tenants. It seemed more important to Lee to find businesses that would elevate South Park than focusing just on their financial wherewithal to make their monthly rent, he recalled.
“He was wanting to create something more impactful and look at the mix of who was coming in there, so it felt like we were applying to come there, and he visited our shops,” said Torres, who now has eight Stella Jean’s locations and six Pop Pie spaces. “I feel like what we’re seeing now is what he envisioned and we’re grateful to be there.
“And you can’t have better anchors than the ones who have been holding the fort there — Buona Forchetta and Kindred — that create that charm.”
When Jensen set out to reinvent the Hamilton’s space, he was determined to not replicate the neighborhood icon. And the previous owner didn’t want that either. What did remain is the dimly lit moodiness of the bar but clearly absent is the one recognizable piece of decor Hamilton’s was known for — dozens of tap handles affixed to the ceiling.
“I think people want to recapture that thing that they lost, which was that dark bar that, you know, you can’t really find too often, and that has a big emphasis on craft beer,” Jensen said, sitting outside Stella Jean’s on a weekday afternoon. “But I think enough time has passed where people are really more sharp with it, where before they’d say ‘You gotta have the grilled cheese and the tater tots and make sure you keep the screw-on things on the ceiling.’ Now, people are like, there was something on the menu that I liked there. I forget what it was, but this place looks great.”
As for decor and style, Jensen says the construction of a new building from the ground up provided him with a blank canvas he could play with.
“I could have had as many windows as I wanted, but I just feel like everyone has the big roll-up windows, and I felt like I actually want to do the opposite and keep it dark,” he said. “During COVID, everyone, for good reason, got used to sitting really far apart from each other. And now I want to get people sitting really close to one other again, because I think that’s the best way to literally rub shoulders with your neighbors and connect with people.”
Architect Haley Ruthrauff, who worked with Lee on the Hamilton’s building reconstruction, noted that while the structure dated back to the early 1900s, it wasn’t considered historic given the extensive fire damage and alternations to it over the years.
“We had to repair and replace most of the walls, but the thought was to keep it so that it fit in,” Ruthrauff said. “We technically updated it from what it looked like before but tried to mimic similarly aged buildings and their storefronts, so in the front we have an arched look with a stucco facade.
“For the interior, we tried to do a fresh take on a European pub by putting in wood elements, wood moldings, and a darker lighting theme. There are a lot of Craftsman homes in the neighborhood and we drew from that for the backdrop of the bar, like the arched wood details found in Craftsman homes.”
While Bock’s focus is beer and wine, which is Jensen’s area of expertise, he has sublet his space to chef Matt Schooner, who formerly ran the food truck Biersal, which is also the name of the food space for Bock. His modern take on German fare includes Bavarian-style pretzels and chicken schnitzel and zucchini falafel sandwiches.
The name Bock refers to a German style of beer — a strong lager — and it also translates to “goat,” which is the bar’s mascot.
Jensen, who says he spent around $850,000 building out his Bock space, says he’s not concerned about competition from other dining and drinking venues in the Beech Street area. He believes each has its own niche, and the only other beer-focused spot, Harland, is geared more for families while Bock requires patrons to be at least 21 years old.
“When I was first opening Bottlecraft in Little Italy and Ballast Point was moving across the street, I was initially so scared,” he remembered. “But it only brought more people in and just gave us more visibility. So I think this whole, this whole nook will be brightened up.”
Kindred’s owner, Kory Stetina, agrees. While he says his business has remained strong the past few years, despite the vacant spaces next door, he believes the addition of Bock, Pop Pie and Stella Jean’s will bring more action on the block and lift business for everyone.
“Obviously Hamilton’s was such a beloved place and people will forever miss a place like that going away, but at the same time you can appreciate what’s new in that space and what Brian has done with Bock there,” said Stetina, who is partnering with restaurateur Arsalun Tafasoli to bring a vegan fine dining restaurant and diner to University Heights.
“If there’s anything worse than Hamilton’s going away is the space staying empty for half a decade. People are just excited about something being there in that location.”
Originally Published:
