Allison Hadley Photos
PARK on Crown should be a familiar sign to any passersby on Crown Street for the last decade. The sign, that is. Whether they know it’s now also the sign for a new bar is another thing entirely.
The new beer hall had a soft opening in January, with a grand opening scheduled for the beginning of March. It’s next to BAR on a block that now seems to peddle in archetypical venue names. The large, unmissable PARK sign formerly signified a parking garage. Under the sign that used to indicate a spot for cars to stop, PARK’s eye-catching visuals collect pedestrians instead. Its left wall is alive with plants and stretches from the door to the beer hall area. The right wall features billboard-sized murals advertising beer, or those old vintage French and Belgian posters that seem ubiquitous in Bars of a Certain Type. It’s an invitation to enter and explore the cavernous space, especially as it’s invitingly lit and filled with couches and lounge tables.
“We wanted it to be iconic in downtown New Haven. The garage was dark and dungeony, so we brought in some light,” said Naitza Diaz, general manager of PARK, smiling and gesturing toward the green wall of plants. Iconic is clearly the aesthetic motivator for the hall. Large block printed words, such as BEER HALL and EAT HERE, helpfully indicate where to do both things, and the high ceilings and bright lights create a sense of scale rarely seen in a bar in downtown New Haven. It feels like a highly Instagrammable wonderland, but without the false veneer of trying too hard, impressive considering the transformation from parking deck to cool as heck.
A concept created by Michael Farber — partner in such ventures as Mikro, Texiko, and Ordinary — PARK is looking to be a fixture of Crown Street, and it’s well situated. “We have a great location — anyone who has been in New Haven a few years knows our PARK sign, and we’re next to Louie’s Lunch and BAR,” Diaz said. This evening, Valentine’s Day, the hall will host Pour Your Heart Out, a speed dating event. Other events, like trivia nights and game nights, are in the works, but the bar is still in the process of putting everything together.
“We have lots of ideas,” Diaz said.
The beer hall aesthetic doesn’t end at the walls: the food and drink are true to form as well. The taplist features 12 predominantly traditional German beers, like Hofbrau and Rodenbach, along with local darling breweries Counterweight and East Rock Brewing Company. Hanging above the bar are glistening beer steins, destined to become part of a mug club at some point in the later spring. At a happy hour price of $4 per draft, one almost feels compelled to sit and stay a while, quaffing a smooth-drinking, traditional brew. Most beers seem to be of the type that pair best with salty, rich food — and the menu delivers. PARK’s pretzel is large, and just buttered enough to make it decadent, paired with a tangy beer cheese and mustard with just a whisper of sweetness. The hand pies, done in the traditional German style, are flaky on the outside and richly filled with savory meats (or mushrooms and herbs); the tomato soup sauce was an acidic foil to the richness of the beef pie. Diaz noted that the procedure for getting food was that of a beer hall.
“You order food and drink at the bar, and you get a buzzer. Once it goes off, you pick up your food over there” — she gestured to the kitchen window, clad in bright steel and with a few trays of food waiting — “and bring it to your table.”
Notable is the distinct lack of tables for two, and the convivial atmosphere that translates. Tables are meant for four or more, but the small happy hour crowd all crowded the bar anyway, ordering pretzels and chatting the time away. In a stretch of Crown Street that is more oriented toward food, a beer garden is a refreshing place to park for the evening.