Hitchcock Owner to Open Beer Hall in Pioneer Square

Brendan McGill just made it Facebook official, which means it's real: the Hitchcock owner (and Food & Wine's 'People's Best New Chef') is opening a beer and brat hall in the old Larry's nightclub space (pictured) in Pioneer Square.

We're calling it Altstadt, which means "old town." The idea is like the Hofbräuhaus outside of Munich — a hall where you can drink beer and eat brats. For us, Pioneer Square is old town Seattle.

As you may recall, Von Trapp's is also patterned after Hofbräuhaus, but Brendan says he and his business partner, Lex Petras, are going for more of a working class, less extravagant space that seats about 100. "The focus will be on rad beers and really superb German food," he says.

The menu, which will be composed of about eight items, will be based around platters of sausage, kraut, crispy Belgium frites, crusty bread and housemade mustard. The sausage will also be made in-house (as if there was any doubt) from heritage breed hogs in Washington. Right now, they're using hogs from a farm in Euphrata. "We want to up the ante a little bit in the typical $12 brat plate."

The kraut will offered two ways: raw fermented or prepared classically with goose fat. And right now, it sounds like Altstadt will be an all-day affair, but that will be dependent on the sports fans who Brendan hopes will opt for a brat over a $10 stadium hotdog.

He's shooting for an October opening, "We really want to be open for at least a part of Oktoberfest."

· All Brendan McGill Coverage [~ESEA~]
· All First Word Coverage [~ESEA~]
· Hitchcock [Official Site]