TOURIST ATTRACTION: Hofbrauhaus copies Bavarian beer garden

A visit to the Strip left a lasting impression on Stefan Gastager.

Touring the newly opened Venetian hotel in 1999, the Germany native felt awestruck that an American resort in the desert could re-create the Italian tourism mecca in such detail. His visit left him with another lasting impression: He couldn't find a single German restaurant in Las Vegas that felt anywhere near as authentic.

Not long after Gastager and his family returned home to Bavaria, he began crafting an idea for his own piece of Europe in Las Vegas.

"Originally, what I had planned was a Venetian-type project. At some point it came to mind: why not build a Hofbrauhaus in Las Vegas?" Gastager said rhetorically. "This is a themed project and where else to build a themed project but Las Vegas?"

Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas will become the first officially sanctioned (by the Bavarian government, which owns the original) re-creation of the world-famous beer hall in Munich. At least in Las Vegas. The same exact concept was launched last April in Newport, Ky., a small city near Cincinnati. It, too, operates by license from Hofbrauhaus Munich.

More than four years in the making, Gastager will at last open his German restaurant and pub this month on Paradise Road, across from the Hard Rock hotel, following a delay prompted by a post-Sept. 11 tourism slump. Unlike its rival in Kentucky, the local Hofbrauhaus will import its trademark German beers directly from the original Hofbrauhaus and will feature an indoor "biergarten," bringing the facility close to 19,000 square feet -- larger than any other Hofbrauhaus planned or completed.

The Gastagers, Stefan and his brother, Klaus, and their families, in addition to partners Toni Sinzger and Franz Krondorfer and his family, moved to Nevada more than a year ago to build and manage the new restaurant and start a new life and a new company, BVT HBavaria L.P.

The original Hofbrauhaus was commissioned in 1589 by King William V. At the time, it was considered a priority to produce a high-quality, good-tasting beer for all, noblemen and peasants alike. So popular was the beer and venue that its success is now measured by the 1.8 million tourists who visit annually, many for the 16-day beer-and-brat party known as Oktoberfest.

The centuries-old structure features numerous arches and stonework along the base outside, and arched ceilings within. Like much of Las Vegas, the building is white with red roof tiles. A large enclosed patio just outside forms the biergarten.

Perlman Architects re-created the design with adaptations for building codes, cost control and use as a restaurant. With two decks of windows, it appears two-story from the outside, but inside there is only one floor. It is also smaller and has a slightly different configuration. The design permits a capacity of about 800 guests -- a fraction of the original -- between the beer hall and biergarten.

Mark Mikelson, project manager with R&O Construction, said the facility uses lots of faãades, but adds several artistic touches in key areas, including hand-painted ceilings in the beer hall and more than 70,000 small "scalloped" roof tiles imported from Germany.

"The beer hall is a one-to-one copy," Mikelson said. Before starting on the project, he and other key personnel went to Munich to absorb the fine details of the original. "What we're doing on this site is replicating the look of that building."

The biergarten required some tinkering. The owners wanted to use the space year-round -- something as unfeasible in Las Vegas as in Munich. Gastager and his partners brought the outdoor space indoors through building faãades and perpetually blue skies on high ceilings a la Venetian, Forum Shops and Desert Passage. Chestnut trees standing 30 feet were cut down and rebuilt within the 55-foot-high room using imitation leaves.

Treatments include furnishings and décor brought in from Germany. Arched ceilings in the beer hall have been painted to match the style of the original, and a fountain serves as the centerpiece of the biergarten.

"This has actually been quite a fun project. It's so unique even for Las Vegas," Mikelson said. "It's very European in style."

One of the more distinguishing features -- and something quite rare in the United States -- is the seating, a series of long benches that encourages, even requires, visitors to sit with strangers.

"It encourages that more European approach to seating, where you might be next to someone you don't even know," Mikelson said.

For the record, the brewery features three mainstay beers: Original, Dunkel and Kindl Hefeweizen. All are brewed in Munich to Germany's exacting beer purity standards by the same brew masters in the same facilities with the same ingredients.

If there is any doubt as to the seriousness with which Germans take their beer, promotional literature provided by Gastager dispels it with details on every single ingredient's origin, the brewing process and vital statistics on each official HB brew. Visitors seeking authentic Bavarian beer in an authentic Bavarian environment will find it.

There are even plans to book a new band every four to six weeks, flown in from a German-speaking country.

Gastager has set his sights beyond having the latest in a city crowded with themed novelties. In part, they chose Las Vegas for its steady convention industry, something he hopes he can tap like a barrel of wheat beer. The biergarten in particular with its open design and large seating capacity will feature plasma-screen televisions and other carefully placed electronics to facilitate presentations in a not-so-stale atmosphere and the wide-open design makes the room amenable to multiple configurations.

Valet parking and a location near the airport are also geared toward the conventioneer. More Las Vegas-oriented features include a bar for waiting customers, video poker and a gift shop.

Gastager brings German restaurant management as well. An assembly line kitchen with a conveyor belt speeds up kitchen work and a computerized, key card bar system speeds up drink dispensing and tightly controls the merchandise.

"The plate moves and the people stand in place. That's unique in Las Vegas," Mikelson said of the conveyor belt. When he saw it in the plans, he asked around to see if someone else had installed one and found no one who had. The system, like much of the technology and décor inside, was imported.

Gastager expects to open within a few days "in time for the Super Bowl." Other sporting events, such as the 2006 World Cup which is planned for Munich -- of all places -- are expected to draw crowds as well. Not to mention Oktoberfest, the event that made the original Hofbrauhaus world famous.

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