First Look at Unter Biergarten in Rochester, NY + BeerMenus App

       Since I work just down the street, I have been uber curious about the transition from the Victoire Belgian beer bar to the new Unter Biergarten featuring a more German-style beer spectrum. It all happened quite suddenly; Victoire, once touting that "your flight to Belgium is never cancelled," had shut its doors and just about a month later reopened into a freshly painted Bavarian delight. Unter Biergarten is located at 120 East Avenue and Rochester boasts free street parking during the week after 6pm - so if you're looking for an after-work sip, you don't have to look far. The bar and restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight; and Sunday for brunch, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They appear to have a different special every day, and are open on a Monday which is a rare feat for a Rochester bar - or very ambitious, rather. You can follow them on their Instagram for new details as they come.



       I went to Unter Biergarten this past Friday, the day after they had their grand opening on February 15th. My coworkers and I had planned to grab a beer before heading home to check out how it was doing. Turns out, just about the whole city was also curious - especially students from the Eastman School of Music as I saw many violinists and flautists walk by with their cases to grab a bite or a brew. The atmosphere of Unter Biergarten seemed a bit lighter in color palette than the old Victoire - which had a more red themed interior. Unter Biergarten went for a more black-and-white, dark-meets-light theme with stencilings of animals and kooky lettering which reminded me a lot of Alice in Wonderland. I was unsure if they had changed the ceiling at all but it was covered with the old-fashioned-looking metallic, rose-gold wallpaper which really added to the German fantasy forest look. If you're wondering, it seems they've kept the original Victoire boar head over the interior fireplace.


       For my beverage, I went with the Tröegs Nugget Nectar. I've never bought a pack from the grocery store blindly because Tröegs tends to be on the pricier side, so anytime I see it on the menu I try to sample it so I know if I may want to commit to a whole 4 or 6 of them - I know, I'm odd. My beer was off of the draft list, so it came in a 16oz pour while others came in 13oz pours. It was really tasty and drinkable, reminding me of a hopped orange juice of sorts as it was very citrus-y. My coworker ended up getting a bottle pour, which comes in half or full liters, and thusly will come in either a half or full stein. I tried to get a picture of her "baby" stein as I thought it was super cute, but the image did not come out that great because, apart from the decent lighting coming from behind the bar, the lighting turned into the ill-fated "bar room lighting" - AKA good luck taking any kind of photo in a bar. They also had $3 "Throwback Cans" if you wanted something cheap, quick, and dirty to accompany your craft beverage. Also, if you like the cocktail revival scene in Rochester, there is a great-looking cocktail menu as well, including a play on my favorite cocktail - the Dark and Stormy - aptly titled "Rochester's Weather".


       All of the beers were a great price, especially for the amount you're given. It appeared as though the taps offered a handful of German-specific beers - a pilsner, hefeweizen, dunkel, and kolsch - and a dozen or more local and other craft beers, including the highly rated High Water Campfire Stout. Speaking of which beers to try, which is always a struggle for someone still learning their all-time favorites such as me, a friend of mine recently suggested a new beer app for me to try called BeerMenus. I was always a little too intimidated to try out the Untappd app, which is a Foursquare or Yelp-type app for beers and bars, and I was looking for something a little simpler which didn't require me to log in or anything to that degree.


       BeerMenus is a great, simple app that you can pull up when you're near a bar and can't decide what to try next or what to order. The greatest thing about it so far is that most Rochester bars appear to constantly be updated, which is great if you frequent bars with ever-changing menus. Along with the entire beer menu, the app also shows which beers might be rare or highly rated that are currently being offered at that bar. Even more, you can search for a specific beer if you know there is one you want to try next. For example, I would like to try Lawson's Finest Sip of Sunshine which is being offered at Salinger's and Blu Wolf Bistro, among others.


       As I looked around, I was super tempted to grab an appetizer off of the menu to share, as the kitchen kept pulling out pretzels and handing them off, mostly to the curious Eastman students. I was bummed because I was headed off to another restaurant later in the evening (specifically, for the famed Marshall Street 'Dillas - highly recommend the Taco 'Dilla) - otherwise both the $10 German pretzel with root beer molasses mustard & beer cheese and the $10 Loaded Bavarian Tots with duck pastrami & beer cheese were honestly calling my name to try. I feel like I have failed the blog by not sampling them - if I ever get a taste there will be a Part Two review! Later that day, my friend told me that he was super curious about the dessert menu, specifically the intriguing Pretzel Pudding featuring Pittsford Dairy ice cream. Guess I'm going back for more!

Overall, I really liked the atmosphere and new look of Unter Biergarten, and while the food menu was a bit pricey, the smaller bites I think would really appeal to me after having a drink or two with friends - and I think the Eastman students who had crowded the bar would agree with me. Otherwise, the dinner menu was on that slightly-fancier edge which is great if you have family and friends in from out of town that you might want to impress - or, dare I say, a date, even! Thank you for reading my restaurant and bar review, keep an eye out for more articles like this by following my Twitter or my Instagram for post updates!
All opinions and pictures are my own.