Beer, Barbecue, and Boozy Slushies Abound at Beat Brew Hall

The restaurant and music venue once known as Beat Hotel and later as Beat Brasserie has changed again, but this time it’s a larger transformation. The Harvard Square spot (13 Brattle St., Cambridge) temporarily shut down earlier this month to be renovated and rebranded into Beat Brew Hall, which partially reopened this week. (A back room with its own bar will open at a later date, but the main dining room and bar are now open.) The reborn venue embraces a communal beer hall atmosphere, serving a range of local and international beers and a fully overhauled menu.

Co-owners Jack Bardy, Jennifer Epstein, and Bill Keravuori — who are also behind the Beehive in the South End, another restaurant/music venue — aimed to turn the 9,000-square-foot restaurant into a convivial gathering space, with picnic tables scattered around the main dining room and a 30-seat bar.

Anchored around craft beer, the menu includes a mix of barbecue and beer hall-style dishes. James Lyons, the executive chef at the Beehive, designed the menu, which includes grilled chicken wings, smoked brisket with potato salad and peach barbecue sauce, and slow-roasted pork shoulder with grits. There are also brick-oven flatbreads, including one with crispy duck, egg, jalapeño, scallions, and mozzarella.

Other entrees include salads, burgers, and sandwiches, like a tofu banh mi, plus rib racks. An accompanying kids’ menu includes dinosaur nuggets and pizza.

For drinks, Beat Brew Hall features two dozen draft options and a variety of cans and bottles, featuring local breweries like Jack’s Abby and Night Shift alongside beers from elsewhere in the country and the world. (Check out the opening beer list below.) The restaurant also has a selection of cocktails, wine and spirits on tap, and boozy slushies and punch bowls — a holdover from Beat Brasserie.

With the front portion of Beat Brew Hall open to start, dinner and late-night options are available already, and lunch and brunch will follow suit at a later point. Eventually, the restaurant will unveil its back room, which will have its own bar and lounge, plus a performance stage for music and events, as well as billiards and shuffleboard.

• A Harvard Square Jazz Venue Becomes a Beer Hall [EBOS]
• Beat Brasserie Coverage on Eater [EBOS]