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Beer Hall Opens Inside Arthur Avenue Market in Bronx's Little Italy

By Patrick Wall | February 1, 2013 9:06am

BELMONT — Fittingly, the idea for the new Bronx Beer Hall was fermented over a round of ale.

David Greco, the locally famous Arthur Avenue chef, and brothers and business partners, Anthony and Paul Ramirez, were pouring back a few pints inside the Arthur Avenue Retail Market in The Bronx's Little Italy when inspiration struck.

“After a couple beers, my brother was like, ‘We should open a beer hall,’” Anthony said Thursday. “We all joked around about it. But then the next day, we were like, ‘We really should.’”

Friday, which marks just more than a year after their first buzzed brainstorming session, The Bronx Beer Hall will celebrate its grand opening inside the market — complete with Jonas Bronck’s Beer Company brew on tap, a Greco-designed menu and a Doo-wop band.

“We’re trying to make The Bronx proud,” said Greco, who owns Arthur Avenue Trattoria and Mike’s Deli, also located in the market.

Greco is a partner in the beer hall with the Ramirezes’ firm, Mainland Media, which also includes Greig Bennett and John Martin.

The compact beer hall, which seats about 60, is nestled in the center of the 72-year-old market — a sort of indoor Italian piazza packed with butchers, pastry shops, delis, fruit stands, a cigar maker and more.

Sitting at sturdy tables made of wood from an old upstate barn, drinkers can order one of five New York-brewed craft beers in a half-pint, pint or 24-ounce “Papa’s Pint” glass — really a recycled jar — or a $5 can of 21st Amendment Brewery ale.

Wine from Chile, Argentina, Germany, Portugal and, of course, Italy, also is on offer.

Diners, meanwhile, can sort through a menu as colorful and crowded as The Bronx itself.

Appetizers include a cheese board, warm pretzels, baked artichoke casserole and a Bronx baked potato loaded with smoked mozzarella and ham.

There are also plates of pasta, chili, wings, burgers, salads, stews — along with the “Sausage Fest,” an array of meats and “Silence of the Lambs,” a selection of fried calf brains and liver.

“I have four children to feed at home each night,” Greco said, explaining the diverse menu. “So I got to be creative.”

To mark its official opening, the hall will sell two-for-one pints from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, while offering food samples. The Doo-wop group will perform from 6 to 9 p.m. and a DJ will take over from 9 until 11 p.m.

On Thursday, a few lucky visitors took the bar — which had a soft launch last week — and gave it a thumbs-up before its official launch.

Delna and Randy Carruthers, from Denver, Colorado, were sampling the eats along Arthur Avenue, on their first-ever trip to The Bronx, when they wandered into the market and right up to the new beer-hall bar.

After a few pints, and more than a few cellphone snapshots, they planned to trek the mile or so back to the 4 train.

“We’ll stagger back,” Delna said. “And we’ll be happy.”

The Bronx Beer Hall, at 187th Street and Arthur Avenue, will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.