EAST WILLIAMSBURG — A 3,000-square-foot beer garden with 20 beers on tap, 40 bottles and North Carolina-style whole hog barbecue is to open in a largely empty part of East Williamsburg.
Arrogant Swine, at 173 Morgan Ave., will be a more permanent place for owner Tyson Ho's "Hog Days of Summer" pop-up concept of last summer, where Ho cooked whole hogs and served Founders Brewing Co.-provided beer.
But the huge space at Morgan Avenue and Scholes Street is more about the beer than it is about the food, Ho, 35, said.
With 20 beers on tap and 40 bottles, Ho said the primary goal is "to serve lots and lots of craft beer."
"We're bringing in a whole bunch of fun and funky really good craft beer," he said. "It's not exactly a Coors Light kind of crowd."
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The outdoor space is filled with Bushwick Collective murals and picnic tables, and the size allows for "a real beer garden" — not like smaller patios in New York that some places call a beer garden, Ho said.
Along with the inside, which houses a 44-foot-long bar, Arrogant Swine can fit some 200 people, he said.
"You go to Munich and anywhere in Bavaria and you go to a beer garden, it's massive," he said. "Lots of people drinking, hanging out. That's basically what we want to do."
Offering whole hog barbecue pork is akin to German beer halls that offer sausages, Ho said.
Besides the barbecue, Arrogant Swine will be offering a variety of country hams and charcuteries from across Europe to make the place "a church of pork," Ho said.
"If pork was a religion," he said, "we would be the church."
To stay updated on the progress of the new spot, follow Arrogant Swine on Instagram.
