LOCAL Houston | The City Guide MARCH 2016 | Page 26

CLUB•ICEHOUSE•LOUNGE

AXELRAD

HAMMOCKS•BEER•LUIGI'S PIZZA•GARDENS
The team that opened Axelrad beer garden – from the distraught but historic
Axelrad building on the far east end of Midtown – are utter visionaries. In a
part of town that was just waiting for this type of bar, the effort on their part is
outstanding and the crowds are generously rewarding them for the investment.
Beers, a hammock grove and Luigi’s pizza, oh my?
Oh, yes. The remodel is awesome, including the unfinished upper floor proudly
showing just how far the building has come (check it out from the underused
upper balcony out back). Lots of (painted) brick, concrete and wood were used
to refurb the ground floor into an area with ample seating
around the front (near the live music stage) but we
really dig the well-designed bar towards the
back. Those custom tap handles are awesome.
Speaking of handles, the bar shape also handles the crowds but manages to allow for
seating too. Outside, the massive beer garden includes the city’s first and currently only
hammock grove, a whole bunch of your
new friends, rotating food trucks, a small
“bar” to help when the line inside gets long
(which it can and does), fire pits, a neon light
installation, staples from Luigi’s, projected outdoor

movies/sports/video games...we just don’t know how not to like this! They even
secured a substantial parking area right behind it all!
On your lucky day you’ll get 31 taps (including 2 nitro) dropping liquid gold
from the killer draft list of local and national all-stars. Even ciders are well-represented. In the event you don’t find a draft pour you are looking for, they have
about 100 bottles and cans; check the menu there are some real gems on there.
Hungry? It does not get much better than Luigi’s Pizzeria and rotating food
trucks.
If you have not already figured it out, it’s the perfect time in Houston to spend
some hours at the Axelrad beer garden. On a hammock, on a bench, around
a fire pit, under the canopy at Luigi’s, wherever. None of this is meant to discourage you from spending time there, you know, whenever you want. Just saying
that it’s pretty much ripe for the picking, like, now.

1517 Alabama | 713.597.8800 |
www.axelradbeergarden.com
Sun–Thu 12pm–12am | Fri & Sat 12pm–2am
www.facebook.com/axelradhouston
www.instagram.com/axel