Summer Fridays: NYC’s Best Beer Gardens

Welcome to our second installation of Summer Fridays, in which we present to you the two wide-eyed youngsters that we enlisted to handle our beer garden coverage in The Summer Guide. Justin Schwartz and Steve Ward are known to some as The Steamfest, and they tackled the daunting task of drinking huge beers and eating bratwurst all over this city with a youthful enthusiasm that died inside of us long ago. Here you’ll find a summarized version of what they said in the guide, and the guys even threw in a solid playlist for good measure.

Steamfest Playlist

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Summer Guide Beer Garden Rundown

Bohemian Hall

“Grab as many friends as you can round up and head out to Astoria for a little taste of Oktoberfest in your own back yard. The oldest beer garden in New York has been imitated by countless others, but never replicated. This place delivers the feel of a German festival every day of the year, and reeks of authenticity. Before you hit the rest on this list, set the bar high with the very first to grace the boroughs with its presence.”

Eataly: La Birreria

“La Bierria is located atop the two Italian fat guy’s cash register known to everyone else as Eataly. The entrance is located in a tucked away corner of Eataly’s ground floor, which can easily be missed without the guidance of a trusty employee. Here a line can form to take the elevator that will bring you to rooftop location fifteen floors up. Without a reservation, they will take down your cell phone number so you can ‘go enjoy Eataly as you wait approximately 45 minutes’ to get upstairs (marketing genius). Just know that once you get upstairs, you won’t be getting an authentic biergarten experience. This is more of an outdoor restaurant with a ‘Perfect For: Networking Events’ feel.”

Eataly: La Birreria

“We knew from first glance that Studio Square was going to be a little different from most biergartens. After all, they spell it “beer garden,” the way most of us spelling bee champions think it’s spelled. This is the perfect place to take a large group of friends for an afternoon of drinking and watching the Yanks or Mets. Studio Square has an enormous outdoor area centered around the largest TV screen in all five boroughs. The crowd is young and sexy, so bring your finest set of shades for one of our favorite hobbies, ‘afternoon people scoping.’ And with an eye on the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics, let’s just say this might just be the perfect place to watch Michael Phelps practice his cannonballs.”

Radegast Hall

“Want to feel like you’re in Munich slamming beers with a couple of burly Germans and sharing stories from the good ole days? This is your jam. Radegast has all the pre-requisites that qualify a spot as a real biergarten, even though it feels a bit like one at Epcot Center. Variety of Geman Beers? Check. Huge liter mugs to make sure your glass is never dry? Check. Polka band? Check. Long cafeteria-style tables that allow you to talk to everyone from a lead singer of a sh*tty band to a Brooklyn native of 40 years? You got it.”

For the full Steamfest beer garden rundown which includes The Standard, Zeppelin Hall, and Mission Dolores, download our FREE Guide To Killing It This Summer.