First look: German beer garden, restaurant to open in downtown Wilmington

Allison Ballard, Wilmington StarNews

February 28, 2023 at 8:06 PM·2 min read

For months, paper has blocked the windows at 115 S. Front St. in downtown Wilmington as new owners transformed the space that was once the Mickey Ratz night club, Aubriana's fine dining restaurant and most recently Tails piano bar.

But the paper came off the windows on Tuesday, as Justin and Bekah Smith and partners Kyra Faina and Gil Johnson prepared to open the restaurant and beer garden to the public beginning on Thursday, Feb. 23.

"I've been waiting a year for this," Bekah Smith said.

Local diners may also be familiar with their other restaurants, including the Husk and Yosake. For this, they wanted to create another great place to eat and drink.

"It's our take on a German beer garden," Justin Smith said. "And one in Wilmington, North Carolina," Bekah Smith added.

Here's what to expect at Prost Biergarten:

More:Great expectations: 11 restaurants we're looking forward to opening in 2023

Prost Biergarten opens on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 at 115 S. Front St., Wilmington. ALLISON BALLARD/STARNEWS

The setting

For years, Bekah Smith said she was fascinated by the space on Front Street that had both indoor and outdoor areas and a classic structure, with exposed brick, internal arches and a patio that may never have been used to its potential.

"This is what I've wanted to do for a long time here," she said.

The owners are taking the idea of a beer garden seriously by creating a light-and-bright space that feels like a historic courtyard no matter where you are sitting.

"I wanted to bring the inside out and the outside in," Bekah Smith said. Look for lots of plants, string lights, whimsical accents and eye-catching wallpaper.

The biergarten

The owners say they aren't trying to recreate a completely authentic German experience, but instead something unique. The beers on tap come from local brewers (and can come in 10, 16 and 20-ounce pours). Some of which are made in German styles.

Also look for a selection of beers by the bottle, some wines and cocktails such as the Apfel Bourbon (with apple brandy) and the blackberry infused The Hoff.

STAY CONNECTED: Keep up with the area’s latest food news by signing up for the Port City Foodies newsletter and following us on Facebook and Instagram.

The food

Chef Erin Wiley developed a thoughtful, German-inspired menu with appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees that all contain different components meant to create a full flavor profile. Faina's favorite is the fish sandwich, with house-made Dijonnaise. Bekah Smith's early favorites are the beet salad and the schnitzel patty melt, a pork cutlet with caramelized onions and mushrooms. And Justin Smith said pretzels and sausages are his go-tos, and also include a Beyond Sausage vegan option.

The menu also contains nods to the owners' other restaurants, including a version of Yosake's firecracker shrimp with kraut slaw. And Dram and Morsel's beloved shrimp and grits brunch dish has been reimagined as shrimp and spaetzle. After opening for dinner service, Prost is expected to add lunch service in early March.

Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at aballard@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Prost Biergarten restaurant opens in downtown Wilmington

Associated Press
Unionized workers at US Starbucks stores plan strikes starting Friday
Workers at Starbucks stores plan to go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned U.S. stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. The union noted that Starbucks' new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who started in September, could make more than $100 million in his first year on the job.
AFP
Markets struggle as traders digest Fed's hawkish pivot
Equities fell Friday while the dollar maintained gains against its peers as investors assessed the fallout from the Federal Reserve's revised outlook for interest rate cuts and prepared for a second Donald Trump presidency.The dollar held on to its latest gains against its major peers, briefly hitting a five-month high near 158 yen before easing slightly after the government warned Friday against speculators and hinted it could step in to support the currency.
TODAY
Can walking really help you lose weight? Experts weigh in
There are many benefits of walking — and yes, weight loss is one of them. Experts explain how to create a walking routine that can help you lose weight.
TODAY
Miss Peggy, 100, still goes to every Colorado home football game. She shares her 4 simple longevity tips
The secret to a long and healthy life might not be as complicated as you think.
AFP
China lifts rock lobster ban, bringing end to Australian trade barriers
China has lifted a ban on imports of Australian live rock lobsters, Canberra said Friday, demolishing the final barrier in a broader, multibillion-dollar trade war between the countries."This is great news for our live rock lobster producers and fishers here in Australia, and importantly, it means that they can now apply for import permits to go back into this market."
AFP
Australia agrees deal to strengthen Solomons police
Australia said Friday it had agreed to boost Solomon Islands' police force with a multi-year funding, training and infrastructure package for the Pacific nation, which has fostered close ties with China.Despite Australia's overtures, Solomon Islands ties with China remain tight.
Associated Press
Italian court set to issue verdict in Salvini's kidnapping trial over migrants blocked at sea
A court in Sicily is expected to announce its verdict Friday on whether Italy's vice premier, Matteo Salvini, was guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship when he was interior minister. Salvini faces up to six years in jail if convicted on charges of kidnapping for the 2019 incident when he refused to allow the migrants to leave the Open Arms rescue ship at Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa.
TODAY
14 plyometric exercises that burn fat and calories
Plyometric exercises boost metabolism, burn calories, burn fat and promote weight loss. Try a plyo workout with exercises like mountain climbers and burpees.
TODAY
A personal trainer shares her go-to no-recipe winter meal you can throw together in minutes
The winter months are tough for those trying to live a healthy lifestyle.
Associated Press
Sri Lanka's navy rescues 102 Rohingya refugees found adrift aboard a fishing trawler
Sri Lanka's navy rescued more than 100 people believed to be Rohingya refugees who were found adrift aboard a fishing trawler off the island nation, a navy spokesman said Friday. Navy spokesman Gayan Wickramasuriya said fishermen had spotted the refugees, including 25 children and 30 women, off Sri Lanka’s northern coast on Thursday. Navy vessels then escorted the trawler to naval base on Sri Lanka's east coast where they were given medical care, food and water.
NBC News
U.S. delegation arrives in Syrian capital for first meetings since Assad's fall
Senior U.S. officials arrived in Damascus on Friday for the first diplomatic mission to the Syrian capital since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad this month.
AFP
US charges 'Chinese agent' over political influence
China's ruling Communist Party used an agent in California to influence state politics, US prosecutors said Thursday as they unveiled criminal charges against a Chinese national.FBI agents arrested Yaoning "Mike" Sun, 64, at his home in Chino Hills, near Los Angeles, on charges that he acted as an agent for a foreign government while getting involved in local politics.
Reuters
France's Macron to visit Mayotte shantytowns wrecked by Cyclone Chido
French President Emmanuel Macron was due on Friday to visit shantytowns in Mayotte ravaged by Cyclone Chido on the second day of a visit where he has faced calls to speed up relief to the Indian Ocean archipelago. Officials in France's have only been able to confirm 31 fatalities more than six days after the cyclone, the strongest to hit Mayotte in 90 years, but some have said they fear thousands could have been killed. Some of the islands' worst-affected neighbourhoods, hillside shantytowns comprised of flimsy huts largely inhabited by undocumented migrants, have not yet been accessed by rescue workers.
AFP
Medical help arrives by sea to Greece's isolated islands
Outside the school of one of Greece's smallest inhabited islands, Sikinos, two massive trucks have braved an eight-hour sea voyage to bring residents much-needed medical expertise in the depths of winter.- 'We feel vulnerable' - Sikinos lies in the middle of the Aegean Sea, eight hours from the port of Piraeus, and entirely off Greece's island tourism grid.
AFP
Starbucks workers to start US strike on Friday: union
Workers at Starbucks will walk off the job Friday in three US cities in a strike their union threatened could spread around the country in the busy run-up to Christmas.The union said Starbucks had not engaged fruitfully for several months, and threatened it was ready to "show the company the consequences."
AFP
Rescuers extend search for Vanuatu quake survivors
Rescuers say they have expanded a search for trapped survivors in quake-rocked Vanuatu to "numerous places of collapse" beyond the capital on Friday, after the death toll climbed to at least 10.And we've found numerous places of collapse east and west out of the city."
AFP
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Taiwanese lawmakers tackled and doused each other with water on Friday as President Lai Ching-te's party tried to block the passage of bills they say could harm the self-ruled island's "democratic system".Taiwan's democratic self-checking and self-repairing mechanism will be gone, and it will also cause significant and irreversible damage to Taiwan's civil society and democratic system," the ruling party said in a statement.
Associated Press
For thousands of Jews, Israel still doesn't feel safe after the Oct. 7 attacks. So they're leaving
Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it's just for now. For the Israeli-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel's founding promise: to be the world's safe haven for Jews. This time, during what became known as Israel's 9/11, the army didn't come for hours.
AFP
Ambushes and nostalgia on banks of frontline Ukraine river
Lyubov Voronova still remembers a time before the war when the Oskil river flowing by her east Ukraine home was an idyll where families would swim, picnic and make memories."I broke down in tears remembering how it used to be," she said, surrounded by tangles of snow-dusted metal and piled up bricks that were once her neighbours' homes.
Reuters
South Korea police questioned acting president Han over martial law decree
South Korean police have questioned Prime Minister and Acting President Han Duck-soo as part of an investigation into the short-lived decision this month to impose martial law, an official at his office said on Friday. The acting president was among 12 people present at a cabinet meeting on Dec. 3 shortly before President Yoon Suk Yeol's shock late-night announcement on martial law. Nine of those people have been questioned by a special police unit investigating the case, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The setting

The biergarten

The food

Latest Stories