Arts & Entertainment
 

Bar offers bocce ball with cold beer

Backyard Olympic helps Village Bierhaus catch trendy happy hour

Liquid Diet

Mario Gudmundsson

Until you spot the neon sign in the front window of Hans' Bierhaus, 2523 Quenby St., it's hard to think there's even a bar there. After parking in the small lot across the street, you have to walk around to the back of the building and enter through the slightly dark beer garden. It almost feels like breaking into someone's house, but those who venture in are rewarded with a casual and unique beer shack.

Bartender Parker Jones said, "It's just a laid-back kind of place, very informal. During happy hour we get people in their early 20s and people who are just coming off of work. Later in the night, we get a lot of the regular (Rice) Village clients."

The bar itself is abbreviated, a single space in the main room barstools in front. The small room is brightly painted red and harshly lighted, but still welcoming in a crusty, old-school frat house way.

A painting over the bar features a reclining nude with a beer tap sticking out of her abdomen. Flanked by the decorated ends of old-time beer barrels, she presides over the brew taps in the main room. A few big tables, a jukebox and a Golden Tee video game occupy this room and a couple of other tiny rooms round out the space inside the tiny building.

"On weekends we see a lot of the runoff crowd from the trendy bars in the Village," Jones said. "They tend to come here to unwind when those other places get too crowded."

Weekends can get pretty packed at the Bierhaus, and the lovely beer garden fills up on Houston's balmy nights, but the usual crowd at the Bierhaus is mostly male, on the preppy side and very casual. This is a place for T-shirts and shorts, and service is equally easygoing. 

The crowd here comes in for the advertised selection of 140 beers from around the world. A smattering of beers on tap is rounded out by the extensive list of bottled beers and a handful of select wines. There are no regular drink specials, but prices are reasonable, with beers priced around $3-$5, and wines going for around $4-a-glass. Weekday happy hours offer $1.50 domestic draft beers. Drinks aren't the only draw around here, though.

"Some nights, at least half the people here have come for bocce ball," Jones said. "We hold bocce tournaments a couple of times a year."

The bocce ball area, in a well-lighted corner of the beer garden, is one of the most unique features you could ask for in a Houston bar. Seating under leafy oaks provide ringside seats for this backyard Olympic, a deceptively simple game played out on a sand court.

With a cold beer to relieve the hot weather, what more could you ask for?

Hans' Bierhaus

2523 Quenby St.

The verdict: Hang out in this tiny bar for good beers and friendly games.