Top 50 Beer Gardens in the USA

American Craft Beer Week 2016 is in full swing and people everywhere- myself included- are celebrating beer. We are acknowledging the people who labor long and hard to brew the beverage we love. We are commemorating the craft beer renaissance and the establishment of craft beer culture. We are raising a collective toast to everyone responsible for bringing craft beer into our homes and into our lives, from the farmers to the distributors and everyone in between.

Taverns, restaurants, breweries, etc., from coast to coast are likely to have special events planned this week and one type of place that I love to visit for occasions such as this is a beer garden. These outdoor venues feature fresh air and often plants, entertainment, special seating, and other attractions that place beer drinkers in an enlightened frame of mind.  Just the words “beer garden” invoke a place of beauty and awe and some of my best beer drinking moments have occurred in these very places, surrounded by friends and good times. Foursquare just recently published a list of 50 Best Beer Gardens in the United States based on its own official data. Texas, it turns out, has the greatest number of beer gardens on the list and Brooklyn, New York has the most of any city/city region. Here is Foursquare’s complete ranking:

1. Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden – Austin, TX
2. The Fridge – Lancaster, PA
3. Drake’s Dealership – Oakland, CA
4. Bier Station – Kansas City, MO
5. KUSH Wynwood – Miami, FL
6. Frankford Hall – Philadelphia, PA
7. Oak Street Drafthouse – Denton, TX
8. The Ginger Man  – Dallas, TX
9. Radegast Hall & Biergarten – Brooklyn, NY
10. The Hoppy Monk – San Antonio, TX
11. The Friendly Spot – San Antonio, TX
12. VBGB Beer Hall & Garden/Restaurant – Charlotte, NC
13. The ABGB – Austin, TX
14. Craft Pride – Austin, TX
15. Truck Yard – Dallas, TX
16. The Pharmacy – Nashville, TN
17. the Malted Barley – Westerly, RI
18. The Jeffrey Craft Beer & Bites – Manhattan, NY
19. Estabrook Park Beer Garden – Milwaukee, WI
20. Spuyten Duyvil – Brooklyn, NY
21. Dacha Beer Garden – Washington, DC
22. Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden – Queens, NY
23. Beer Revolution – Oakland, CA
24. Cellar 3 – Poway, CA
25. Flying Saucer Draught Emporium – Raleigh, NC
26. Asbury Park Festhalle And Biergarten – Asbury Park, NJ
27. The Mayor of Old Town – Fort Collins, CO
28. HopCat – Detroit, MI
29. Bearden Beer Market – Knoxville, TN
30. The Hay Merchant – Houston, TX
31. Zeitgeist – San Francisco, CA
32. Stone Company Store – Pasadena, CA
33. Spritzenhaus 33 – Brooklyn, NY
34. Biergarten – San Francisco, CA
35. Axelrad Beer Garden – Houston, TX
36. Plattduetsche Park Biergarten – Franklin Square, NY
37. Berg’n – Brooklyn, NY
38. Westbrae Biergarten – Berkeley, CA
39. Katy Trail Ice House – Dallas, TX
40. Carolina Beer Temple – Matthews, NC
41. Growler & Gill – Nanuet, NY
42. Cottonwood – Houston, TX
43. Pier 13 – P13R – Hoboken, NJ
44. The Pig’s Meow – Phoenix, AZ
45. Cultivate Coffee & TapHouse – Ypsilanti, MI
46. Moon Tower Inn – Houston, TX
47. Beer Trade Co. – Delray Beach, FL
48. Harvest House – Denton, TX
49. New World Brewery – Tampa, FL
50. Mission Dolores – Brooklyn, NY