As the leaves turn brown and temperatures start to cool, beer gardens and restaurants across D.C. are celebrating Oktoberfest with keg taps, steinholding competitions and dog-centered events, putting their own District twist on the annual Bavarian folk festival.
Though D.C.’s celebrations are humble in scale compared to Bavaria’s Oktoberfest in the south of Germany — with a recorded 7.4 million visitors this year, all in honor of the 1810 marriage of the prince of Bavaria — they still offer a way to usher in the fall season, with restaurants and bars across the city hoping to attract regulars and newcomers alike through traditional Bavarian fare, fashion and live music. Bar and restaurant employees say the celebrations attract customers from all over D.C. to come enjoy the special brews and bites they have to offer.
Clytie Roberts-Glage, manager of Capitol Hill’s Cafe Berlin, a traditional German restaurant, said the annual festivities bring in large crowds each year, many of whom end up joining their roster of regulars. As part of the celebrations, she said staff don traditional Bavarian dirndl dresses and lederhosen trousers, while the restaurant’s decor remains mostly unchanged.
“It’s definitely not raucous, but just a little more jovial in general,” Roberts-Glage said.
She said planning for the next year’s Oktoberfest begins immediately after the current celebrations end, and plans are typically confirmed around April.
“So if we can get people in the door one time,” says Roberts-Glage, “then they see how delicious the food is, and they’re more likely to come back at another time of year, just for how good the food and beverages are.”
The centerpieces of the celebration are the three-course Bavarian brunches ($40) on Oct. 4 and 18, and the pig roasts ($65) — a traditional meal for the month — on Oct. 10 and 24. She said the food is a primary draw for Cafe Berlin year-round, and the menu is more than just the typical Bavarian food like Bratwurst and German potato salad that many Americans associate with German cuisine.
“We’re a German restaurant, but we’re not a Bavarian restaurant,” she said. “Oktoberfest is fun for us because it’s something different.”
Roberts-Glage said the main reason to experience Oktoberfest at Cafe Berlin is the sense of community they foster and the opportunity to support a local business.
“When you spend dollars locally, they have a bigger effect on your neighborhood,” Roberts-Glage said. “It’s not going to a big corporation, and it’s not going to line somebody’s pockets, it’s supporting us and our staff and our families.”
Prost, a German restaurant in Chinatown features long wooden tables reminiscent of a German beer hall, complete with indoor and outdoor seating. Manager Eric Heitberger said the staff also dresses up in lederhosen and drindl throughout the celebrations, with the main events being the stein hoisting competition, where competitors have to hold a beer stein out in front of them for as long as possible, live music and giveaways, including a keep-the-stein night — where customers keep the souvenir glass their beverage comes in — and puptoberfest, with pup cups, bandanas and dog beers for the canines.
“It’s quite an eclectic mix, and you know, one we’re pretty proud of,” said Heitberger.
Heitberger said his father moved to the United States from Germany, and he likes to think of the restaurant as an “authentic” Bavarian joint, only carrying German and Austrian beers and food items like currywurst and schnitzel.
“A lot of our food is authentic, and we source all of our ingredients through local German bakers and food purveyors, some of the food items are actually kind of passed down recipes in our family,” he said.
He said Prost captures the atmosphere of beer halls in Germany, where long, communal tables encourage conversation among people who haven’t met before, something he tries to replicate in his space.
“I think that’s a great thing in terms of restaurants in general, is bringing people together in a fun atmosphere and enjoying some good food and drinks,” he said.
Brandon Bayton, strategic director for Wunder Garten, a beer garden in the NoMa neighborhood, said with a name like “Wunder Garten” and a German owner, the spot has to pull out all the stops for weeks of successful celebrations.
Bayton said the first two weeks of celebrations, starting Sept. 18, consisted of traditional celebrations to introduce the community to Oktoberfest, like a steinholding contest, a dirndl and lederhosen costume contest, a brass band and of course, beer. He said the beer garden works with the District’s very own brewery DC Brau, to feature their special German-style Oktoberfest lager, to ensure they represent local businesses in their beverage offerings.
“After all, it’s a beer festival, so we go through a lot of beer, and our leading beers this year are a Weinsteiner, which is one of the oldest,” he said.
He said Wunder Garten has also hosted “Dogtoberfest” for customers to bring their dogs, enjoy pup-a-chinos and take part in a dog adoption event, as dogs are a “big part” of the community at the outdoor beer garden.
He said Wunder Garten also hosted Pridetoberfest Saturday in collaboration with the director of the Mayor’s office on LGBTQ Affairs and Stacy Rusch from The Real Housewives of Potomac joining for the festivities.
Looking ahead, he said Wunder Garten is hosting an Oktoberfest market with local vendors and a Reggaeton Brunch Oct. 10 to put a “spin” on the celebration and bring together German and reggae cultures.
Galen Gossman, director of marketing for Dacha Beer Garden, with locations in Shaw and Navy Yard, said although both locations are wrapping up its Oktoberfest festivities, as they follow the official Munich schedule from Sept. to Oct. 4, they will be offering special beers all month long.
He said Dacha kicked off their celebrations with a ceremonial keg tap, a live polka band, boot holding and pretzel eating competitions. More recently, he said the Shaw location hosted a weiner dog meet up and an LGBTQ+ day featuring drag bingo.
Gossman said though the beer garden has its “Dachniks,” or Dacha regulars, the variety of events they have for Oktoberfest celebrations each year always drive new customers through the door.
“We are a community garden, so we want to bring everyone together, and we want to keep them hanging out, and encourage them to meet each other, meet each other and interact,” he said. “The more fun stuff we have, the longer they’ll stay, and the better their experience will be.”
Dining and Cooking