Streetcar: Taps & Beer Garden Opens Today on Charlotte

Less than six months after I first told you about his plans, chef Carter Hach is ready to open his new Streetcar: Taps & Beer Garden today at 4916 Charlotte Ave. Along with GM Henry Beveridge and a team of investors who have all pitched in various expertise in addition to their money, Hach has converted an abandoned building in the strip of retail shops into an attractive and inviting gastropub that should be a welcome addition to neighborhoods on both sides of Charlotte and I-40.

“It’s a walkable neighborhood,” Beveridge explains. “We wanted to create something that people would visit after a trip to the Richland Farmers Market or for brunch or after work.”

I feel like they have already succeeded, converting their space in a building whose foundation was laid in 1897 and started out as Lovell & Sons Grocery in 1901. The name comes from its former identity as home to a stop on the original Charlotte streetcar line — the last stop before the trolley hung a right to head out to the state prison. 

“All five owners are history nerds,” Hach comments with a laugh, "so we wanted to preserve some of that history.” The streetcar motif includes handcrafted barstools made with railroad spikes as accents, as well as exposed brick, where Hach hopes that local artists will be able to display and sell their works with no hanging fees.

The restaurant seats about 45 people inside, and an additional 65 in an inviting beer garden out back, complete with beer tables designed in Germany to be intentionally a little narrower than usual to encourage conviviality across the table. The patio is also home to a large smoker designed by Nashville open-fire cooking king, Edgar Pendley. 

The all-scratch kitchen will pump out an interesting combination of German and Southern foods, an amalgam of Hach’s Southern heritage and an homage to his famous grandmother Phila Hach. A sneak peek at the menu and a small tasting revealed some fun surprises. The “LArder” section of the menu features small snacks, including hoecake toast points with jalapeño pimento cheese and bagel chips served with smoked trout dip made using Bucksnort’s finest fish.

That trout appears again in a delectable dish of smoked trout cakes served with slaw and Hach’s version of comeback sauce, a Mississippi specialty staple. Other dishes worthy of consideration in the main dish “Provisions” section include a vegan Frito pie, wagyu sliders, a currywurst BBQ plate and a plate of Bratkartoffeln, home fries served with a creamy Welsh rarebit sauce, caramelized onions and peppers and speckwürfel. A helpful German culinary glossary included on the menu reveals that the last term is the German word for “bacon bits,” — I'm calling bacon bits speckwürfel from now on.

A selection of po’ boys ranges from the vegetarian TN Oyster made with blue oyster mushrooms to other meatier sandwiches featuring pulled smoked chicken, chopped brisket and sliced pork loin.

The bar will feature a short list of spirits and a long menu of beers, including both regional and German specialty brews. In addition to canned and bottled beers, 16 taps will pour beer and wine — including four nitro lines that might even offer a cold brew coffee option sometime soon.

Weather permitting, a new regulation now allows for a few bistro tables on the sidewalk, a development Hach and friends hope will draw people in from the farmers market across the street.

Initial plans are to be open Monday through Thursday from 3 to 11 p.m., Friday and Sunday from 11 until midnight and Saturday from 9 a.m. until midnight to catch the market crowd. After training and a short friends-and-family test run, Streetcar: Taps and Beer Garden welcomes guests beginning today, so drop in and welcome them to the neighborhood.