Chef from Georgia opens German food and beer garden in Springdale

A Georgia native from the deep south moved to Germany once. And while she was there, her love of German food was born.

Chef Jennifer Hill Booker has since moved to Springdale, Arkansas and opened Bauhaus Biergarten. While living in Germany she discovered the food, and the beer.

She was attracted by the downtown Springdale arts district and northwest Arkansas for the diversity and opportunities, she said. At 326 Holcomb Street, Suite 102 in a converted garage. There is a dining area, a beer garden. An Airstream trailer is used as a food truck.

Booker is a James Beard Impact Fellow, a chef, entrepreneur, cookbook author, national lecturer and mother.

The original building in Springdale was a German doctor's office in 1946. "It's just a beautiful space."

The beer garden with all the German flavor opened October 2022.

"We pride ourselves on only carrying German or imported German or European beers," Booker said.

There are non-alcoholic beers and soft drinks.

There are sausages from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Usinger's Butcher Shop known for German-style sausage. "It's excellent. We have a variety of sausages, we have our braised sauerkraut, side condiments, German mustard and curry ketchup, and the beer cheese, a dark, beer cheese, Bavarian pretzels, giant pretzels some with various meats, cheeses.

She lived in Germany four years.

"Living in the culture of German food I learned how to cook a lot of German dishes while I was there and I got to teach some German families American cuisines. But I just really loved beer gardens. You sit at this huge long table with a lot of strangers and you got up as friends," she said about socializing in Germany.

"It was a really good feeling of fellowship and camaraderie. The sausages were amazing and the beer was great so I just always loved it."

She met a business partner from Milwaukee, Daniel Hintz who now lives in Bentonville. Milwaukee is known for beer and sausage, she said.

"We were just kind of dreaming at that point, but then there was an opportunity for a relocation grant and so I was in a place in my life when my daughters were in college, and I was empty-nesting, I applied for the relocation grant and got it and decided to move here (Springdale) and give it a go," she said.

Since opening last year, business has been good.

"The community has been very welcoming," Booker said. "We get people who come from Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, so that is really wild."

Local regulars from Springdale come in for conversation, beer and food, she said.

"We get a lot of people who come regularly for a quick beer or a bite of food," Booker said.

She discovered northwest Arkansas while working for the James Beard Foundation during a visit in Bentonville. The foundation promotes America's food culture. She applied for the Life Works Here Initiative and was approved for a grant to move to Springdale from Atlanta, Georgia, she said.

For the James Beard Foundation, she traveled the country teaching chefs and restaurant owners how to run a full-use kitchen— sustainable cooking— with as "little waste as possible."

"That is my philosophy of cooking," she said, adding that she has taught sustainable cooking classes.

She can make her own pickles and condiments with biodegradable trash and glasses that are washed to avoid Styrofoam that is thrown away, she said.

In Springdale, she said she hopes to expand the service season. Most of the business, about 70%, at Bauhaus is done outside, she said. She is working now to build a pergola to provide shelter during rainy and snowy or cold weather months.

She said she is expanding the reach-in cooler to offer more food and beer.

Also, the community events in Springdale are becoming an attraction.

"We're working with downtown to really amp up the arts district and then activate more events down here where we are on Holcomb," she said. "We want to be a hub for the community. That's really our next goal."

She said there will be future events featuring live music at Bauhaus Biergarten.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Jennifer Hill Booker is a Springdale, Arkansas German restaurant owner