Insurance denials keeps Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten shut down as St. Patrick's Day looms
ASBURY PARK - Since a flood back in September, the Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten has been closed indefinitely. Missing out on Oktoberfest was the first crucial blow to the German-inspired bar and restaurant; now it will miss out on St Patrick's Day too.
Oktoberfest for Biergarten is like Fourth of July or Memorial Day weekend for other bars, according to general manager Nick Falco, who told the Asbury Park Press the establishment will not be open in time for March 17 either, its second biggest holiday of the year.
He said the restaurant has been unable to get insurance to cover the losses from the flooding. "We got denied, across the board they denied us everything, loss of revenue, content damage, the flood," Falco said. "Nothing was covered. They denied us."
He added the Biergarten is appealing the decision and insurance adjusters were on site as recently as this past Friday, Feb. 23.
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"Right now I don't even have an estimate on when we could be opening our doors," Falco said. He said it took insurance two months to get one engineer on the site.
"We already started working so it didn't look like it did back in October. You can't expect us to wait for you it has been two months (since the flood)," Falco said. "And now it took another two months on our appeal that we did."
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The engineer's report from the Feb. 23 visit could take seven to 10 business days to go through. Then once it gets to the insurance carrier it could be up to 30 days for the carrier to make a decision — well past St. Patrick's Day.
There is no date in mind but "a lot of stuff is going on behind the scenes."
"(Our landlord) thinks it is ridiculous we don't have the dining room open yet," Falco said. "I am a biergarten without a beer system. We have no refrigeration. Our grill got soaked wet, so it rusted out."
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He added that opening the doors now would mean one-star reviews "across the board and nobody coming back" because they can't offer their customers what they expect from Biergarten.
"We need over $150,000 just to get the doors open and that is just the minimal repairs," Falco said.
Thirty-five employees, including the kitchen staff, bartenders and management, are out of work until Biergarten reopens.
"We are getting support from clientele but they are the only ones showing support. I mean (Asbury Park) just wants us to get our doors open," Falco said. "Hopefully this (insurance) appeal will get a different result and hopefully we can start doing some major work."
Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com @CharlesDayeAPP
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten still closed as St. Patrick's Day looms
