Lardo Is Opening a Beer Bar in the Old Racion Space

When downtown's modernist-cuisine-playground Racion closed this spring, everyone wondered what would take its place. As may come as no surprise, Grassa and Lardo owner Rick Gencarelli is taking it over, creating a sort of Gencarelli food hall. Gencarelli will transform the old Racion space into a beer bar (tentatively named Beer Belly), and it will be connected to Grassa, Gencarelli's fast-casual fresh pasta spot, which will in turn be connected to Lardo, Gencarelli's sandwich shop. When you arrive hungry and thirsty, you'll be able to walk unhindered from space to space, ordering pastas, beers, and banh mi as you choose and eating and drinking them where you choose. The beer bar will have 30 to 40 taps, around 200 bottles, barrel-aged beers, and TVs focused on sports.