Beer Belly By Lardo’s Rick Gencarelli Opens December 9

It’s been almost exactly a year since word of Beer Belly dropped, and co-owner Rick Gencarelli tells Eater the new 30-tap beer bar and bottle shop is finally opening this Friday, December 9. A whole section of the menu will be dedicated to aged beers; the all-cassette-tape soundtrack will bump hip-hop; a sweet vending machine will sell fancy foods by local artisans like Jacobsen Salt and Olympia Provisions; and the televisions will be mostly tuned to sports, including boxing.

Gencarelli has sort of created his own food hall with Beer Belly: It’s connected by an indoor corridor to the West End locations of Lardo and Grassa — two restaurants Gencarelli founded with ChefStable. You can bring food into Beer Belly from anywhere you want (Blue Star Donuts is also next door, fyi), and you can also head over and order its beers when you’re eating at Lardo or Grassa.

“We’ve built great relationships with local breweries, through Lardo’s tap takeover and pop-up pub events,” says Gencarelli. The taps focus on local brews, but he won’t limit himself, “when something really cool comes along.”

The bottle selection stands at 40 — and growing. “We’ll have aged beers for onsite drinking only,” says Nick Schuurman, Gencarelli’s right-hand man and manager of Lardo. “The types of beer beer geeks usually hide away in their closets.” Bottles for retail will also be on offer.

Interestingly, all beers will cost the same, $5.50, but they’ll come in different size glasses, whether 8-, 12-, or 16-ounce pours. Happy hour will run daily, from 3 to 6 p.m., and every draft beer will cost $3 (again, in different sizes). Starting December 9, Beer Belly is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

• Beer Belly [Official Site]
• Lardo Is Opening a Beer Bar in the Old Racion Space [EPDX]