Beer Plant-Based Gastropub
Located at 3110 Windsor Road, Austin, TX 78703 (next door to Austin Pets Alive)
The Beer Plant, 100% plant derived (Vegan) Gastropub located in old west Austin.
The first beer plant-based gastropub in Austin where all menu and drink options are 100% plant-derived (vegan). The Beer Plant combines craft beer, wine and cocktails with a menu of hearty, artfully prepared plant-based fare.
“We wanted to create a place where craft beer and vegetables could share the spotlight,” says co-owner Ray McMackin, who’s called Austin home for the last 35 years. “A place where folks can eat clean and drink clean. Austin is the ideal spot for a concept like this.”
The Beer Plant aims to highlight the celebratory and sensual aspects of plant-based eating, “We are avid craft beer drinkers who love great food,” says Ray. “At home, we enjoy turning guests onto vegetables prepared in new ways and paired with a pint. We’re flavor enthusiasts and we’re always in the kitchen.” This will not be a “fake meat” type of place; think pickled, smoked flavor-forward pub fare such as savory vegetable pot pies, Irish lager stew and unique curry bowls.
Discover Your Roots
“We’ve seen the ‘farm to table’ eating trend explode with a heavy emphasis on meaty fare; we want to offer a more ‘garden to table’ dining experience – all the plants minus the meat,” says Sarah, a health counselor and program manager for the nutrition education nonprofit Oldways. Sarah has helped to spearhead nutritional cooking programs that celebrate traditional foods and diets of cultures from around the world and oversees 90 sites in the US that teach traditional plant-based cooking. “My palate has certainly been influenced by my work, both in my travels and studies of cultural diets. I’ve been amazed to find that most traditional eating patterns, worldwide, are naturally more plant-based than today’s standard American diet. Vegetables, grains, beans, nuts and seeds – traditional cuisines use these ingredients in remarkable ways for timeless dishes, and that’s what we plan to do at The Beer Plant.”
The Bar
All menu and drink options are 100% plant derived.
The Beer Plant feature 40 beers on tap from the front lines of the craft beer revolution including cold brew and kombucha. They also offer a well-curated wine list, including local wines on tap. For the more spirit orientated, there is a full bar with an emphasis on fresh and creative cocktails using botanical mixology.
The Team
The Beer Plant team includes Ray, Sarah, and two other partners in Fort Lauderdale, Steve Cogswell and Blaise McMackin (Ray’s brother). Blaise brings an impressive track record of successful restaurant experience to the team including Tap 42, a now legendary craft beer bar & kitchen in Florida, and The Green Bar, a plant-based restaurant. “In some ways, The Beer Plant will be a hybrid of these two successful concepts”, says Blaise. “A cool twist here is that the restaurants I opened in Florida were partially inspired by Austin places, and I love the idea that Ray and Sarah will bring it full circle.”
Choices
Famed chef Jose’ Andres claims that, “vegetables are the new bacon”; whether that’s true or not, The Beer Plant will bring home the “new bacon” to a town that already has plenty of amazing places to sip a craft beer and enjoy the old bacon. Austin is a city that enjoys having an enviable array of choices to drink and eat – and The Beer Plant will be bringing a new one to the table.
They are kid and dog friendly. They have a nice kids menu and an outdoor patio area where you can bring your dog.
You can follow The Beer Plant on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
