EUGENE, Ore. — Ninkasi Brewing Company is thrilled to announce The Better Living Room is now open on their Eugene, Oregon brewery campus on the ground floor of their administrative building at 155 Blair Blvd. The new 144-seat space celebrates an elevated Ninkasi experience including two bars, 45+ taps, and a full restaurant celebrating locally sourced food of the Willamette Valley. The Better Living Room is open seven days a week from 11am-11pm.
“We are thrilled to invite our community into our living room,” said Chief Experience Officer Sarah Johnson. “The Better Living Room not only showcases the talents of our brewers, culinary and hospitality teams, but is a celebration of the makers and producers of the region, from the farmers from whom we source our ingredients to the local businesses, musicians, and artists who are featured in our space.”
Sarah Johnson gained much of her extensive Food and Beverage experience at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the biggest and most diverse food and beverage operations in the United States. As Director of Food & Beverage, the resort’s resident beer expert and Certified Cicerone, Sarah innovated a comprehensive resort-wide craft beer program. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Sarah is excited to return to her roots and lead the growth of Ninkasi in authentic hospitality.
The Better Living Room kitchen is led by Executive Chef Andrew Hroza who describes his style as “elegant rustic” and will play off the “Better Living Room” theme with food reminiscent of home entertainment-style dishes, but elevated. Menu items will change seasonally with locally sourced ingredients, featuring dishes such as Smoked Squash JoJo’s, Whiteaker Goulash, and The Better Burger. The full menu can be found at ninkasibrewing.com/eugene-menu.
Le Cordon Blue-trained Chef Andrew Hroza joins Ninkasi after opening Warpigs for Three Floyd’s and Mikkeller in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2014. Prior to Warpigs, Hroza served as Executive Chef for Goose Island Brewing for nearly a decade.
The expanded bars allow for more opportunities to taste Ninkasi’s unique beers from their 5-barrel Pilot Brewery. All Ninkasi brewers rotate through a 3-month shift on the Pilot Brewery, allowing time for recipe development and innovation. A current tap list can be found at ninkasibrewing.com/eugene-beer.
More information and menus can be found at ninkasibrewing.com/eugene and reservations can be made by calling (541) 735-9500 or online. The Dining Room and Rocket Bar offer full menu service, while The Living Room Bar is counter service with open seating . This new experience replaces the original Ninkasi Tasting Room, which was located just one block south. Dock sales are now reopened at The Better Living Room for case sales, keg sales, and corny keg fills.
About Ninkasi Brewing Company
Founded in 2006 by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge, Ninkasi Brewing Company is the nation’s 35th and Oregon’s second largest independent craft brewery. Ninkasi continues to grow from its first batch of Total Domination IPA to three brewhouses, with 55-barrel, 90-barrel brewhouses, and a 5-barrel pilot program located in Eugene, Oregon. Ninkasi’s Flagship beers are sold throughout Alaska; Alberta; Arizona; California; Colorado; Idaho; Hawaii, Montana; Nevada; Oregon; Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The brewery remains privately-owned and is committed to community support and giving. Ninkasi’s Beer Is Love program offers in-kind donations and support for organizations throughout its distribution footprint. Ninkasi’s first restaurant, the Better Living Room, will open on its Eugene, Oregon campus in early 2020, followed by an experience in Tumwater, Washington in July 2020. For more information, call 541.344.2739 or visit www.NinkasiBrewing.com.
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