Birdtown Brewing nears opening, will feature Geraci’s in kitchen (photos)

Birdtown Brewing is eyeing an opening in April.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio – Birdtown Brewing, a longtime brewery project in Lakewood, looks to open its doors in April and will feature a venerable restaurant brand in its kitchen.

The dining room is spacious.

Geraci’s is marking its 70-year anniversary July 2. Birdtown will offer more of a pub spin on the menu for an Irish pub vibe. But pastas, chicken parmesan and other dishes will remain from Geraci’s, which has all east side locations in University Heights, Mayfield Village, Pepper Pike and Willoughby.

“We’re super excited to be on the west side,” Geraci’s Greg Spoth said. “We wanted to do it for years, and this place is spectacular.”

The brewery sits in a refurbished church, a 100-year-old building, and covers just less than 12,000 square feet.

The spacious, open and transparent design allows diners and drinkers to be able to peer into the brewhouse. General manager Ryan Grammerstorf will run day-to-day operations, and Zach Delpriore, who previously worked at Platform Beer Co. and Market Garden Brewery, is the brewer.

The space, empty since 2012, needed a lot of work, with wallpaper, carpeting and woodwork being refreshed along with stained-glass work. A disco ball is, of course, not original.

The ceiling is a painted sky.

Grammerstorf said they are striving for a neighborhood feel, with avenue signs jutting out from the walls to reflect the city’s streets named after birds.

Tabletops and bars were repurposed from the old Lakewood High School gym floor.

Televisions are spaced throughout – expect sports and cooking shows – and a patio is in the works.

A basement will accommodate overflow, be available for parties and serve as a game room with older video games like Pac-Man going in. The space previously held a stage, but that was taken out.

A bar upstairs in a loft area will be available for small parties and new releases. Bars upstairs and downstairs are made from the same black walnut tree.

A pal of Grammerstorf and Delpriore visited Las Vegas and saw a blue and white sky ceiling at Caesars Palace. That would be cool, they thought. They sent pictures to a local artist, and now a cool sky ceiling hovers over the dining room.

The repurposed gym floor from Lakewood High School makes for nice tabletops.

Despite the disco ball and sky ceiling, the brewery will have a fairly minimalistic feel for customers to sip beers.

Delpriore said he plans to offer “a little something for everybody” when it comes to the taps. He will brew on a North Carolina-made seven-barrel system.

“We’re going to try to stick to traditional lagers and ales,” he said.

So expect traditional styles in addition to seltzers, stouts, India Pale Ale and beers on Nitro, which also yields more of a pub feel.

Delpriore and Grammerstorf stressed they appreciate the communal nature of the local brewing community, which includes Immigrant Son – currently the only operating brewery in Lakewood and about three miles to the west.

“It’s amazing,” Grammerstorf said. “We just want to be a part of that family.”

The dining room is spacious; the place covers just less than 12,000 square feet.

Grammerstorf is originally from Denver but made the move to Northeast Ohio years ago, spent years bartending and working in fine dining, and has remained.

Lakewood has a dense population and one that is eager to try new places. Birdtown looks to hit the market with both craft beer and food from Geraci’s.

In fact, the kitchen will feature a pizza oven with a unique design. It has a special rotating belt. A regular pulldown door deck oven doesn’t have the capacity Birdtown’s can accommodate, Spoth said. The oven can handle as many as 100 pizzas an hour – a maximum the kitchen might hit on a busy night of diners coming in and takeout orders going out.