zeppelin hall beer garden

oktoberfest means beer, beer, and more beer! earlier this month, john and i decided to spend an afternoon at zeppelin hall biergarten. every bar has different beers on tap, so you should rotate from bar to bar for the full selection.

we started off with a stein ($14) each of spaten oktoberfest. lovely amber color and malty flavor. it takes two hands to carry one of these giant steins. what a beast! beer naturally calls for fried food, and we started off with some fries. later in the afternoon, we moved on to jalapeno poppers. spicy, cheesy, and fried… you can’t go wrong with that. and yes, we got another round of beer, but i wasn’t able to finish my second stein.

the oktoberfest menu had all sorts of ridiculous specials including a $60 pig fest and a $20 pretzilla. we were tempted by the pretzilla, but got the regular sized pretzels ($6.95) instead. still a lot of carbs, but it seems like a more sensible choice. the honey and mustard dips are tasty!

on a sunny saturday, we rode the light rail zeppelin hall biergarten. the light rail runs really slowly, but it’s perfect if you’re in a leisurely mood. it was around 12:30pm when we arrived, and there were only a few other people in the spacious outdoor space. i’d love to come here with a group of friends, but that means convincing friends to come out to jersey city. it isn’t that far, but everyone hears “jersey” and thinks it’s a long trek. there are several bars to order from, and each one carries a different selection of beers, so don’t rush to grab a beer from the first bar you see. i ordered a large louisana purple haze, which was delicious. john ordered some kind of ipa, his favorite type of beer. to order food, you go to the kitchen window. unfortunately, there’s no vegetarian bratwurst here, so we shared some jalapeno poppers ($7.95) and cheese fries ($5.95). nothing special about the food, but junk food always goes well with beer, right?

if you ever wondered to yourself "golly gee whiz, what could the largest beer garden in the new york city area be?" then the odds are that you haven't hoisted a stein at zeppelin hall. zeppelin hall, so named, i presume, because a fleet of dirigibles could safely land and discharge their passengers here, is easily the biggest of the beer gardens and the biggest of the beer halls, all folded into one big package. jersey city has gone from being a run down, divey slum, notable mostly for its unique smells and curbside litter mountains, into a preppy, young, clean neo-borough like hoboken with new developments on every corner. your grandparents may have dreamed of leaving, but these days, you probably can't afford to move back. still, you can drink there. zeppelin hall serves german-ish food (i cannot stress this enough: mac and cheese is not spaetzel!) the beer hall way: you get on a line, wait, and bring it back to the friends at your table. of course, this is jersey, so you bring it to

fun beer hall and beer garden, pretty close to the real thing

on our second visit, i was able to get berliner style and it was fantastic. not what i remembered, but still good. we also tried the pretzels on the second trip, and it was fantabulous. the second trip was on a saturday night, and the crowd was much more family oriented than it was on a random summer wednesday evening.

rude staff. as a neighbor and condo owner of downtown jersey city, it saddens me to write a bad review about a local eatery, but the unpleasant (and embarrassing) experience i had gives me no choice. this bad experience didn't have much to do with the place itself or its eating/drinking options, it's more about lacking essential hospitality skills, let me explain: i took some friends who came visit to zeppelin to watch the soccer champions league final game last may. the place was packed, we saw some tables that were reserved and finally one that wasn't. we sit down, get our food and drinks, and we start watching the game on one of the many screens. some 10 minutes into the game, a waiter comes to us and to another party sitting at the same table, saying that we need to go because the table was reserved. he does not provide any alternative, he just says we all need to go somewhere else (as if there was such thing in a packed bar) we said we did not see any "reserved" sign, and that we already started eating, so we were not moving. he leaves and soon after a big bouncer arrives. very abruptly he said to "leave the table now!" again, besides not being polite, he offers no alternative, actually, a person from the other party says "go where? this place is packed, find us a table and we will move" nothing, the bouncer's threats were getting more and more serious, "move to another table or leave!". we ask to speak with the manager, his reply: "the manager is at the entrance, you need to go out there, he's not coming". since i see that this bouncer is not out there to help us, and he is getting agressive, i decide to call jcpd. while i'm on the phone with the operator, some guys who were sitting right across made some room for us and we moved. the other party squeezed in at a table right next to us. in the end, the table they claimed was never occupied, it stayed empty. shortly before the game ended, they started setting up the table with buffet trays. if they knew they were going to need the table, why didn't they reserve it? why didn't they offer a polite solution? i believe everyone can have a bad day and should be given a second chance. i'm not going to say i'm not coming back to this place ever, but i still feel too offended to go back there anytime soon. manager/owner, take good not of this, and make sure episodes like this one do not happen again.

strange crowd/unimpressive beer selection. the beer selection is huge but not impressive since you can find these brews at most liquor stores.

i'm waiting for an all-out brawl to take place here. too many people, too much intoxication, extremely lax security. it's going to happen - believe it.

this isn't a beer garden. it's a toned down nightclub for the yuppie hoboken trash crowd to come and "get rowdy".

beer good, sausage ok. i haven't been in the summer yet, but as a winter place it is very comfortable with lots of seating and a fireplace. sausages and goulash were decent, but nothing to write home about, like the beers they were a bit overpriced, but it seems to be the trend in jersey city to set everything at manhattan prices. they have some good beers on tap and service is decent. the crowd is very mixed and the place is large enough that you can hang out without being crushed against the bar.

great beer garden! it has 40 different types of beer on tap. it's huge. great sausages and burgers! great place to watch games. great relaxed vibe. great crowd. the crowd is not guidos at all. its a mixed crowd of 20s, 30s, and 40s professionals, some artsy types, some hoboken crowds, some families.... the place attracts a great mixed crowd so whatever your type, you can find them here and its big enough that everyone can co-exist drink some beers and have a great time.

it's great in the winter with the fireplace, but nothing beats it during the summer.

overrated. as for beer, i wasn't blown away by the selection and actually think its a bit elementary. not a ton of micro brews or anything out of the ordinary. i think many other local places have them beat for variety, but it is on the cheaper side .as for a food standpoint, this place is awful. i over paid for what reminded me of school food.

guido fest. this place started out as a great idea, but in a few short weeks it has turned into the sandbar ii. we have been there twice, and have seen two fights (one in the garden and one in the street) take place.

the beers are ok, nothing spectacular and nothing you can't find in the stores, the sausages are still a poor quality like the beer garden in astoria, and grossly overpriced, and the bar staff is hit and miss.

we have encountered some rude people that live in the neighborhood as well.

ok, i'm uncool. i did not have as much fun as everyone else when i came here... but hey, i was the designated driver. and more importantly, it was saturday night. i was a little overwhelmed by the crowds, as i normally come to beer gardens to chill out wi