150 Year Old Boston Bar Jacob Wirth Is Getting Ready For A Comeback
A once popular German beer hall in Boston’s theatre district is coming back to life. The historic Boston restaurant on Stuart Street has been closed since 2018. I have certainly missed it. Always full of life and piano sing-a-long, the once thriving business called it quits after a fire in an apartment above it. Now the 150 year old Boston bar, Jacob Wirth is getting ready for a comeback.
According to Boston.com and the Boston Business Journal, Jacob Wirth is hoping to open their doors by St. Patrick’s Day. It was a neighborhood favorite for beer, German food and piano sing-a-longs since opening in 1868. If fact, before closing, the restaurant was the 2nd oldest continuously run restaurant in Boston.
As reported in the articles above, City Realty, together with Royale, are in charge of operations. And they look forward to bringing the “famous Boston landmark back to slinging German beers soon enough.” Much will remain the same, but there will also be some much needed modernizations.
Jacob Wirth, Boston's historic German beer hall, is reopening with modern updates https://t.co/lD1gothFci pic.twitter.com/55S1cFQq8f
— Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) October 3, 2023
Changes
First and foremost, bathrooms are being remodeled with additional women’s room stalls added . The original restaurant had very few stalls for women, as it was built in the 19th century. They will also be moving the kitchen up from the basement to bar-side. They will lose some space there, but will be worth it. Jameson LaGuardia of Royale Entertainment Group told the Boston Business Journal, “We want to keep the nostalgia going. We’re going to bring it up to 2023 standards, but we’re going to keep the heart and soul of this place.”
The 4100 square foot space will honor it’s heritage as a German Beer Hall but is going under much needed and necessary updates. As far as the piano, it’s still there and the new owners are considering bring the sing-a-long nights back. They are also considering doing karaoke nights, live music and more.
The menu will be completely overhauled. I’m guessing liverwurst is out. Or as LaGuardia said, “The menu is by no means going to be what it was when it first opened. It was a different world.” Of course they will serve beer, and plenty of German beer options.
Fun fact: Jacob Wirth immigrated to Boston from Germany. And reportedly his restaurant was the first bar to sell Anheuser-Bush beer. It turns out Jacob Wirth was also on of the founders of Narragansett Brewing Company. one of the One of the restaurant’s claims to fame, according to its website, is that it was the first bar to distribute Anheuser-Busch beer. Wirth, the owner, was also one of the co-founders of Narragansett Brewing Company.