Like pennants documenting history at a baseball stadium, Dark Horse event banners are the first thing you see when you enter the metal shed behind the Dark Horse Tap Room in Marshall, Michigan. The unfinished interior and the bar paneled with galvanized sheets give it an outlaw feel. Like you’ve stepped back in the 1930s bootlegging era. Then you see the ROAK Brewing sign on the back wall.
The new space is called the ROAK Beer Garten. On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, the new kitchen opened in the once vacant space opposite the new sign to serve food.
We asked John Leone, one of the co-owners of Dark Horse and ROAK Brewing, about the space.
"I went out of my way to make it have elements of both semi-eclectic and semi-industrial," he said. "But it feels right. By the way, the tap room at Dark Horse is one of the most unique places I've ever seen in my life; kind of CBGBs if you like music. You could get the most incredibly expensive, talented designer out in New York City who only does restaurants. They couldn't reproduce that place. That's just love. That's years and years of happiness that make that place look like that. I wasn't trying to reproduce that because I don't think you can. But we were trying to have elements of it."
BY Brenda Marshall
Roak Brewing establishes its presence with beer garten in Marshall, Michigan
The ROAK Beer Garten evokes a range of feelings for craft beer lovers. For many, there is excitement about it. For others, there is worry and angst because it is a change. A Dark Horse employee Cabe Churchill said it best, "That’s the thing, that some people don’t like change and some people can’t deal with it."
For others, it is more extreme. They are worried it is a step towards phasing out Dark Horse.
"We know in our hearts, and we know in our brain there's no conscious decision to get rid of Dark Horse, quite the contrary. Let's just go with it and give it a chance," Leone said. "I don't get caught up in Dark Horse or ROAK. I love them both. They're my kids. I love them equally and want them both to be successful in life, whatever success is."
Dark Horse stays as is. We've added this expansion. We're still going to serve ROAK beers inside the tap room. We'll serve Dark Horse beers outside in the ROAK Beer Garten."
So why did they create the ROAK Beer Garten?
"We have two brands," he said. "The ROAK brand has no presence anymore. Dark Horse has this whole building brand.”
For those who don’t know, in February 2021, ROAK Brewing announced it was closing its taproom in Royal Oak. They moved all brewing to the Dark Horse facility. Having a physical presence via the beer garten makes sense.
But why open a second kitchen when there is already one in the Dark Horse taproom. It boiled down to capacity and customer service. Customers in the beer Garten didn’t understand why they couldn’t get food.
"First of all, the kitchen was 200, 300 feet away, 400 feet away, a long way away, a football field away, at least," Leon said. "And then secondly, that kitchen was really never set up to do massive volume."
Roak Brewing Co.
511 S. Kalamazoo Ave.
Marshall, MI 49068
(248) 268-8780
www.roakbrewing.com
The ROAK Beer Garten’s menu is different from the Dark Horse taproom.
"It's kind of like an outdoor picnic," he described. "It's why I was adamant about picnic tables. A sophisticated picnic at that, but it's a picnic. We're doing pizzas, but it's not the same pizza.
Something we couldn't do at Dark Horse in any type of capacity, from a high volume standpoint, was a hamburger. I want a good greasy high-quality burger cooked on a flat top. Let's use a Sesame seed bun, old school."
We got a run-down on the menu: St. Louis-style spare ribs, gyros, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, blackened tuna salad, burgers, steaks, chicken wings, fried chicken, fish tacos, and fish and chips. I’m sure I’ve missed something, but you get the idea.
Can you see opening another location? Like what Grand River Brewing has done in Jackson and Marshall? Maybe in a different part of the state.
We asked Leone. He said, "I can tell you, I'll give you a really good solid answer on that. I've looked at two different locations in the last six months. They were in Michigan. But they were in other areas; it just didn't work out. It wasn't the right fit. I'm always looking."
"We're working on our spirits license," Leon said. "I mean, we're trying to get a spirits license. We're still waiting for approval from the federal government, and then we can get our inspection on our still, but that could be tomorrow."
Dark Horse Brewing
511 S. Kalamazoo Ave.
Marshall, MI 49068
(248) 268-8780
www.darkhorsebrewery.com
Check out Hearst’s newest brand showcasing Michigan Breweries at MiBrewTrail.com.
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MIBREW TRAIL MAGAZINE
Fall 2022
MIBREW TRAIL MAGAZINE
Fall 2022
Check out Hearst’s newest brand showcasing Michigan Breweries at MiBrewTrail.com.
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