Although the third local location of the Gerst Haus near Nissan Stadium has been closed for a couple of years now, there were still questions as to whether it might ever come back. Last week, a steam shovel answered that question pretty definitively by ripping the structure to the ground. A homeless encampment behind the building had recently been cleared out in preparation for the demolition, and the site is being scraped clean for future development.
If you still have a hankering for Gerst's take on German food and a cold beer, it’s only about a two-and-a-half hour drive to Evansville, Ind., where another outpost of Gerst Haus opened in 1999 and is still apparently going strong. The restaurant — known for fish bowls of beer that loosened the lips of lobbyists, politicos and journalists for decades — actually existed in three different iterations and locations since opening in 1955.
Before its final new-construction location after the stadium construction necessitated the destruction of Gerst Haus 2.0, it was only Woodland Street, and longtime locals still remember taking a swig of mouthwash out of little paper cups near the door (some folks likely doing so to throw off BAC test results and mask the scent of an extra fish bowl or two). The parking lot was usually littered with squashed cups looking like a faerie ring of mushrooms around the front door.
The first location of the Gerst Haus (originally spelled “Gerst House”) was at 315 Second Ave. N. near Public Square downtown ... well, actually before Public Square was developed, forcing the first move across the river in 1970. Those Germans are a peripatetic lot.
Local beer historian Scott Mertie and his wife Candy have commissioned six historical markers around town telling the story of the city’s brewing legacy, and the latest is an ode to the original Gerst Haus at the corner of Second and Union near the original home of the fried ham roll. It tells the story of how William Gerst III wanted to preserve his family’s dedication to German food and beer in honor of his grandfather, who founded the brewery in the 19th century. Bill Gerst ran the restaurant from 1955 until his death in 1968 when his daughter and son-in-law, Gene and Gene Ritter (that must have mode for some confusing monogrammed towels), took over the operation. Brothers Jerry and Jimmy Chandler purchased the restaurant in 1988 and ran it along with their Sportsman’s Grille locations until it closed in March 2018.
So maybe take your biggest glass mug and throw it in the freezer until it looks like Jack Nicholson in the final scene of The Shining. Pull it out and fill it with a nice lager until a skin of ice forms on the surface, and raise a toast to a Nashville original. Prost to Gerst!
