The Grimm Team Brings the Perfect Everyday Spot to Prospect Heights

Grimm Tavern gets it exactly right on Vanderbilt Avenue

Grimm Tavern is located at 659 Vanderbilt Avenue, between Park and Prospect Places, and is currently open on Tuesday through Sunday from noon to midnight

Joe and Lauren Grimm had been poking around Brooklyn for a few years, trying to find the right place to expand the reach of their acclaimed Grimm Artisanal Ales. After all, their East Williamsburg taproom (complete with New Haven-style pizza) was a proven hit, and Grimm has won the prestigious New York State “Brewery of the Year” award a whopping FIVE times in the last six years. Why not spread the love?

“We looked at a lot of places but never said yes to anything because we hadn’t found anywhere that had that magic,” Joe tells BKMAG. “Then we saw this spot on Vanderbilt, with the beautiful backyard, and we’re like oooohhh…. What could we do here? What does this space want to be? What does the neighborhood want it to be?”

The answer, it seems obvious now, is a tavern. Specifically: Grimm Tavern, which opened in the former Olmstead space (hence the lovely backyard) about a month ago, with 20 varieties of that best-in-New-York beer on tap and a lengthy food menu of well-executed crowd pleasers. “This is not a special-occasion place,” Joe says. “It’s a place you can go because it’s Wednesday and you’re hungry.”

The chef is Greg Massaro, who spent a decade at Dinosaur BBQ (so he knows his way around meat, as Joe puts it) and, in keeping with the close-knit, family-business vibe of the operation, happens to be a childhood friend of Grimm’s head brewer, Nicholas Hyde.

Soft pretzel with cheese and mustard dips, $14. Photo by Scott Lynch

Start with the soft pretzel, which is warm and salty and comes with both a cheddar dip and a crock of housemade, delightfully fiery mustard. Grimm is the second new tavern we’ve eaten at this month that serves a great pretzel, and we heartily approve of this trend.

Bratwurst croquettes, $16. Photo by Scott Lynch

Carbs combined with mustardy, cheesy sauces can also be found in the fun and good crisp-fried bratwurst croquettes. And in another sign that chef Massaro is not here to play, the cocktail sauce part of the first-rate shrimp cocktail plate is absolutely loaded with horseradish, to excellent, sinus-clearing effect.

Dry-aged smashburger and fries, $23

The entrees read like a roll call of American tavern standards—there’s a roast chicken, a fish option, a veggie option, a strip steak for the ballers—but pretty much every table orders one of Massaro’s smashburgers, a double-patty dry-aged beauty accompanied by some good beef tallow fries.

Shrimp cocktail, $22. Photo by Scott Lynch

The least expected main on offer was also maybe my favorite, a plump, juicy knackwurst in a bun, topped with tangy sauerkraut, lots of pickles, and more of that spicy mustard. This is terrific, and had I eaten it earlier this summer, would have made my best Brooklyn hot-dogs list for sure.

Knackwurst with sauerkraut and pickles, $16. Photo by Scott Lynch

Shareable-sides-wise, there’s a mac and cheese, a Caesar salad, and a chard, bacon, and Fresno chilis dish that sounds good. The sleeper hit on our table, though, was the roasted carrots stacked in a puddle of ranch dressing that I found myself dredging everything else through, too.

Roasted carrots and ranch, $12. Photo by Scott Lynch

The lengthy beer menu, all of it from Grimm, of course, and mostly nine bucks a glass, is divided into sections like “lager and weiss,” “hoppy,” and “farmhouse.” If that feels overwhelming, just ask your barkeep/server, etc. for guidance; everyone here knows their stuff. Grimm’s wine program, Physica, is also in the house. Me? I downed a root beer float, and it was perfect.