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Wurstküche expansion (sort of) open, patio coming, extended hours

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The sausage-and-beer extravaganza that is Wurstküche in downtown’s Arts District has opened an expanded restaurant and bar area -- on the corner of Traction and 3rd Street -- to overflow. When the restaurant first opened (in November) owners Joseph Pitruzzelli and Tyler Wilson were working on the expansion and weren’t sure when it would be ready to handle customers.

Pitruzzelli says that the space is only about 20% done. ‘We just let customers sit there out of sheer demand,’ he says. ‘Sometimes in the evening we open up the bar to serve beer.’

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I went there for lunch today, spurred by Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila’s inclusion of Wurstküche’s bratwurst in her list of 2008’s memorable meals, which ran in today’s Food section. As I expected, the tiny room that houses the ordering counter and the sausage cooler was filled up with a mighty line. Then I noticed that all those people were filing down a long corridor and into the other room.

Since I didn’t have my camera with me (bad blogger!) I’ll describe the room as I remember it: It’s about 15 times larger than the original space and there’s a split level floor, with a small step leading to tables that look out on 3rd Street. It’s extremely low-key with a long blond-wood bar backed by a row of beer taps (there are 24 mainly Belgian and German beers on draft). It mirrors the minimalism of the adjacent space with exposed brick walls and a station with an assortment of gourmet mustard and ketchup. Since it’s a work in progress, black plastic sheeting hangs here and there to obscure unfinished areas. It feels very Portland, Ore., and very un-L.A. Oddly that seems just about right for downtown, which has plenty of ritzy bars but very few viable no-frills hangs.

When I was there an older woman in fur-trimmed boots who had read about Wurstküche in The Times today looked around with a smile on her face. ‘How downtown!’ she exclaimed.

Pitruzzelli says that construction on the space will begin again in earnest after the New Year and that he hopes the room will officially open by the beginning of March. With the expansion should come extended hours -- probably until 2 or 3 a.m. on weekends. In the meantime Pitruzzelli says Wurstküche just got the permits necessary to open a patio -- he’s calling it a beer garden -- on 3rd Street. That should be available to diners in a couple of weeks. And on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the restaurant now stays open until midnight.

-- Jessica Gelt

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