Historic Mecklenburg Gardens closes, will reopen next year under new name, ownership

Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read
The historic bar area and dining room at Mecklenburg Gardens can be seen in this 2021 file photo.
The historic bar area and dining room at Mecklenburg Gardens can be seen in this 2021 file photo.

Mecklenburg Gardens served its final round Saturday night. The 158-year-old restaurant and beer garden was sold to an unnamed investor and will reopen after extensive renovations in about six months, said John Harten, who has owned Mecklenburg for the past 28 years.

Harten did not disclose the names of the buyer or the lessee because there are still a few documents yet to be signed. He did say the name Mecklenburg will likely be attached, one way or another, to the restaurant's new name and it will continue to serve German fare and beer, among other things, when it reopens next year.

Harten informed the staff, as well as longtime customers, of the sale last Wednesday.

A model ship hangs above the bar at Mecklenburg Gardens in the Corryville neighborhood of Cincinnati. The ship, originally placed at the bar in the days before Prohibition, is said to have been a signal that the coast was clear for those wishing to purchase alcohol during the Prohibition era.
A model ship hangs above the bar at Mecklenburg Gardens in the Corryville neighborhood of Cincinnati. The ship, originally placed at the bar in the days before Prohibition, is said to have been a signal that the coast was clear for those wishing to purchase alcohol during the Prohibition era.

"The last couple days have been kind of busy," he said. "People have been reminiscing and walking through, saying their farewells."

Harten said he and his family have discussed selling the restaurant for a while. But he wanted to make sure they could find the right buyer.

"I had some pretty strict things I was trying to accomplish," Harten said. "I didn't want it to get torn down because it is historical. Just because it's on the National Historic Register [wouldn't] prevent it from it being torn down. We wanted to find someone who would keep it running and keep the building and [stay] true to the German community, since it was opened by a German immigrant."

Harten said he also informed several German clubs that have relied on Mecklenburg Gardens as a longtime gathering spot of the closure, including the Cincinnati Mustard Club, which will relocate to the Wiedemann brewery, in Saint Bernard. "I felt committed to trying to help them," Harten said. "After the renovation period, I'm hoping they can come back."

Opened in 1865, Mecklenburg Gardens was one of the very few German beer gardens to survive Prohibition and the anti-German sentiment during and after World War II.

In 2011, Travel and Leisure magazine named it one of America's best beer gardens. In 2018, the popular website Thrillist named it among the 26 best beer bars in America, adding that its ability to stay open through wars and Prohibition (and more recently, pandemics) made it “even tougher than Angela Merkel’s shoulder pads.”

The sale of the restaurant is bittersweet, said Harten, who hopes to help out as much as possible during the transition. "My family has had it for 28 years, and I've been running it for eight years. I plan on sticking around at the restaurant as much as I can before they re-open."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati's Mecklenburg Gardens has closed but will reopen