Olde Mecklenburg Brewery’s taproom at The Bowl promises to be the biggest in south Charlotte. Another first for Charlotte’s oldest craft brewery.

By Sharon Smith

The beer will be flowing in Ballantyne — OMB’s Copper Altbier and other favorites, to be exact. With a June 1 opening, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery promises a big celebration all weekend for the debut of its second location at The Bowl in Ballantyne.

The original OMB opened on Yancey Road in 2009, long before LoSo was an established moniker for the area along South Boulevard now populated with multiple breweries and restaurants. OMB led the way back then.

Now it leads the way again, this time as an anchor tenant at The Bowl, designed to be a walkable community and destination point with entertainment, dining and shopping.

The two-story building has more than 14,000 square feet of restaurant, retail, and balcony space, with capacity for more than 1,000 people. Outside, there’s a shaded 1-acre biergarten with more than 50 mature trees from Catawba County. The new space also has two freestanding buildings in the biergarten with bathrooms and beverage service. There’s even outdoor furniture brought in direct from Germany.

“Joining the Ballantyne business community is an exciting milestone in OMB’s continued retail growth,” founder John Marrino said in a statement about the opening. “We see tremendous potential to welcome new and existing customers to our restaurant and biergarten.”

OMB opens the new restaurant and biergarten with a kickoff celebration at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 1. There will be live music and a ceremonial keg tapping of its flagship Altbier, Copper.

Images courtesy of OMB