Hofbrau House Pittsburgh would be only third in the U.S. »
   By Tim Schooley
   Pittsburgh Business Times [excerpt below]

Might the internationally famed German beer hall called the Hofbrauhaus be whispering sweet umlaut-dotted nothings in the ear of Damian Soffer?

After opening the first North American Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY, across the river from Cincinnati last year, investor Nick Ellison and his partners now expect to open one in Pittsburgh in the next year. While he has been mostly tight-lipped on the location so far, Mr. Ellison hinted that the Southside Works project now under development by the Soffer Organization may be the lead candidate. In fact, Mr. Ellison acknowledged that SouthSide Works was still "under consideration."

If Soffer lands Hofbrauhaus, it could prove to be a substantial tourist attraction for SouthSide Works. A Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh would be only the third in the United States, after the northern Kentucky location and Las Vegas.

Famous internationally, the original Hofbrauhaus was founded in Munich, Germany, in 1859 by a Bavarian duke. There, the beer hall is enormous, serving up to 30,000 customers daily and 5 million liters of beer each year. Here, Mr. Ellison is seeking 14,000 square feet or more in which to establish a full German-style brew house that would make five varieties of beer on site along with a full menu of German meals. The location would have space for a beer garden as well as indoor banquet facilities.

In Pittsburgh, Bruce Hill, of Downtown-based Hill Cleary and Associates is handling the site search for Hofbrauhaus.