After the Wurst Biergarten in Lafayette closed in April, the popular outdoor drinking and dining space was put in limbo. But now, it is set to reopen as the Acadiana Beer Garden just in time for the Festival International de Louisiane in April. The beer garden will also function as a kind of business incubator, according to the business and property owner Robert Guercio. While the beer garden will offer beer, wine and frozen daiquiris, food will be available through pop-up residency in the beer garden’s modest kitchen. There will also be occasional pop-up restaurants and hosted food trucks.
Guercio told What Now New Orleans that he also plans to open the space to pop-up retailers and create an open-air market. As a business and property owner in downtown Lafayette for several decades, Guercio seeing the area become more developed through his business incubator is a personal passion.
“Helping to give aspiring entrepreneurs a place where they can start their concept and bring their vision to life in a low-cost way will help to grow the downtown economy,” he said. “The economic fabric that everyone talks about starts with the yarn. To put that quilt together, you really got to have a grassroots approach.”
Operated by Guercio and his wife Angela, the beer garden will be family-friendly; meaning kid- and dog-friendly. In keeping with that, juice boxes and chocolate milk will also be available alongside the adult beverages. There will also be yard games set up that people of any age can use.
The property on which the beer garden is located is currently undergoing major renovations and up for sale or lease on the MLS real estate database. Guercio said open possibly moving the beer garden concept to another downtown Lafayette property that he owns if a sale or lease goes through.
