Harmony Brewing excited about putting $1.2 million brewpub in West Side's Little Mexico building

Eastown's Harmony Brewing nearly bursts at its seams with devoted customers calmoring for house-brewed beers and craft pizzas. That success was a deciding factor for siblings Barry Van Dyke, Jackson Van Dyke, and Heather Van Dyke-Titus of Bear Manor Properties as they explored purchasing the former Little Mexico Café, 401 Stocking Ave. NW.

The trio, and their dad, Alan Van Dyke, will invest $1.2 million in the renovation of the 5,400-square-foot, two-story structure. Part of the building was the Rauser's Sausage Factory in the early 1900s, a main employer in the area.

As homage to its beginnings, the brewery/restaurant will feature a menu filled with house-made sausages made from recipes culled from the German and Polish cultures of the West Side and from Mexican recipes.

The building sits on the corner of Bridge and Stocking, with a parking lot to the north and west of the building. The brewery will be on the main level, along with a prep kitchen and a gathering space where customers can pick up sausages to cook at home.

"We will put all glass on the Bridge Street wall, so when people are driving up Bridge Street they can look in and see the beer being made," says Heather Van Dyke-Titus. "The Rauser Sausage original entrance on Bridge Street, the door closest to the parking lot, will be the new entrance to the greeting area."

Barry Van Dyke will be designing and making the furniture.
 
"Little Mexico was one of our family's favorite places," says Van Dyke-Titus. "When our family comes in from out of town there are 16 of us, so it was hard to find a place to all go out for dinner together. We'd end up at Little Mexico, so it's really kind of sad for us. We were there the week before they closed. This was an utterly intact restaurant. Our job is to rethink that and open it up and work with what's there."

Plans are to open the brewery in November.

Rockford Construction, construction manager.
Lott3Metz Architecture, architectural design.

Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Harmony Brewing