Addison already has one of the best Oktoberfests in Texas. This fall, it gets something to match year-round.
Hofbräu Pub, the American offshoot of Munich’s legendary Hofbräuhaus, has announced its first Texas location will open in Addison this fall. The brewery behind it has been around since 1589, and its beer has been brewed to the same Purity Law since 1516 — water, barley malt, and hops. Nothing else. No shortcuts, no watermelon seltzers.
The people bringing it here are Dallas entrepreneurs Taylor and Flip Howard, who spent time living in the Alps during college and came back with a serious appreciation for Bavarian culture. Taylor works with European companies on U.S. market strategy; Flip runs Lucid Private Offices, now at 30 locations nationwide. They’ve had their eye on this for a while.
The Addison location won’t be a full Hofbräuhaus — those are the massive, rowdy beer halls you may have wandered into in Munich, with long communal tables and what feels like a thousand people drinking at once. This follows the newer Hofbräu Pub format: a more intimate 5,000 square feet, closer to a neighborhood gathering place than a spectacle. The beer, however, is the real thing — imported directly from the Munich brewery, the same liquid served at the original.
The beer program is where this gets interesting. Hofbräu brews to the Reinheitsgebot — the German Purity Law that’s been in place since 1516 — so what lands in your glass in Addison is the same recipe being poured in Munich right now. The Original lager is the anchor, full-bodied and straightforward. The Dunkel is the one worth paying attention to: dark amber, a little caramel, a little dried fruit, the kind of beer that makes you slow down. The Hefe Weizen is your approachable middle ground, and the Maibock is for people who mean business at 7.2% ABV. Time the opening right and you might catch the Oktoberfest seasonal too, which at 6.3% is built for exactly the kind of fall afternoon Addison does well.
The food menu reads like a greatest hits of Bavarian cooking. The signature crispy pork shank comes with bread dumplings, potato dumplings, green cabbage bacon salad, and dark beer gravy. There’s jagerschnitzel, sauerbraten pot roast with spatzle and red cabbage, and a sausage sampler that covers a Vienna-style frankfurter, pork sausage, and chicken sausage with sauerkraut and onion mustard. For dessert, apple strudel and black forest cake. Cocktails and wine round out the program for anyone not in a beer mood.
The exact address hasn’t been announced yet — the company says they have a location under contract and will reveal it closer to opening. What we know is it’s in Addison, it’s coming this fall, and it fits the neighborhood in a way that makes obvious sense. Addison Oktoberfest draws serious crowds every year. Now there will be somewhere to go the other eleven months.
One thing worth knowing if you’re a longtime local: Hofbräu Pub has no connection to the Hoffbrau Steakhouse chain you may have grown up with here in DFW. Different name, different concept, different everything — just a similar spelling that’s caused some confusion online.
Hofbräu Pub has existing U.S. locations in Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, and Buffalo. Addison will be the first in Texas. More details at hofbraupub.com as the opening approaches.
