The Project

For years, Brewers fans have enjoyed the opportunity to have a meal and enjoy the game at the restaurant concept by TGI Friday’s, Friday’s Front Row. When that restaurant closed its doors, Delaware North, the company that provides food and beverage services for American Family Field, looked to create something new and exciting for the fans.

Boelter stepped up to deliver new designs and source equipment for the tasting room at the brewery, the bar, and the kitchen that serves the restaurant.

Building the Bars

The main bar at Barrel Yard is a beauty to behold. Made up of two smaller bars combined to create one large bar with an in-wall beer dispenser at the back, it’s designed to be able to quickly serve large crowds during busy games. The Perlick bar sourced by Boelter contains all the necessary components, including glasswashers and storage. Work on the bar itself was truly a collaborative project. Hunzinger built the die wall for the bar and constructed the framing for the beer dispenser while Three Sixty designed the wall face and bar tops.

“The bar was a really unique feature in this project,” says Kevin Lally, project manager, Hunzinger. "We had to marry the architectural drawings provided by the architect of record on the project, Ralmow Stein, with the plans for the interior scope of work created by Three Sixty. Brett and the team at Boelter were instrumental in communicating between all the parties involved, including the subcontractors, to work through any gaps or overlaps in the plans when it came to construction.”

At the restaurant, the in-wall beer dispenser consists of two 16-tap dispensers, one on each side of the bar, giving Barrel Yard the capability to have up to 16 different flavors. Having the same product on taps one through 16 on both sides helps improve speed of service because bartenders know the product is the same number no matter which side they go to. A similar bar was constructed in the tasting room with two 8-tap in-wall dispensers.

“It’s a really cool feature to have the in-wall dispenser, where the taps blend into the back wall,” says Brett Koening, project manager, Boelter. “Three Sixty had worked with this type of system before so they were familiar with the equipment, but we still brought in the representative from Micromatic to work with Three Sixty to make sure their vision would match what we could provide as far as running the taps and installing the system.”

Redesigning the Kitchen

In the kitchen, Boelter was tasked with updating and renovating the current workplace, all under relatively tight budget constraints. “We were given direction to keep whatever was possible. Which meant prep tables, sinks, beverage station and chef’s line, and all the products that are stainless and never wear out were cleaned up and kept in the operation,” Koening says.

Boelter met the operator’s goals for improving efficiencies for the most part through sourcing new and upgraded cooking equipment.

• New – two Henny Penny roasters to add pressure-fried chicken to the menu
• Upgraded combi ovens with Alto-Shaam stacked units
• 5 new Hoshizaki ice machines for a total of 7 in the operation
• Other new equipment included Vulcan fryers and ranges, Southbend griddle and charbroiler and True refrigeration units.

The hot food wells at the chef’s line were gutted and reconstructed to hold modular refrigeration units from True. “Installing a modular unit helps because you’re able to take one section out and work on it when there’s an issue without shutting down the whole unit,” Koening says.

Collaboration for Success

The working relationship between Boelter and Hunzinger helped make the entire project run smoothly and stay on schedule. Communication between all parties was another important part of the collaboration. Weekly meetings and walk-throughs provided time to discuss any issues, stay up to date on changes, and do what was necessary to keep the project running on schedule.

“Foodservice is such a specialty that it really helps to have someone on the project who understands the equipment, from spec’ing out the right product to installing it in the operation,” Lally says. “Brett brings such a wealth of knowledge on equipment and design and understands the client’s needs and is able to meet their expectations. All of that is invaluable to us as the general contractor on a project.”