Fritz & Franz Bierhaus photo
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Coral Gables staple Fritz & Franz Bierhaus is for sale. Harald Neuweg, the Austrian chef who has run the popular German beer hall at 60 Merrick Wy. for more than 25 years, listed the business this week after the city of Coral Gables blocked his proposal to host World Cup watch parties.
As the Miami Herald first reported, Neuweg announced the decision minutes after emailing Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago to withdraw his special event permit application. “I do not want to be in the city. We will open the Bierhaus in Miami or Coconut Grove,” he told the Herald. “It’s listed, I’m furious. I’m dead serious, I’ve had enough.”
Fritz & Franz photo
A permit turned political
Neuweg wanted to transform the public plaza in front of his restaurant into a watch party venue for select World Cup matches running through July 19. Because the setup fell outside the city’s existing special event guidelines, he had to seek commission approval. Getting it would have cost him roughly $70,000 to cover police and fire-rescue presence and the use of the city-owned space, on top of the $1,000 he’d already spent on a FIFA public viewing license.
Mayor Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and Commissioner Richard Lara voted twice to delay, citing safety, traffic, and noise concerns at a time when police and fire are already spread across Miami-Dade for FIFA events and Hard Rock Stadium matches. Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez voted against the delay both times. The next vote was scheduled for June 2, about a week before the first game.
No meeting between Lago and Neuweg ever happened. Neuweg’s formal withdrawal came on Thursday, May 21.
Fritz & Franz photo
This fight has history
Fritz & Franz have been at war with their landlord before. As New Times previously reported, the city sent Neuweg a notice of nonrenewal in September 2023, citing maintenance deficiencies and below-market rent. The community rallied behind the Bierhaus, which had long hosted charity fundraisers for the city without charging for the space. A Change.org petition titled “Keep Fritz & Franz Bierhaus in Coral Gables” drew widespread support, and by early 2024, the city voted 5-0 to authorize a new lease at market rate. “This is what a good deal looks like,” Lago said at the time.
The new lease runs through May 31, 2029. Neuweg blames what he calls Lago’s “vengeance tour” for the watch party permit getting blocked, he told The Herald. “This is a no-win situation for me, so at this point I’d rather not worry about it anymore, and the way I have been treated in this city. I’m exhausted,” he told the Herald.
Photo by Nicole Lopez-Alvar
The rest of Miami is watching just fine
While the Bierhaus is getting blocked, watch parties are going up all over Miami. Grails in Wynwood has 75-plus TVs and will screen every match. Wynwood Marketplace is hosting free watch parties at Clutch Bar starting July 6. The city’s official FIFA Fan Festival takes over Bayfront Park from June 13 through July 5. American Social in Brickell is showing games from the Miami River.
Neuweg says the games will still happen at the Bierhaus this summer, inside and on the covered patio, with no permit and no $70,000 fee. The overflow crowd he expects on the plaza is now the city’s problem. “That’s something the city will need to decide now,” he told the Herald.
Any buyer would need city approval to take over the lease. Whether Neuweg eventually sells or cools off, the Bierhaus has a lease in Coral Gables through May 2029.
Fritz & Franz Bierhaus. 60 Merrick Way, Coral Gables; bierhaus.cc.
