Austin’s Buzzy New Biergarten Combines the Best of Texas Celebrity Chef Tim Love and a Real German Prince — Koko’s Bavarian is Anything But Cookie Cutter

Fort Worth’s celebrity chef Tim Love has mastered everything from Southwestern steakhouse with his iconic Lonesome Dove to creative barbecue at Woodshed to Spanish tapas and true Italian coastal. Now Love can check authentic German off his list of cuisines to conquer. His new brewery and biergarten dubbed Koko’s Bavarian opened last week in Austin.

“When we opened on Friday at 5 pm there were already 220 people in line to greet us,” Tim Love tells PaperCity. “It didn’t slow down all weekend. I’ve had some big openings, but never seen anything like this. It was wild but smooth.”

While Love might be considered restaurant royalty in some circles, his partner on Koko’s Bavarian has a legit royal pedigree. Konstantin Prinz von Bayern (who goes by Koko) is a direct descendant of King Ludwig I of Germany.

The tradition of Oktoberfest began in Munich in 1810 ― a five day celebration of the marriage of King Ludwig to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The Oktoberfest tradition continued to grow year after year, giving birth to the modern two week celebration now known for its flowing beer, raised beer steins, oompah bands, the donning of the lederhosen and those massive beer halls.

Located inside the space that used to house Brewer’s Table, Koko’s Bavarian can be found at 4715 East 5th Street in Austin, along an up-and-coming, though still largely industrial looking stretch of road. The Quonset hut style building already had a small garden area out front. The interiors are inspired by industrial material and architecture found in Berlin.

“With Justine’s (restaurant) just down the road, it’s kind of the hottest neighborhood in Austin right now,” Love says. “The inside is nice, but small with only 30 seats with a live-fire hearth we are cooking on.

“But the vibe is really outside, with seating for 200 on the front patio alone.”

At Koko’s Bavarian, Love says he “did not over complicate the menu.” That means six different sausages, including a curry wurst that Love’s very proud of and his famous rabbit/rattlesnake sausage. Getting the schnitzel just right took a few tries before receiving Prince Koko’s expert approval. The crust, you see, should not only have a specified texture, it should have a tell-tale sound when you scrape your knife across it.

You’ll be treated to these crusty and authentic Vienna and chicken schnitzels along with pretzels and mustard. The menu even features a roasted pork shoulder (also quintessentially German) and potato salad, slaw or cabbage salad. Then there is the roasted half chicken with preserved lemon and garlic and smoked paprika-arugula pesto. Of course there are the perfect Belgian style frites alongside.

For dessert there is an almond, honey and Bavarian cream laden bee sting cake, a Bavarian tart and a red velvet ice cream sandwich. But of course, you want to know about the beer of Koko’s Bavarian.

The Beer of Koko’s Bavarian

There are 3o taps ranging from local brews to Bavarian imports. Koko’s brewmiester Katie Lowe will be brewing six  beers onsite as well. These include four lagers and two ales — a pils, swarzbier, hefeweisen, marzen, dunkleweisen and a helles bock. They are also making fresh lemonade, which goes in Koko’s classic German Radler.

“We wanted to create an authentic Oktoberfest experience on a daily basis,” Love says.

Prince Koko and Love partnered with two other Austin heavyweights on this project ― Charles Attal who is the co-founder of C3 Presents, which produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Lollapalooza, just to name a few, and Jesse Herman, the co-founder and partner of Austin Food and Wine Festival.

Love attends all these Austin festivals regularly. His son suits up for the University of Texas football team, so you might say he’s a fan. No stranger to burnt orange, Tim Love graduated from another UT, the University of Tennessee. But he can hook ‘em horns with the best of them as an unofficial ambassador for Texas.

It’s why Tim Love planted a Lonesome Dove in both Knoxville and Austin.

Tim Love’s New Fort Worth Plans

Chef Love is preparing to open two more restaurants in Fort Worth’s Mule Alley as well. The name of his first Mexican restaurant is Paloma Suerte (lucky dove). He is calling it his FTX/MEX Restaurante. That one is now hiring and Love says its opening all depends on the paperwork. If he gets the permits in time, Paloma Suerte could open within the next two weeks. If not, he plans to push that opening into mid-January due to the holidays.

What’s on the menu at Paloma Suerte?

“It’s Tex-Mex, and our food and cocktails will be very experiential,” Love tells PaperCity. “For instance, the house cocktail will, of course, be the Paloma. It will be prepared tableside with fresh squeezed grapefruit. And we’ll have one of the largest tequila selections in town.”

Two other house specialties will be prepared tableside as well. First, the customized queso ― where diners can dress it to taste, choosing from more than 15 different ingredients. Then there will be five varieties of birria tacos prepared and grilled right at your table. The birria is dipped in consommé and finished on the griddle for those crispy cheesy edges.

This new Paloma Suerte restaurant backs up to Tim Love’s original Lonesome Dove restaurant. That means it will have a killer patio space.

“We’ll be serving sizzling fajitas and enchiladas too,” Love says. “There will be a sharable porterhouse steak with crab stuffed shrimp as well. We’ll have fresh chicharrones, and an excellent bean dip, plus 10 different frozen margaritas to choose from.”

The second of his forthcoming Mule Alley restaurants is yet to be revealed. Love won’t give any hints about what direction that one will take just yet, or even what cuisine it involves. But he does divulge its anticipated opening date ― April 2022.

Meanwhile back in Austin, the hours at Love’s new Koko’s Bavarian run Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4 pm to midnight, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to midnight, and Sundays from 11 am to 10 pm. Diners got to enjoy the sound of a polka band during opening weekend. While polka might not always be on the play list, the owners plan to make good use of the stage for live bands.

The beer hall is both dog and family friendly, and comes complete with vegan and gluten-free options too. Lederhosen optional (but encouraged). Now every day can be Oktoberfest in one of Austin’s hottest neighborhoods.