History of The Hoffbrau
We have been serving folks out of this little joint on West 6th Street since 1932, and have served generations of local families. We have a lot of good friends from all over central Texas and even from halfway around the world.
Brothers Robert “Coleman” Hamby and Thomas Joshua Hamby opened this, The Original Hoffbrau, on August 4, 1932. Figuring they would soon lose their job driving the ice wagon for Mission Ice because of the depressed economy and the onset of refrigeration , the brothers made a small investment in the piece of property and figured on opening a drinking establishment. By stroke of luck or by blessing, depending on how you look at it, the Prohibition Laws that had made alcohol illegal for quite some time were revoked a few months later. Those people who could afford the nickel for a glass of home brew made their way to the Hoffbrau, and the two brothers were more than happy to serve them crackers and cold cuts just to make that nickel beer sale. The Hoffbrau boasted “keg” beer too, which people were curious about in the 1930s. We have a few old photos of the place during that time period still displayed on our walls.
The 1940s brought more prosperous times for the Original Hoffbrau. People could now afford to eat out and made their preferences known. Soldiers from Bergstrom AFB , during WWII, came in with big money to spend and big appetites. They convinced Coleman and Tom to try steaks. The small cast iron grill you see on our bar was purchased, which could prepare two steaks at a time. Well, needless to say, the steak sales took off and we’ve been serving them ever since. Along with chunky fried potatoes, sliced bread (for soppin’) and the infamous “love it or leave it” Hoffbrau salad.... loaded with fresh garlic.
Coleman’s sons, Robert and Tom, were here from the 1950s to the early 1990s, and today Coleman’s granddaughter, Mary Gail, and her son, Zachary, operate the Hoffbrau along with the Rustic Tap Beer Garden next door. You can see some old photographs of all these folks in our dining room. We pride ourselves on loving people and loving what we do, so please ask if we can help you with anything. Some of the employees serving you have been here more than forty years, and almost all have twenty or more years under their belts. Several are the third, and even fourth, generation of their family to work here. Hoffbrau just gets in your blood, I guess. We think so, anyway.
Conversation With Dale Wallain - FODA, Designer
I learned a lot about the steps designer’s take to begin and end a design project for a client. Dale shared stories, projects, and tips with me about actual work he and his company have worked on. He told me about the importance of always coming back to completed work and re-evaluating it from a new perspective. An interesting example of considering all detail he gave me was to imagine designing a restaurant by a race track. This is a project they did, in which they thought about making the tables look like race cars, but instead, they got an actual metal welder to assemble the tables. This gave them an interesting feel without being too literal. Dale pointed out that it can become easy for a restaurant to feel to “themed”. At the end you want to end up with a restaurant that follow some idea, but isn’t too literally themed.
Something I found helpful was when he pointed out often you might have lots of good ideas, but you need explore all those ideas a little in order to find the best one because you’ll need to hone in on one central idea, otherwise the design may seem scattered. Consider the fact that when re-designing a restaurant, you’re not just changing what’s there, but also how the place operates. Consider clientele, owners, and staff.
Lastly, Dale told me about the importance of designing and THEN evaluating, and not doing these at the same time. Also, to always make sure and respect the spirit of the restaurant.
Points From Conversations With Members From The Hoffbrau Staff
Since 1932, The Hoffbrau has been family owned and run. Even if not all blood related, each employee is a member of The Hoffbrau family. The same lineage of staff members have been working here for decades, and that’ll never change. Children have continued to take after their parents who work here before them, which is what makes this place so special. After speaking with some of the staff, it was clear how family-oriented this restaurant really was. It’s not just something they like to say, but it’s really true.
When I asked about if they have considered a re-brand for the restaurant, I was told that they were not in the midst of anything, but that they probably needed to do something to keep the place up and running.
I explained my Capstone project to them and received advice and feedback on multiple occasions. It was very important to them that if a re-brand were to occur, that their charm and simple ways would be honored. The history and laid-back nature of the restaurant was definitely not something to mess with, but rather accentuate to offer even more interesting value to customers.
As a result, I went forward with my restaurant re-brand and honored their wishes and suggestions to remain a humble restaurant. I also made sure to take note of the importance of their food, beverage, and Texas pride.
Conversation with Maija Kreishman - Michael Hsu, Managing Partner
P.Terry’s of Austin was one of Michael Hsu’s projects. The idea was to bring good design to roadside fast food. They wanted the restaurant chain to be bright, warm, family-oriented, retro, and not flashy.
ATX Cocina was another project they did. It is one of Maija’s favorites because it followed a core rule of hers which is to create good design by attending to all minor details. Many elements came together to create this almost indoor-greenhouse, authentic Mexican-American twisted restaurant. This project in particular was one in which they began designing from the kitchen out. This way, the chef and owner were able to contribute a lot. This helped create the home-y culture of the restaurant that has an open kitchen. One difficulty with this structure was dealing with the large windows. This caused them to really consider how natural light changes would affect the interiors.
Maija told me about the importance of researching. At Michael Hsu, they do all sorts of research for projects to find inspiration including watching movies, looking at set design, and exploring pinterest. They had interesting inspiration ideas for ATX Cocina, like the rounded decorative cieling, which was inspired by a boat.
The Grove
After extensive field research, surveys, conversations, and evaluations, about The Grove restaurant in Austin, TX, I was able to compile a list of things that I left The Grove lacked or needed to improve on. From here, I was able to create a list of attributes that I felt all restaurant’s design needed in order to be considered good. The list included: authenticity, good quality food and beverage, hospitality, a cohesive brand strategy, a dignified choice of restaurant expectations in regards to attire and behavior, not making the restaurant seem “too themed”, developing a “no bad seats mentatlity”, designing with values and story in mind, and paying attention to small details in order to build a successful big picture.
Juhani Pallasmaa - “An Architecture of the Seven Senses”
“Referring to personal experiences allows Pallasmaa to focus on the interiors, what he considers to be collections of sensory experiences that were realized through emphasis on materials.”
The Seven Senses:
1. Sight
2. Hearing
3. Taste
4. Smell
5. Touch
6. Intuition
7. Equilibrium
Simone Giertz - Ted Talk
Giertz’ TedTalk taught me four important things about design and being creative:
1. stop taking yourself so hard
2. get rid of strict directions and narrow-mindedness
3. start making things for fun again, useless things
4. become more creative and passionate!