[Photos: Tim McLaughlin]
Habitues of David Heft and Albert Rodriguez's Outer Richmond bar Chomp 'n Swig know that the duo know their beer—they've managed to stock over 50 craft bottles in their petite space. Along with new partner Ender Markal, they're spreading their wings even further at Richmond Republic Draught House, which softly opened at 642 Clement (at 8th Ave.) this weekend. Craft-beer fans will be pleased by the 24-tap selection, featuring beer exclusively from Bay Area breweries, including many brewery-direct kegs. Fort Point, Henhouse, Pine Street, Palo Alto Brewing, Almanac, Drake's, and Marin are some of the breweries represented, and the selection will change frequently; draft wines and hard cider will also be part of the lineup. Here's a peek at their current draft list.
As Richmond Republic warms up, its offering will expand to include food, with hearty fare like housemade sausages, burgers, and salads. The full menu should be online in three weeks or so; a limited menu, with snacks like mac and cheese and nachos, will debut next week. A 100-bottle beer selection is also in the works, spanning the U.S. and the globe; they're hoping to add a pool table to the upstairs as well.
At a sizable 62 seats, Richmond Republic is a great place to catch sports games: they open bright and early on the weekends (with plenty of TVs and a projector), and hope to be a rare non-dim sum brunch option for the neighborhood, once the kitchen is up and running. Right now, they're opening at 5 pm on weekdays and 9:30 am on weekends, going until 12 am Sunday-Wednesday (kitchen closes at 11) and 2 am Thursday-Saturday (kitchen closes at midnight). They're hoping to add weekday lunch service in the future as well.
