Lakewood’s Birdtown Brewing To Open in a 100-Year-Old Church Building

At the end of the church hall, where an ornate iconostasis once separated the congregation area from the altar, stands a set of shiny metal tanks for fermenting and serving beer. Overhead, original pendant lights, along with a shimmering disco ball, dangle from the wooden ceiling beams. A former votive rack sits empty, with plans to be lit by electric candlelight.

When it opens in mid-April, Birdtown Brewing will transform a historic Lakewood landmark into a new kind of gathering place.

Once adorned with a golden onion dome and vibrant stained glass windows, the former St. Gregory the Theologian Byzantine Catholic Church served Birdtown’s Eastern European Catholic community for nearly 100 years. It held its final Divine Liturgy at the tail end of 2011.

In 2014, the building was sold, and plans for Birdtown Brewing came along. Twelve years later, the concept will finally open to customers this spring, as the stone building enters its 101st year, according to property records.

“It’s been a long, arduous process,” says general manager Ryan Grammerstorf, “but we’ve been taking our time because we want this to be done right.”

The extensive renovation transforms the church into multiple pub-styled areas for dining, drinking and socializing. A bar stretches along the right side of the main beer hall, and an upstairs mezzanine hosts space for private events. Past a brand-new kitchen, which will sling pizzas and other fare from Geraci’s, a downstairs overflow area will offer pinball and vintage video games. A patio will accommodate even more visitors in the warmer months.

It’s not the first brewery to take over a former Ohio church. Bell Tower Brewing opened in Kent’s former First Congregational Church in 2021, and several other breweries in Ohio, including Cincinnati’s Urban Artifact, Youngstown’s Noble Creature Wild Ales & Lagers and Dennison’s Holy Moley Brewing Co., operate in former places of worship.

Birdtown Brewing will join this budding scene, featuring eight to 12 brews on tap at all times from head brewer Zach DelPriore, who formerly brewed for Platform Brewing Co. and Market Garden Brewery. Expect a menu of easy-drinking, traditional ales and lagers.

“It’s no secret that people are drinking less now, and you’re seeing that people already know what they want,” DelPriore says. “Trends are changing. It’s not about trying as many crazy things anymore. Lagers are coming back, and people want more consistency and a better product."

Following that ethos, the menu from Geraci’s leans on crowd favorites from the 70-year-old family-owned pizzeria, while incorporating other items to match the Irish pub vibe of the brewery.

“We’re adding some pub-style foods: burgers, wings, sandwiches. And then also adding some vegan and vegetarian options, because this area, Lakewood, is very big on that,” says Grammerstorf. “We want to try to make everybody happy.”

Birdtown Brewing enters a different neighborhood than the one that existed when plans for the brewery first launched a decade ago. Restaurants and entertainment concepts have established the nearby Madison Avenue as a Lakewood going-out destination, defined by openings like Birdietown, Amazonia, Winchester Music Tavern, The Roxy and LBM, all in the past 10 years.

Just one block away from Madison, in the heart of a residential neighborhood and across from Harris Elementary School, Birdtown Brewing hopes to add to the draw.

“When we purchased it, there really wasn't much over here. As soon as we made that announcement, I feel like Birdtown flipped the switch, and now it's an incredible place,” Grammerstorf says. “All these new businesses going in along Madison revitalized this whole area, and we’re super happy to be a part of it.”

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