Taps Open at Jack's Abby Beer Hall

More than 20 brews were on tap for the soft opening of Jack’s Abby Beer Hall on Wednesday.

The long-awaited restaurant from the Framingham brewery will have its official grand opening on Oct. 8, but it was a packed house for its first lunch crowd.

Featuring a menu of wood-fired pizza and comfort food, that pair well with beer, the restaurant is the newest venue of the Hendler brothers.

Founded in January 2011 by Jack, Eric and Sam Hendler, the business has dramatically grown and has won several regional and national awards along the way for its brews.

In 2013, Jack’s Abby Brewing was awarded the Small Business of the Year Award by the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce.

The trio of brothers announced in December 2014, that they had outgrown its Morton Street location and planned to expand to the former Avery Dennison building.

The new site is 67,000 square feet and features a brewery, a tap room, a 5,000-squre foot restaurant, and retail space.

The brewery part of the new Clinton Street location is not expected to open until November, said Eric Hendler, when Patch toured the facility this week.

But the restaurant, tap room, and retail space were in full operation on Wednesday.

Jack’s Abby Beer Hall has 175 seats, most along ”huge 18-foot tables.”

The brothers hired chef Gregg Bergeron from Stone’s Public House in Ashland to create the new menu.

Bergeron said he uses 48-hour cold-fermented yeast dough for the pizza. The launch menu, which will change seasonally, does features a fall theme.

The menu will also feature items infused and paired with Jack’s Abby brews.

Wednesday’s menu featured a Smoke & Dagger braised goulash with bread dumplings for $12.

“We are serving up comfort food that pairs well with beer,” said Bergeron.

The pizzas, which start at $10, are about 12-inches in size, said Eric Hendler.

”We want people to order a couple of the pizzas and share,” he said.

His favorites on the opening menu are the House Spicy Fennel Sausage & Ricotta ($14) and the Potato & Bacon ($14).

When guests arrive, they open a tab at the bar, and then can order food, said Hendler.

The restaurant is family-friendly and also serves soda and water. There is no wine and liquor served, just Jack’s Abby brews.

Every item on the menu was under $20.

The restaurant will be open Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.

Hendler said about 30 new employees have been hired.

Along with the new location and restaurant, the brothers also are re-branding their business and unveiled a new logo this week too.

Merchandise with the new logo, along with six packs, and re-filling of growlers are available at the Clinton Street location.