Lagoon has worked hard in recent years to appeal as much to adults as the family/teen crowd. Making sure that there is entertainment that is a touch more sophisticated and food options that are elevated beyond your run-of-the-mill amusement park fare. Enter the Lagoon Biergarten, a Bavarian village-styled food hall that opened in 2019. While it isn’t new, it was new to me, a tired auntie who had just hauled three kiddos around the park for what felt like 57 hours and needed sustenance that wasn’t deep-fried.
Located near the original wooden roller coast, the village concept feels like a movie set, with everything looking authentic but too new to be real. There are rampant lions on a crest everywhere you look. The best part? It was delightfully quiet. I had seven people in tow, and it was a true oasis in the craziness that is an amusement park. Children are allowed, but there was a general lack of kids in the Lagoon Biergarten, which makes for a relaxed dining experience. You order food and drink at a staffed kiosk, get your beer immediately, and then receive a puck that will buzz when your food is ready. Bonus: these are the best and cleanest bathrooms in the park.
The menu is a mix of classics – from Bavarian pretzels, brats with kraut, chicken schnitzel with gravy, and fish and chips, with some not-so-classic items tossed in the mix, including pork carnitas nachos, mozzarella sticks, and a spicy chicken sandwich. There are a slew of sandwiches and a couple of token salads for those wanting a ‘healthy’ option. Surprisingly, the only kid’s meal choice is mac and cheese. I’m assuming that they don’t plan on many kids coming through. Prices range from $12 – $19, with a couple of sides clocking in at $7-8. Desserts include the Biergarten brownie trifle, German chocolate cake, and the Biergarten pavlova with vanilla custard in a meringue shell and powdered sugar.
We tried the chicken schnitzel, which was probably the universal favorite. It was pounded flat and had a flavorful crust and rich mushroom gravy. The mashed potatoes were creamy, and it was easy to build the perfect bite: mash, schnitzel, gravy, mash. It was a little heavy on a hot summer day, but we were craving calories after a day spent playing. The brat was served with fries and sauerkraut in a toasted bun with house-made mustard. It was properly braised and then griddled until the skin was blistered. The fries were thick-cut steak-house style fries and a far cry better than any other fry in the park. The club sandwich was nothing special, but the pastrami burger popped with some horseradish mayo and crisped-up pastrami.
Hands down, the most disappointing item was the mac and cheese. It was borderline inedible, and at $12 per kid, that was a lot of food to just toss. And that’s not just coming from me. Both kids barely ate it because it was so bad. The cheese was middling; the sauce was not creamy and had a grainy texture. It came with some fresh fruit, which was nice. But we ended up getting more food for the kids in the regular park.
The German chocolate cake was tasty and oddly came with the icing on the side. Maybe because the general population doesn’t realize that German chocolate cake has coconut in the icing? Or maybe for maximum icing control? While it was good, the amount of chocolate sprinkles felt excessive and didn’t add to the eating experience. But again, the cake itself was good.
And now for the beer. With 20+ beers on tap and local options, including beer from Wasatch, Unitah, Squatters, and Roosters, there are lots of options for adults. Until the opening of the Lagoon Biergarten, the park hadn’t served alcohol since 1979. You can get a 16oz, 22oz, and 1 liter pours. You can even buy a 22 oz limited edition stoneware stein (beer not included). The Wasatch Salt Lime Cerveza, while having no relation to what you would find in a traditional Biergarten, was perfect on a really hot summer day. The Squatters Juicy IPA is always a win. And the locally made, exclusive Lagoon-a-Bier Pilsner was refreshing and tart.
The Lagoon Biergarten is open all year round, even when the rest of the park is closed. And hands down, it was the best oasis in the park to recharge during a park visit.
If you go: 375 Lagoon Dr, Farmington, UT 84025 (Inside Lagoon Amusement Park)
Open daily from 9 am – 8 pm (may be open later on weekends)
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