With live shows, self-serve beer, innovative Mainzer Merced expands its menu. Take a peek

To help celebrate its fourth anniversary since the re-opening, the historic Mainzer Merced is rolling out a new menu for brunch, lunch and dinner.

The new menu items were crafted by new Executive Chef Evan Morrison and are set to debut on Friday, Aug. 16, at the restaurant located on the corner of Merced’s West Main and N streets.

Morrison says the new food will be similar to what you’d find at a beer garden. He wanted to pair food with the beer available on the Mainzer’s self-serve beer wall, which features rotating local and domestic taps and serves as the centerpiece of the main dining room.

“It’s similar to a beer garden, with a slight twist,” Morrison said. “We want to stay true to what we were. We’re not trying to recreate the wheel, but we’re also putting a new twist on things.”

After being shuttered for more than a decade, the Mainzer was reopened in 2020 after undergoing a thorough multi-million dollar renovation, along with the El Capitan Hotel and Tioga Apartments by Hyatt’s boutique lifestyle brand Joie de Vivre .

The post-pandemic climate has been difficult for many restaurants in Merced, including the eateries downtown, but the Mainzer has found footing as a family friendly entertainment venue.

“Throughout the years, Mainzer has served as an inclusive venue for our community to come together and celebrate life moments, big and small,” said Robin Donovan, managing director of Mainzer and El Capitan Hotel in a news release about the Mainzer’s new menu launch. “We look forward to continuing to welcome both Merced locals and guests from around the world to eat, drink, and gather.”

Special venue

Not only is the Mainzer a restaurant, it is also a venue where people can watch live shows, a movie in their intimate theater, sporting events, and choose one of 21 beers on their self-serve beer wall. They also can play foosball or skeeball in the entertainment area.

The Mainzer has upcoming live shows scheduled , including popular local band Mike Hammar & The Nails on Aug. 30th and a Depeche Mode Tribute band on Sept. 6 and a Fleetwood Mac tribute band on Sept. 28th.

“There’s just so much space there, the large cinema, the large theater, the large bar with all the TVs,” Morrison said. “When football season comes around, it’s going to be awesome to watch football there. And there’s a little game room for families to go play. Kids can go check out. It’s a really unique piece of property.”

Merced staple

The Mainzer Theater has been one of the city’s key architectural hallmarks since the its construction in the 1930s.

The new Strand Theatre was built in 1937 by the the Golden State Theatre and Realty Corp. after a fire burned down the old theatre. The Strand Theatre was eventually renamed the Mainzer.

Morrison was hired as the executive chef of The Rainbird, located in the El Capitan Hotel, and the Mainzer in December. He refreshed the Rainbird menu in January and now he’s launching an almost entirely new menu at the Mainzer.

New food items

“We wanted to incorporate a few items that are similar to like a smokehouse,” Morrison said.

Morrison targeted food items that he feels go great with beer, such as crispy pork rinds, beer-braised bratwurst and ribs, flatbreads and a variety of salads, including an heirloom tomato salad with compressed watermelon, feta, mint with a mimosa vinaigrette.

There are also new items on the weekend brunch menu, including a Main Street Bacon Benny, a sunrise flatbread and chicken and waffles.

Morrison says his favorite item on the menu is the chicken wings.

“We want to be family friendly,” Morrison said. “We want to hit the demographic here in Merced. We just want it to be full of flavor and texture and using good quality ingredients and treating them directly.”

The new menu announcement comes alongside the launch of a new community partnership between Mainzer and Ace Overcomers , a local non-profit organization, that aids people overcoming the effects of adverse childhood experiences.

One dollar from each Onion Ring Tower sold at Mainzer will be donated to the organization for the remainder of the year.

The Mainzer is celebrating its fourth anniversary with the new menu launch from Aug. 16-18. Customers can enter to win a $50 gift card.