She made him do it. That's right. J.B. Ellis' wife Christina made him purchase Mr. Dunderbak's. What a woman!
An original occupant of Tampa's University Mall, the 35-year-old institution has evolved during Ellis' decade-long ownership from a half-ass chain restaurant into a beloved and prestigious German beer bar — one that's about to get even better. In February 2009, the "beirgarten, marktzplaz and restaurant" relocates to larger digs near Tampa Palms. The new spot will make Mr. Dunderbak's one of Florida's largest beer bars.
"Back in the late 1980s, when I went to USF, my wife was a waitress at Dunderbak's," says Ellis, 43. "The people who owned it were running the place into the ground — and it drove my wife nuts. That's why we bought it. I was a stockbroker. I didn't know shit about running a restaurant.
"I still don't know shit," he adds, chuckling.
Anyone who has sat down for a Der Rote Baron (Red Baron Sandwich) and a glass of, say, Sierra Nevada Stout, would argue with Ellis about his chops as a restaurateur. I ordered the Red Baron on a recent visit to Dunderbak's — one of my all-time favorite beer bars, by the way — and was once again floored by the triple-decker deliciousness of roast beef and oven-roasted turkey breast smothered in warm, homemade garlic cream cheese served on fluffy slices of pumpernickel.
I chose the Sierra Nevada Stout from a selection of more than 300 bottled beers and 27 draft and cask selections. I was in a stout mood and followed it with a nice dark Murphy's. Back when Ellis purchased Dunderbak's, the bar had five beers on tap. One of them was Icehouse.
"I changed it a helluva lot," Ellis says. "The whole concept changed. It was originally a franchise deli in the mall. I turned it into a beer bar."
Few people in the Tampa Bay region know suds better than Ellis. On the first Tuesday of every month, Dunderbak's hosts Tampa Bay BEERS (Beer Enthusiasts Enjoying Real Suds). "Some of the best brewers in Southeast come to this club," Ellis says. "That's helped me out a lot."
In recent years, the number of Dunderbak's enthusiasts has outgrown the long, narrow room's bar stools and table space. Ellis inked a 10-year lease when he purchased the business, or else he would have left for greener, more spacious pastures a long time ago. The contract finally expires Jan. 31. "Business has been so great that on a Friday evening people are waiting 20 minutes to be seated," he says. "I want a real German biergarten. It's time for Dunderbak's to expand and have a real traditional menu [serving dishes such as venison sausage cooked in German black beer and Currywurst], which, with our small kitchen, is a real pain in the ass to do here."
The University Mall has been driving down a dead-end street for years. Longtime linchpin JC Penney fled the building in 2005, and the shopping center has been plagued with crime. Last November, ABC Action News reported it was the second-most unsafe mall in Tampa Bay, with 36 stolen cars and 46 car break-ins in a 12-month span. "University Mall doesn't provide much of a demographic for us any more," Ellis says. "The idea of being in a mall is that it brings customers. But I have more people coming in through the back door and walking in through the kitchen than the front door. And what kind of beer bar opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m.?"
All that changes in the beginning of February, when Mr. Dunderbak's reopens at 14919 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in the same New Tampa strip mall that houses Acropolis. The space is 4,500 square feet and will have a gazebo in the center, surrounded by long, wooden tables that encourage interaction among strangers. The bar will feature close to 50 beers on tap and there will be an adjacent room for groups like the home brewers to congregate.
The Bavarian polka music that has been a staple of Mr. Dunderbak's for decades will still play during the day, with live acoustic music and jazzy DJing featured at night. The meats, cheeses and other German packaged goods will still be sold and all that lovely bric-a-brac that covers the walls will be retained as well. "Oh, yeah, it will be just as tacky," Ellis says.
Most important, Dunderbak's will retain its laid-back atmosphere. The bar is a place where people come to talk or read the newspaper — not shout at a sports game. It's a cerebral bar where philosophy clubs meet and grad students and professors have traditionally flocked between classes. "The last thing I want is a sports bar or anything yuppie," Ellis says. "This isn't going to be a pickup joint, either. It will be a place for adults to sit down, talk, drink good beer and enjoy traditional German food."
Sounds good to me.
Mr. Dunderbak's, 2222 University Square Mall, Tampa, 813-977-4104, dunderbaks.com.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2008.