"History buffs have plenty of museums to choose from, but dinner in a Civil War-era beer cavern? That's harder to find. In Mansfield, Ohio, there's a place where you can do exactly that. It's called Prohibition at the Caverns, tucked 30 feet beneath Hudson and Essex, the city's fine dining spot upstairs. The space wasn't uncovered on purpose. Owner Rick Taylor was conducting renovations when he and his crew discovered a hidden sandstone chamber."
"The roots go back to the mid-1800s, when thousands of Germans fled political unrest and landed in U.S. cities like St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee. They brought lager beer with them, and by the 1860s, brewing was booming. This laid the groundwork for many of the most popular beers enjoyed today. Temperance groups weren't thrilled, but German brewers kept at it. Some even managed to supply Union soldiers with beer, despite the rules."
An underground sandstone chamber in Mansfield, Ohio, originally used for beer storage, was discovered during renovations and now hosts Prohibition at the Caverns, an exclusive fine-dining experience. The caverns likely date to the 1860s, linked to German immigrants who brought lager brewing traditions that shaped American beer. The subterranean dining requires reservations, offering four-course Friday and eight-course Saturday meals that start upstairs and continue after an elevator descent. The space features cool temperatures, rough stone walls, candle and overhead lighting, and a seasonal menu that progresses from bread and an amuse-bouche through soup, vegetable-focused plates, fish, red meat mains, a cheese plate, and a small final scoop.
Read at Tasting Table
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]