Caru’ Cu Bere, which means The Beer Wagon, is a restaurant on Strada Stravopoleos in the historic Lipscani district of Bucharest. It is one of the historic ‘inns’ of the city.
In 1879 Ioan Căbășan and his nephews Ion and Gheorge Mircea, all from Transylvania, opened a brewery on the corner of Calea Victory and Strada Franceză, called The Beer Wagon (Carul cu Bere). In 1897, plans were made to open a restaurant to expand the business for which the Hungarian architect Siegfried Kofczinsky was hired. The owners at that time, Nicolae, Ignat, and Victor Mircea opened the restaurant which featured their own beer in 1899, in the current location on Strada Stravopoleos. Their heirs would continue running the business until the restaurant was nationalized under the Communist regime in 1949.
After the fall of the Communist regime in 1989, the heirs successfully claimed back ownership of the establishment. After an extensive renovation, Caru’ cu Bere reopened again and has become a popular tourist hotspot for its authentic intertior and traditional Romanian food which is often accompanied by life music. There is also a small gift shop selling merchandise.
The building has a Neo-Gothic style with a vaulted ground floor decorated with paintings, stained glass windows, mosaics, and wood-carved decorations. On the facade of the building, at the base of the roof, you can see a sculpture of an innkeeper holding a beer in honor of those who enter the premises.
