SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
Nevada’s oldest operating brewery and restaurant is now bringing classic food and award winning beers to Reno.
Great Basin Brewing Company opened Monday, July 26th. The restaurant and brewery is the second outpost for owners Tom and Bonda Young who have been brewing in neighboring Sparks for more than 16 years.
Along with general partner Camille Prenn, Great Basin held its official opening of the Great Basin Brewing Co. at 5525 So. Virginia St. at the So. McCarran intersection, (the former On the Border restaurant joining Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Petco and Macaroni Grill as neighbors.
The partnership invested $2 million to renovate the facility for brewing the company’s award-winning lineup of ales and lagers, and to offer its traditional fine casual dining, including pizza.
“It will allow us to increase capacity by 1.2 million pints a year and will offer Reno an oasis of fine ales, lagers and food right in their own zip code” said Bonda Young.
The Great Basin Brewery and Restaurant features a pizza oven along with the same fine menu offered at the Sparks’ Victorian Square restaurant and brewery, which is celebrating its 16th year in operation at 846 Victorian Ave. The new facility features dining, a “display” pizza oven and a 25 barrel brewhouse. The new restaurant and brewery has hired 60 employees, Young said. Executive Chef Kevin Ashton will be overseeing both the Reno and Sparks operations. Chef Kevin attended Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. He most recently was employed by Butcher Boy Prime before taking the position at Great Basin. There are plans for a small bottling line in approximately 6 months, providing bottles to distribute throughout the region.
Great Basin Brewing Co. is Nevada’s oldest operating and most award-winning brewery having won numerous medals at both the prestigious World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival. The restaurant and brewery has also been named “Best of Reno” in numerous reader polls in both the Reno Gazette-Journal and Reno News and Review and most recently Nevada Magazine.
