Rhinegeist Brewery is trading in its rotating cast of outside food vendors for a pizzeria it will run itself. Pizza Time is set to open inside the brewery's Over-the-Rhine taproom in early October, serving a menu of 12 classic and specialty pies alongside a pizza-by-the-slice program, salads, and garlic knots.
The move marks a real shift for Rhinegeist, which has spent years hosting third-party food concepts inside its taproom rather than running a kitchen itself. According to Local 12 News, Pizza Time will be the fifth restaurant option to share space with Rhinegeist Brewery, joining the fine-dining venture Sartre, OTR Chili, Local Cantina, and the vending-machine option Mac's Pizza Pub. Local 12's report, credited to Cincinnati Business Courier reporter Hailey Roden, notes the 450-square-foot eatery will operate as a standalone pizza spot at 1910 Elm St.
What sets Pizza Time apart from those earlier tenants is that Rhinegeist itself will run the kitchen. As reported by Cincinnati CityBeat, this marks Rhinegeist's first direct-operated, in-house culinary venture, a pivot toward taking control of food operations rather than leaning on outside restaurateurs who have come and gone over the years. The outlet reports the pizzeria's menu was developed following internal employee taste-testing focused on crust hydration and sauce blends.
A Fine-Dining Chef Takes Over the Pizza Oven
To lead the new venture, Rhinegeist tapped Luke Anzano, a former fine-dining executive chef who previously led kitchens for Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment and Boca Restaurant Group, according to the same CityBeat report. Anzano will serve as culinary director overseeing both Pizza Time and Rhinegeist's event catering, having previously worked as executive chef at Jeff Ruby's restaurant The Lempicka. Pizza Time will also include a dedicated catering menu built specifically for events held inside the taproom, the outlet notes.
Rhinegeist opened its Over-the-Rhine brewery and taproom in 2013, per Local 12 News, inside a building with much deeper roots. The Elm Street taproom occupies the pre-Prohibition bottling facility of the historic Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., an industrial structure built between 1895 and 1910 in the neighborhood's Brewery District, according to WVXU. Christian Moerlein was once one of the largest brewing operations in the nation before Prohibition shut it down.
Hidden History Behind the Taproom Walls
That history recently surfaced in an unexpected way. During exterior restoration work at the 1910 building in late 2025, construction crews stripped away layers of paint and uncovered a hidden 1896 encaustic tile mosaic mural created by noted ceramicist Herman Mueller, WVXU reported at the time. Over-the-Rhine's historic district guidelines require historically faithful restoration techniques, which shaped how crews approached the exterior work.
Rhinegeist's food expansion also fits into a broader ownership story. The brewery began transitioning to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan in 2020, with a goal of gradually shifting 100 percent of company ownership to its workforce over a 10-year period, according to Cincinnati Magazine. Founders Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding brought in professional management during that transition. Rhinegeist was founded in 2013 by Bonder and Goulding, both former San Francisco business consultants, along with chemist-turned-brewer Jim Matt, choosing a name that translates to “ghost of the Rhine” as a nod to the neighborhood's German heritage.
Growth on Several Fronts
By sales volume, Rhinegeist has grown into the second-largest independent craft brewery in Ohio and the 28th largest in the United States, producing more than 110,000 beer barrels annually as of 2023, per Wikipedia. The in-house pizzeria arrives the same month Rhinegeist has been expanding on other commercial fronts, having launched vodka sodas and struck a Bengals deal to sell beverages inside Paycor Stadium this month.
The taproom expansion also comes as Cincinnati City Council considers tightening oversight of Elm Street businesses. Earlier this month, council proposed expanding the city's chronic-nuisance ordinance to commercial establishments along the corridor following gun violence near Elm and Findlay streets, close to Rhinegeist's taproom. That proposal would allow escalating fines up to $10,000 for venues generating repeated police calls, a separate Hoodline report detailed.
