Our Story
It all started as a discovery of a new world—German-born Joachim Gross, or Joe as he was known amongst friends, was a master chef who’d worked and travelled around the world. In 1986 he arrived in Namibia and upon his arrival, this nomad finally felt at home. A passion for travel, stories and food fused together when Joe’s Beerhouse opened its doors in October 1991. Joe’s started as a quaint little beer garden, but soon, due to its popularity and maybe also because Joe ran out of space to put all his treasures from the road, the restaurant moved to its current location at 160 Nelson Mandela Avenue.
If you’ve never been to Joe’s Beerhouse, “treasures from the road” might be a vague concept—but, from the very beginning, Joe decorated his Beerhouse with stories. As he travelled through the country, he collected items, items with history and character and every one of these items found a home in the Beerhouse. There’s the intertwined kudu horns, the mini on the roof, Joe’s Twak Truck, the largest ox horns you’ll (probably) ever see, enough Jägermeister bottles to hold a lake (this is yet to be proven), old rusty milk pails, petrol pumps, toilet seats as bar stools, lanterns, bottle caps, rusty anchors… we could go on, but you have to see it for yourself.
Where We Are Today
Joe has since retired and the new owners, Thomas and Carol-Jean Rechter stepped in in 2012 and elevated Joe’s to the wonderfully, slightly crazy place it is today. The Rechters have been in the restaurant industry for over three decades. Thomas Rechter is a Hamburg-trained chef—making him the architect behind Joe’s Beerhouse’s current legendary menu, while Carol-Jean ensures the business-side is taken care of