The Brightside: Rail Haus, Kent County’s first beer garden

DOVER, Del. – Dover’s up-and-coming business is making a name for themselves. It’s Kent County’s first beer garden, said to be a unique gathering place for families, beer enthusiasts, and four-legged friends alike. According to the owner,  they’re already noticing just how much of a difference they’re making in the community.

“I’ve been traveling around in my previous life in sales, and I was always attracted to beer gardens, distilleries, breweries, places with this type of vibe, and I just knew it would work in Kent County,” says Rail Haus owner, Donny Legans.

Rail Haus is said to be a place with a strong commitment to community, diversity, and inclusivity, and both veteran and minority-owned is also the county’s first year-round beer garden. “The beer garden in very realistic terms is just an indoor-outdoor eating and drinking establishment and so that’s what we have here,” says Legans.

We’re told, that educating state and county leaders and the community about his establishment was one of the first steps in getting the beer garden approved. however, Legans tells us, it was welcomed with open arms. “Right when we were getting this approved and construction on this project, Dover came out with their master plan.” Legans goes on to explain “It’s kind of on dovetails right into what we’re doing which is about bringing new people into the area, new exciting things to the area, not just the same old thing you can get everywhere else. They’re bringing apartments here, they’re bringing condos here, they’re bringing more businesses here so I’m all about that.”

What customers get is more than just unique tastings and local beer, it’s an experience that Dover hasn’t yet seen. “It was an untapped market, people would have to drive to Middletown or go to the beach with their families and now they can come right here in Kent County, and to see the kids running around here, it brings me a whole lot of joy,” says Legans.

At Rail Haus, they’re becoming a familiar and welcoming establishment in the community. Hosting run clubs, workout sessions such as CrossFit or Orange Theory Fitness, book clubs, or even story time or musical hour for kids. Legans says they’re utilizing the vibrant community in which they now serve. “I looked at Dover and you look at all the different anchors here and you have a college town here, you have a military town here, you have a retirement community here, so all these things come together. It’s also 50/50, it’s black and white so you have all these different groups that can come here and this place lends itself to any people.”

Whether looking to come by yourself and enjoy a book, or if you want to bring a group of friends, Rail Haus is bringing new faces, and creating relationships with locals; Which is an aspect Legans tells us, brings him the most joy. “When they walk through the door, we know what their drinks are right away. So to see that happen almost immediately.” He adds, “The fact that they come here, I don’t know where they used to go before but now this is their place, this is their home, we see them three times a week, that’s pretty cool.”

As Kent County’s tourism industry continues to grow, Rail Haus continues to be another unique variable in those efforts. However, Legans says he hopes his business becomes an inspiration for other entrepreneurs to do the same.

In the meantime, they say the outpouring of love and support from the community makes them hopeful for their first summer in business. “The number one thing that people have been saying since we opened on November 13th is, thank you for opening this, dover needed this, not I needed it, not they needed it but Dover needed this.” Legans adds, “It’s a lot of responsibility but we’ve got big shoulders so we can handle it.”

The owner also hinted that he’s working on something new for the summer to add to the business.

To stay up to date on that and community events, visit the Rail Haus Instagram page.