Andre Linke moved his family from Germany to Tucson to open a restaurant. More than a year later, he's still waiting to open his doors.

Biergarten, a Bavarian-style German restaurant on the corner of Grant and Silverbell, has been ready to serve customers for months, but a tangle of city permits, code violations and licensing delays has kept it dark.

Green vines hang from the ceiling over dark wooden tables, murals of an old German town line one wall, and vintage tin beer signs dot the space throughout. The dining room has new lighting, seating, flat-screen TVs, ceiling speakers and ADA-compliant bar seating — and has for months.

The only things missing are food, beer and customers.

Linke and his family lived in Bavaria before moving to Frankfurt, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he became concerned about the state of the German economy.

In 2023, Linke, his wife and two daughters took a road trip across the U.S. in search of a new home.

"I was a fan of the U.S. my whole entire life. We started in Texas. When we entered Arizona, we kind of fell in love here," Linke said. "We were so sick and tired of the bad weather in Germany."

Between the sunny skies and the friendly people, the Linkes felt Tucson would be the perfect place to live.

"We were both employees in Germany. We wanted to do something on our own," Linke said.

But immigrating to the U.S. is not easy or inexpensive.

Linke decided the best way to move to America and work for themselves was to open a restaurant, with few Bavarian food options available in Tucson. He applied for an entrepreneurial visa and scouted a location, settling on the former Famous Sam's on Grant and Silverbell.

But since then, it's been one setback after another, Linke said.

The Linkes had planned to open last fall, but underestimated the cost and complexity of bringing a long-vacant building up to code.

The building was in poor condition and out of code compliance. The former tenant had left on bad terms, and Linke discovered the power supply had been manually cut throughout.

Linke thought he could fix up the restaurant himself, but after spending money in the process, he was told the only way to pass inspection was to hire an architect.

Bringing the building up to code was just the beginning. Linke paid to submit a restaurant license application only to discover he was missing health department approval. Conflicting information about required licenses and certificates has forced him to resubmit applications multiple times, costing thousands of dollars in the process.

"The liquor license is the first thing we had," Linke said.

The liquor license came through early, but without a food permit, Linke can't sell the beer stocked behind his bar. He's also had to turn down catering opportunities for the same reason — no approved kitchen.

Linke is also worried that food supplier costs will force him to price his menu beyond what local customers can afford.

"We can't charge people thirty bucks for a schnitzel," Linke said.

With all the waiting and approvals, what was once new and shiny is now collecting dust. Between licensing costs and visa expenses, the family is stretched thin financially, and their current projected opening falls in summer — one of the slowest seasons for Tucson restaurants.

"How long can we take this until … we have to leave and go back to Germany?" Linke said, fearing that the longer inspections and approvals drag on, the more likely it becomes that Biergarten will close before it ever opens.

Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com.

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