On Sunday, March 12th, I attended the 3rd Annual Backstreet Brunch at Bay Street Biergarten. It was filled with great food, happy patrons, and most importantly, slap on bracelets (so ’90s). The theme of Backstreet Boys at a brunch might seem strange to some, but to me it makes perfect sense. Who wouldn’t want to eat chicken and waffles and drink copious amounts of mimosa while bumping to “Larger Than Life?” I felt that this brunch fulfilled a childhood dream of mine I never knew I had.
The drummer who toured with the Backstreet Boys and used to babysit for Aaron Carter was in attendance, so you could say I had a major fangirl moment. If you didn’t attend, you definitely missed out. No need to worry though, because I’ll tell you more about future brunch parties at Bay Street Biergarten below.
The Origin of Backstreet Brunch
While at Backstreet Brunch, I had the chance to sit down with Jonah Jeter, the Managing Partner for the Becket Agency. The Becket Agency handles the marketing of Bay Street Biergarten and numerous other restaurants in Charleston. He informed me that the event started three years ago when they started to throw brunch parties at Bay Street Biergarten. They originally had live bands and no specific theme, but then they came up with the brilliant idea of each brunch having the theme of a different artist. They had themes such as Spice Girls, Michael Jackson, and Britney Spears, but the theme that had the most response was the Backstreet Boys.
I asked Jonah if they discovered a specific audience with the Backstreet Boys and that’s why they had such an enthusiastic response, but he explained that the Backstreet Boys are just universally loved. People of all ages gather to hear the Backstreet Boys and other artists from their time. It doesn’t matter what age you are, everyone loves a good dose of nostalgia.
The Ideal Venue
Aside from Backstreet Brunch at Bay Street Biergarten being a cute acronym (BSB at BSB), there are numerous other reasons why Bay Street Biergarten is the ideal venue for brunch parties. The first reason is that Bay Street Biergarten has communal seating with beer taps built into the tables. Instead of everyone awkwardly standing around like you would at a normal bar, Bay Street Biergarten encourages you to interact with new people at your table. While we were eating, we were sharing stories with the people around us about “the last time we heard this song” and how we somehow still had all the words of BSB songs memorized after all these years.
The ambiance of Bay Street Biergarten also encourages the party aspect of the brunch party. The drinks are flowing and the music is playing, so you know it’s going to be fun. The event started at 11 and Jonah informed me that by around 1 o’clock it usually starts to “get weird.” At the beginning, everyone was sitting down and enjoying their food, but more importantly they were enjoying their drinks. At 1 o’clock on the dot, the crowd started getting rowdy in the best way. People started to get up and dance and belt all the songs, just as Jonah predicted. It was a much more interactive experience than just sitting down at a normal brunch. There was a comradery that is unmatched by any other brunch I have been to.
Bringing Brunch Parties to Charleston
Charleston is known for its Sunday brunch, but not necessarily brunch parties. When I think of classic Charleston brunch, I think of it as a more formal ordeal, but a brunch party turns that idea on its head. Jonah explained to me that he faced a lot of doubts when he tried to bring brunch parties to Charleston. Jonah had experienced brunch parties in places like Miami and Vegas, so people thought Charleston had too much of a small town vibe for brunch parties to be successful. Spoiler alert: they were dead wrong.
The brunch parties at Bay Street Biergarten have been hugely successful. Jonah explained that crowds of about 200 people come out to the brunch parties in search of tasty food and good music. I saw this first hand when I arrived at BSB and there was a huge line out the door.
Future Brunch Parties
If you missed out on Backstreet Brunch, there are plenty more parties at BSB for you to attend. Backstreet Brunch kicks off the brunch parties and the parties continue on the 2nd Sunday of each month until August. I highly recommend attending at least one of them because Sundays don’t have to be a day of rest, they could be another day to party.