Craft Beer Taproom Near Me in Nakameguro: Baird Taproom's Pizza and Pints

Baird Taproom Nakameguro sits on the second floor of Nakameguro GT Plaza, Building C, at 2-1-3 Kamimeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, a minute or two from Nakameguro station. It opened in May 2008 as Baird Brewing's first taproom in the Tokyo area, which makes it one of the longest-running answers to a craft beer taproom near me search on the Tokyu Toyoko and Hibiya lines. Weekday hours are 5 pm to 11 pm, Saturdays and holidays noon to 11 pm, Sundays noon to 10 pm, and it opens every day.

Baird Brewing began in Numazu, Shizuoka, in 2000, founded by the American brewer Bryan Baird and his wife Sayuri, and it now brews at Baird Brewery Gardens in Shuzenji on the Izu Peninsula, which marked its twelfth anniversary with a festival in April 2026. Nakameguro was the first step into Tokyo, and the company has since opened taprooms in Harajuku, Takadanobaba, Kichijoji and Gofukucho.

Each Baird taproom has its own kitchen theme, and Nakameguro's is pizza. That makes it the branch to choose when the plan is dinner rather than a quick round. The room has the feel of an old beer hall: a large open interior, long communal German tables, thick wooden bar counters, a sofa area for up to six adults and a big television screen that the staff turn to sport on match nights.

The kitchen bakes New Haven-style pizza, the Connecticut cousin of Neapolitan pizza known locally as apizza. Each pie spends three to four minutes in an oven running at about 400°C, which chars the bottom and outer crust in dark spots while keeping the dough crisp and light. Toppings change with the season, so ask the staff what the current pizzas are rather than relying on an old photo of the menu.

Order one pizza per two people and share it across the table; the thin crust goes quickly, and a second pie arrives fast because of the short bake. The pizza is the reason to pick this branch over the other Baird rooms, and it pairs best with Baird's hoppier pale ales rather than the heavier stouts.

Baird's year-round range is broad, and the taproom pours it alongside seasonal releases. Rising Sun Pale Ale is the house standard, Wabi-Sabi Japan Pale Ale is the house take on a Japan-style pale ale, Teikoku IPA is the bigger hop beer, Shimaguni Stout covers the dark end and Numazu Lager is the clean choice for anyone who wants something lighter. Suruga Bay Imperial IPA, named after the bay at Numazu, is the strongest of the core beers.

Seasonal beers such as The Carpenter's Mikan Ale, brewed with mandarin oranges, and Jubilation Ale rotate through the taps, so the board changes through the year. For drinking at home, Baird's online shop sells bottles such as Rising Sun Pale Ale at 550 yen and Suruga Bay Imperial IPA at 600 yen, and a build-your-own six-pack at 3,300 yen.

Baird describes itself as a family company, a joint partnership founded in Numazu in 2000, and its motto is Celebrating Beer. The brewery's stated formula for every beer is balance plus complexity equals character, and it lists the ingredients behind that: traditional floor-malted barley, whole flower hops only, soft well water drawn on site and natural carbonation captured during fermentation rather than added later.

Hops go in generously at the end of the kettle boil, and many beers are dry hopped during conditioning, which is why the pale ales in Nakameguro smell so strongly of fruit and spice when they reach the table. The brewery admits it is not trying to please everyone; its own line is that it will not brew vapid beer.

The company also publishes a Taproom Manifesto that explains how rooms like this one are run. It says the aim of every taproom is to make patrons happier than they otherwise would be, through craftsmanship rather than salesmanship, and that Baird avoids paid advertising and price discounting because both bring in the wrong people and cheapen the brand. In practice that means no happy hour here, so plan on paying full price for every pint.

The taproom runs a steady calendar of events posted on Baird's news page. In 2026 it has hosted a My Japan Story SLAM storytelling night on April 23, a June wing-eating challenge and The Poem of Wind, an evening of live Persian music. Events can fill the long tables, so check the calendar before planning a quiet dinner on a given night.

Reservations and enquiries go to 03-5768-3025 or nakameguro-tap@bairdbeer.com. All Baird taprooms are entirely non-smoking, a policy the brewery explains as protecting the aroma of the food and beer. The sofa area holds up to six and suits a small group that books ahead; larger groups are better off claiming a section of the communal tables early on a Saturday afternoon, soon after the noon opening.

Weekday evenings fill after office hours, so the easiest seats come right at the 5 pm opening, or at noon on weekends. Big football and rugby matches on the screen bring crowds and noise; skip those nights if you came for a conversation. If every table is taken, the other Baird taprooms in Harajuku and Takadanobaba pour the same beer and are a short train ride away.

Nakameguro's best walk is along the Meguro River, a few steps from the GT Plaza, where the canal is lined with cherry trees, small boutiques and coffee bars. Walking upstream towards Ikejiri-Ohashi or uphill to Daikanyama fills an afternoon before the taproom opens on a weekday, and the riverside paths are pleasant again after dark on the way back to the station.

Address: Baird Taproom Nakameguro, Nakameguro GT Plaza Building C 2F, 2-1-3 Kamimeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo. Nearest station: Nakameguro on the Tokyu Toyoko and Tokyo Metro Hibiya lines. Hours: Monday to Friday 5 pm to 11 pm, Saturday and holidays noon to 11 pm, Sunday noon to 10 pm, open every day. Phone 03-5768-3025. Non-smoking throughout. Food: New Haven-style pizza.