Birch beer returns to Grotto Pizza locations

For decades, many customers came to Grotto Pizza for two primary reasons: the pizza and an icy birch beer.

That changed this summer when the beverage distributor stopped offering birch beer to Grotto and other area restaurants, necessitating a switch to root beer.

Customers weren’t happy.

“There’s a sense of nostalgia with getting birch beer and Grotto Pizza, especially in our restaurants at the Delaware beaches,” said Jeff Gosnear, Grotto Pizza president.

“Due to birch beer’s popularity – and all of the feedback we received – it was important for us to find a product with exceptional quality comparable to what we offered in the past,” he said.

For National Pizza Month, birch beer returns to Grotto Pizza dining rooms.

The new offering is from Maine Root, which uses 100% organic sugar cane from fair trade farms in Brazil.

So, what’s the difference between birch beer and root beer? Both beverages started as medicinal drinks and gained popularity at soda fountains. As the name implies, birch beer comes from the sap of birch trees. In its pure form, root beer is made from sassafras vines and roots.

For more information, go to grottopizza.com.