Fritz & Franz owner says he will move out of Coral Gables after watch party spat
The owner of Fritz & Franz Bierhaus is fed up with the city of Coral Gables.
Harald Neuweg, 67, is so fed up that he’s scrapped his plans to work with the city to host World Cup watch parties and says he will be moving the business out of the city entirely.
“As of Tuesday evening, the Bierhaus is on sale,” Neuweg told the Miami Herald, just minutes after he sent Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago an angry email, notifying him that he’s officially rescinding his request for a special event permit.
“I do not want to be in the city. We will open the Bierhaus in Miami or Coconut Grove. ... It’s listed, I’m furious. I’m dead serious, I’ve had enough,” said Neuweg, who has a signed lease with the city, his landlord for the property at 60 Merrick Way in Coral Gables.
Fritz & Franz Bierhaus will still show the soccer games this summer, except now, they’ll be shown only inside the restaurant and on the covered patio instead of on the public Bierhaus plaza outside his restaurant, like he initially wanted to.
Neuweg’s decision comes just a few days after Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara, for the second time, agreed to delay voting on his proposal to transform the public plaza into a space to host watch parties for select matches through July 19. Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez were against delaying the vote.
The plan was for the City Commission to review the proposal again at the June 2 meeting, about a week before the first game, to give Lago time meet with Neuweg, along with the police and fire chiefs, to discuss his proposal.
“My top priority, first and foremost, is public safety. For the first time ever, the World Cup will be held in Miami and with that comes an unprecedented level of operational and security responsibility,” Lago told the Miami Herald in a statement Thursday. “We have an obligation to ensure that any event that takes place in the City is thoroughly vetted, coordinated and planned down to the smallest detail.”
“Public safety resources are not unlimited and approving the special event permit without a complete review would be irresponsible,” he added.
The mayor in this week’s commission meeting said he supported the idea of Fritz & Franz hosting a watch party but wanted to meet with Neuweg to make sure staff would be prepared to take on “an event of this magnitude,” while also addressing resident concerns and ensuring that police and fire have enough manpower to respond to any potential emergencies in the city.
What happens now
Fritz & Franz’s proposal had to initially go before the commission for approval because it fell outside the city’s existing special event guidelines. By keeping the party within the confines of his business, Neuweg no longer needs a special permit and will no longer need to pay the city about $70,000 to use the plaza and have police and fire rescue presence at his event. He had already spent $1,000 to obtain a public viewing license from FIFA.
He blames Lago for his decision to leave the city, insisting that the reason his special event permit was not approved was due to Lago’s “vengeance tour.” Fritz & Franz had butt heads with the city a few years ago over its lease renewal. Lago rebukes the claim and insists his reasons to delay the vote were due to safety concerns.
“People will be on the plaza,” Neuweg told the Herald, explaining that he expects the Bierhaus will be full for the games and that those who don’t fit inside his restaurant might still choose to stay and watch the game from the plaza. But now, if that happens, it won’t fall on him to clean up or manage the crowd, he said.
“That’s something the city will need to decide now. ... We will concentrate on our restaurant, our event inside the covered area,” he said.
The reasons given by Lago, Anderson and Lara during Tuesday’s commission meeting to postpone the vote were the same as in the May 5 meeting: safety, traffic, noise and feasibility concerns for a longer-than-usual soccer watch party setup that is expected to bring many fans to the Gables. The watch parties would have required police and fire presence at a time when the departments are expected to be spread thin as they help staff FIFA-related and other events across Miami-Dade and at Hard Rock Stadium during the same time period, including the popular Fourth of July festivities at the Biltmore Hotel that draw thousands to the City Beautiful. They also took issue with Neuweg’s decision to add six additional games at the last minute to the proposal he had worked on with city staff.
While Lago and the attorney representing Neweg agreed in the public meeting to meet Wednesday, no meeting ever happened. An email chain the Herald reviewed shows Lago’s office repeatedly reaching out to schedule the meeting. Police Chief Edward Hudak and Fire Chief Marcos De La Rosa also have not heard back.
Then, on Thursday afternoon, Neuweg responded, saying that he wanted to officially withdraw his application to use the public plaza. He also included a copy of a speech he had initially planned to give at Tuesday’s commission meeting, in which he accused Lago of humiliating him. Multiple city officials, including the vice mayor and commissioners, were copied in the email chain.
He called a May 5 commission meeting he attended “more a trial with cross examination of me, the guilt[y] one!”
“It was clear to me at some point that it was a waste of time!” Neuweg wrote.
Lago responded and told him to come to the next meeting and that the city was still waiting to schedule a meeting. “I am afraid that train has left the station,” Neuweg responded.
Lago on Thursday told the Herald he is still “more than willing to sit down” with Neuweg to develop a plan and “would hate to see this business leave the City, particularly given its long history and the fact that it has become a fan favorite for so many.”
Neuweg, during his phone interview with the Herald, insisted that he no longer wants to meet with the city. He was also frustrated with Anderson, who he said appeared to be supportive of his proposal a few days before Tuesday’s meeting. Anderson explained in an email to him Thursday that it was because she was unaware that police and fire had not had time to review the proposal.
“This is a no-win situation for me, so at this point I’d rather not worry about it anymore and the way I have been treated in this city. I’m exhausted,” he told the Herald.
In a statement to the Herald, Castro said that while she supports the city enforcing its rules and rights, she believes Fritz & Franz had made a good-faith attempt to work with the city “to address concerns that had been raised.”
“As it relates to the decision to sell the business and lease, I can understand the owner’s frustration after years of conflict, controversy, and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the establishment,” she said. “While that decision is ultimately his to make, it is still disappointing to potentially see a longstanding Coral Gables institution placed in this position.”
Neuweg said that his lease with the city is still active for several more years and that whoever buys the Bierhaus could resume the lease.
Castro noted that the lease cannot be transferred to another business owner automatically.
“Under the terms of the agreement, the City of Coral Gables, as landlord, must approve any assignment or transfer of the lease, which currently extends through May 31, 2029,” she said in her statement.
This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 4:17 PM.
