Voodoo Brewing: A Unique Culinary Spirit on Northgate

Article By: Zach Bentley, Student Intern | BCS Chronicle

What You Need To Know:

• Voodoo Brewing was founded in 2005 in Meadville, PA and has grown steadily across the northeastern United States with over 20 new locations planned throughout the country.

• College Station’s Voodoo Brewing location is a family business owned and operated by Rona Bomkamp, a local restauranteur with a passion for good beer, good food, and good times.

• Despite having the word “brewing” in their name, Voodoo Brewing specializes in offering a top quality culinary experience with unique dishes such as their famous tacos, Voodoo pulled pork, and “Voo-Dill” Pickle Pizza.

• Voodoo also features many tempting brews such as their “Hazy Vibes” New England IPA, their top-selling “Lacto-Kooler” Berliner Weisse, and their “Where Our Secrets Go” stout.

• Voodoo Brewing keeps racking up numerous accolades in the BCS area, including five nominations for the “Best Of” awards in Brazos Life’s the “Best of the Brazos Valley” contest.

Tucked away behind the construction on Northgate, at the corner of Church Avenue and First Street, sits a gem of a restaurant. While the name may not sound like a traditional restaurant name, Voodoo Brewing Company is a unique full-service restaurant featuring cold craft beer and delicious local delicacies.

Voodoo Brewing Company was founded in 2005 in Meadville, PA and began offering franchise opportunities in 2012, steadily growing across the northeastern United States. In 2017, the company opened a new production facility to help in their distribution scaling and now Voodoo Brewing spans over 20 locations throughout the country, including one of their latest here in College Station.

Voodoo Brewing Company isn’t just a bar, nor is it simply another brewery. Rather, Voodoo Brewing Company is a franchise model business that allows people looking to start a business the chance to invest in their brand and take advantage of the company’s expertise.

Rona Bomkamp is the owner and operator of the College Station location. “The Bomkamp family has always been big into breweries,” Bomkamp said. “When we were looking for a business to start, we went up to their headquarters and toured their operations and fell in love with the concept.”

Bomkamp described how it took her and her family about a year to get the business off the ground and how Voodoo Brewing helped them through this often-arduous process. Here, Bomkamp benefitted from the wide network that Voodoo provided as the company walked her through the process and encouraged her family to add their own local flair to the business.

The logo is one of the most notable pieces of local flare that all Voodoo Brewery franchise owners are encouraged to customize at their locations. Bomkamp’s College Station location’s logo features the famous “Aggie Barn” along Highway 6 as well as the TAMU Gardens windmill nestled underneath the stars that hang big and bright in the Texas sky. In the center sits the Voodoo skull found at all Voodoo Brewing locations.

Along with the logo and the in-store décor, the owners of each franchise are also encouraged to add region-specific options to the menu. Bomkamp chose to add may notable Texas and Tex-Mex options including their famous tacos and stuffed poblanos with pulled pork which include two poblano peppers stuffed with mozzarella cheese and Voodoo pulled pork, wrapped in bacon and served with their “Good Vibes” beer cheese, drizzled with lime crema and garnished with queso fresco and cilantro.

Another one of the offerings that Voodoo Brewing is known for are their signature pizzas. Each pizza carries a unique name that plays with the ingredients of the pizza. These include the Three Little Pigs Pizza, a pizza with three forms of pork, as well as their most unique and popular option, the “Voo-Dill” Pickle Pizza. This aforementioned pie comes with their house-made roasted garlic pesto sauce, shredded galbani mozzarella cheese, thick cut pickles, and their top secret “Voo-Dill” seasoning.

Of course, as a brewery, Voodoo Brewing also specializes in serving many tempting delicacies for craft beer lovers. As the food menu has its own unique names, so does their beer. Many of their IPA beers are themed with names that mention their “vibes” and their label artwork certainly carries that theme as well. “Hazy Vibes” is a New England IPA which has notes of hoppiness, juicy tropical flavors, and delivers a fresh taste on the pallet.

IPA’s aren’t all they do. Voodoo brewing also produces a wide variety of lagers, ales, and stouts along with a multitude of seasonal offerings. Their top-selling beer is a berliner weisse called the “Lacto-Kooler,” which tastes like a sour ale and features a striking green color which adds to its Ghostbusters-themed name. With over 20 beers on tap, even the most discerning beer-aficionados have a high chance of finding a unique beverage to pair with Voodoo’s delectable culinary offerings.

For stout lovers, “Where Our Secrets Go,” is a not-too-overpowering imperial stout with notes of chocolate and coffee. It is still rich and complex in its flavor but won’t overpower someone who isn’t used to stout flavors.

In the future, patrons have seasonal beers to look forward to. Around the time of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” Voodoo brewing has released their “Assholes of the Sea,” a New England IPA with a whopping 10.5% ABV. They also usually release an Oktoberfest beer called “Schnitzengiggle” every September.

Additionally, Voodoo also made a name for themselves with their uniquely crafted local cocktails. While they, of course, feature some local and regional favorites such as margaritas and ranch waters, they also put their own spin on these offerings such as offering cocktails with antioxidants and flights where you can try multiple of their margaritas in small servings.

With College Station’s Voodoo Brewing location, Bomkamp took a hands-on approach to the business and described how her favorite part of owning and working here in College Station is the ability to interact with her customers. 

“Whether that is chatting about beer, cocktails, or food – it’s so fun to produce a high-quality product,” Bomkamp explained.“Our customers will be taken care of and not ignored.”

Voodoo Brewing received five nominations for the “Best Of” awards in Brazos Life’s, the “Best of the Brazos Valley” contest and it’s clear that it is not just another bar for the 21-and-above crowd to go and hang out close to Northgate, but rather, a high-quality restaurant with a unique feel and vibe where people can gather with great food and quality drinks in a relaxing atmosphere.