The atmosphere at Hunga Dunga Brewing Company, which has been open for nearly two months now, is a special one.
The building is industrial on the outside, inside it holds all wood seats, tables and a bar. The interior of Hunga Dunga is decorated with merchandise on the shelves, and T-shirts with the restaurant’s Tiki mask logo hang around the corner from the bar.
Speakers play non-distracting alternative music, to top off the ambiance. The open space is painted a bluish-gray and the walls are painted with black chalkboard paint.
Claire Whitley | Argonaut
Hunga Dunga Brewing Company, a brewery on Jackson Street, opened two months ago in a transformed grain warehouse.
The menu, written in chalk on the walls, showcase the current rotation of beers on tap, which are brewed in house in the back of the building, as well as a seasonal menu made from locally grown foods.
Even though it is locally sourced, the food seemed lacking for my own personal taste, but Hunga Dunga more than makes up for it with house made beer.
Owner and Vandal alumnus Graham Lilly said he has been brewing beer for about 10 years, and always knew he wanted to open a place of his own.
He said he has been working on the old grain warehouse on Jackson Street since 2014. “Hunga Dunga” is itself a reference to the Marx Brothers movie “Animal Crackers,” Lilly said. A movie he watched often growing up.
“Graham would use it as a term for home brewing,” said employee Norm Embry. “He would ask ‘Hey, you want a Hunga Dunga?’ And it just stuck.”
And stick it did, when the brewery opened in Moscow.
Lilly’s experience shows in the flavors of his beer.
Having only tried two of the different kinds currently on tap, my favorite is the citrus wheat beer. It is a lighter beer fitting for the summer season, which Lilly said is what he tries to do. The beer has a distinct and refreshing citrus fruit flavor perfect for the heat.
Everything about the place screams “new” or “modern.”
Not that the black beer napkins and open fire grill are a bad thing, but with limited space inside for seating and outside for parking, how Lilly plans to accommodate more customers remains to be seen. Though Lilly said it is changeable with the extra space in the back, it still begs the question, what will they do with more patrons?
Hunga Dunga caters to a specific kind of person, and those people, me included, greatly enjoy the atmosphere, decor, food and beer. Considering everything, I give Hunga Dunga 3.5 out of 5 stars, which may change as the seasons change and Hunga Dunga’s menu with it.
Claire Whitley
can be reached at
or on Twitter @Cewhitley24