When normal people redesign parking lots, they plant nondescript trees, designate “Employee of the Month” spots and tweak the angle of space lines by imperceptible degrees. When food-industry people redesign parking lots, they roll in repurposed power cable spool tables, fill beach bins full of iced-down craft cans and agonize over the placement of cornhole boards and ping-pong tables. So went the ramp-up to Drury Beer Garden, which Opa owners George and Vasiliki Tsiouris unveiled late last week in the formerly vacant space behind their mod-Greek bar and restaurant (1311 Sansom St.).

The brother-sister team, who recently visited COOK with chef Andrew Brown and their momma Chrisoula, have dramatically tweaked out the new outdoor hang, accessible via both the Drury Street alley and through Opa’s front door, as a colorful addition to a ‘hood that features no shortage of pretty open-air spaces. This one sits on the casual end of the spectrum, a pavement slab hand-painted to resemble cobblestone (fret not, high heel rockers) hosting a scattering of mixed-up chairs, umbrella-shaded tables and an antique bar. The booze? Mostly bottles and cans, ranging from three-buck PBR to snazzy imports like Saison Dupont and Hitachino at sub-$9 prices. The food? Brown’s in-demand gyros are the stars, joined by housebaked Euro-style pretzel rings, honey-chili chicken fingers and mini crab boils. The tunes? George has acquired a sweet throwback boom box (from where? “The Internet”) that docks iPods and iPhones. Slight upgrade from a parking lot on all fronts.

Drury Beer Garden is open Monday to Thursday from 5 to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 5 to last call, and George says they’re planning on launching Sunday hours in the near future.

Photos: Drew Lazor