photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

A bartender hands a customer a glass of beer on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, at Free State Brewing Company.

No matter who wins USA Today’s contest for best brewpub this year, Free State Brewing Company founder Chuck Magerl thinks there’s a title they all deserve: “third place.”

Not the kind of “third place” his brewery won in the contest last year, though. The “third place” that sociologists speak of – a place people gather “that’s different from work or different from home.”

“As far as I’m concerned, the role of a pub, restaurant, cafe, diner … really is a social setting,” Magerl told the Journal-World on Wednesday. “It allows people to come out of their houses and interact in areas where there’s other humans around and not have to wonder whether they’re going to be accepted.”

Free State is one of 20 such places from across the country to be nominated for the 2026 USA Today Readers’ Choice Award for Best Brewpub. Some nominees are in big cities like Chicago, Baltimore or Philadelphia; others are in suburbs or small towns; and all were nominated by a panel of food and travel writers. Over the next few weeks, the public will weigh in on their favorites, and the top 10 will be announced on March 4.

Magerl is hoping to “advance just a touch more this year” than last year’s No. 3 finish. But he knows that with a people’s choice award, “there’s always a certain level of uncertainty and whimsy.” They can be “gamed outrageously,” he acknowledges with a laugh – someone could say, “I’m gonna pay a bot farm in China to just stuff this one, you know?”

“But at the same time, it’s also a way to show pride,” he said. “And I’m proud that Kansas gets recognition like this in a national realm, and we should celebrate that whenever we can.”

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

The bar at Free State Brewing Company on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.

We should also celebrate the local impact that community hubs like breweries, restaurants and cafes have, Magerl said. It’s something he’s passionate about and has advocated for at the state level in his role with the Governor’s Council on Travel & Tourism.

At quarterly conferences he’s attended for the council, he said, “I feel like I’m insistent, at every meeting I’m pounding my hand on the table and saying, ‘We need to support small community diners. We need subsidies for cafes in small towns so that people can gather and interact with each other.’ I think that really is so crucial for social and public health.”

When Magerl is in his own restaurant, he loves watching the interactions that go on – “watching tables adjacent to each other engaging in conversation.” He loves the feeling of a place where there are few formalities and no dress code, “someplace where people in the community are welcome to come in and engage and hopefully be surprised by some of the other people they see around them.”

Free State, which has been operating since 1989, appreciates “everybody that walks down Massachusetts Street and comes into our doorway,” Magerl said, and he hopes the community feels the same way about Lawrence’s “third places.”

“At its core, what we’re talking about is, how can a community appreciate and say, ‘We value these places where we can gather as a community and enjoy a bit of life outside of our homes and work,'” Magerl said.

Voters who want to show their support for Free State in USA Today’s contest can do so at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/best-brewpub. You can vote once per day, and the voting closes at 11 a.m. Central Time on Monday, Feb. 23.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Free State Brewing Company, 636 Massachusetts St., is pictured Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.