Went to The Foundry Ale Works (on 28th and Smallman) twice this week, and this a review of both experiences. Short Review: Good beer, and great selection (upto 10 at a time). Interesting food. Very varied menu (comfort/rustic to nouveau/interesting fare). Good portions. Reasonable prices ($5-$8 for appetizers, $8-$19 for entrees, $6-$8 sandwiches, $3 for soups). Good ambience. Good service, if a bit overmatched at peak times. They have a kids menu. LONG review: Two of us first went for lunch on Tuesday: I had the sampler (5 ~5 oz glasses), for which I chose: 1. Pitt Witt: a Belgian style beer with a lot of interesting flavors, noticeably clove and banana. 2. Ye Old Ale: "hand drawn" english ale, strong with a good hoppy finish. 3. Oatmeal Stout: nitrogenated, wasn't as strong as I expected, but very smooth and silky. 4. Amber Ale: most "balanced" of the lot, very drinkable and quite tasty. 5. Brown Ale: excellent beer, with lots of malt flavor and a nice hoppy finish. My friend had the Dunkel Weizen, which was excellent. He followed up with a Brown Ale. (Note: they are now out of the Witt and the Dunkel. More on that later). We both had a bowl of French Onion soup, which was served in nice porcelain crocks with a healthy layer of cheese that wasn't too runny or greasy on the top. Good soup, with hunks of toughish bread in it. I think they use yesterdays bread in it, as I came across several different types, including foccacia. We had 2 appetizers as our lunch entrees: I had their crabcakes, and my friend had the shrimp and sausage beignets. The crabcakes are big, and were served on a red pepper crepe with a spicy chutney in between. Very tasty. My friend's "beignets" were essentially like fritters, and were served with fresh horseradish. He liked them too. Neither of us were able to finish them (read: generous portions). Service was friendly and attentive (the place was not very busy), and the total came to ~$25 with tip. Went back for dinner tonight (Saturday): The place was absolutely packed. We were seated upstairs. I had the El Nino Ale (which replaced the Dunkel on the menu), which was very strong and hoppy. Sort of like an IPA on steriods, but tasty nonetheless. My friend had the brown ale, which she liked. Speaking of IPAs, there was also an IPA on the menu now. The waitress explained they were basically to brew small batches of different beer, so that they can offer a varied selection even to regular clientele. Sounds good to me :-). Feeling adventurous, we split the bbq duck and papaya quesadilla appetizer. We tried it with mixed expectations, but it was excellent. Each "wedge" had a couple of small pieces of bbq duck, which was succulent and tasty, vidalia onions, papaya and pineapple. The whole thing tastes a lot better than it sounds. I will definitely order it again, and highly recommend it to anyone who will consider ordering it. For our entrees, my friend had a pizza with grilled shrimp and asiago on it. It was excellent. (We had to send it back the first time because it was a little underdone, but it was returned "right" pretty quickly, and we put it down to a busy night). I had the Foundry Charcoute (sp?), which is a plate heaped with babyback ribs, grilled chicken, ham, bratwurst, roasted red potatoes and nice, peppery sauerkraut. My veg du jour side was baby carrots covered in an orange-apricot sauce that wasn't too sweet and actually made a nice accompaniment to the smoky meats on my platter. Service was friendly this time too, but inconsistent. We were never asked for a second order of beer though we had empty glasses for quite a while. The waitress admitted that they weren't quite prepared for the crowd. Total came to ~$40 with tip. Noticed people getting served salads in dishes that I would use to serve salad for four people at dinner, so be forewarned if you choose salad to eat a light dinner! I would definitely go back, both for the beer and for the food.
Pittsburgh, PA