Those of you out in Monroeville may have seen this place across Rte 22 from Showcase Cinemas. Upon entering, we were immediately greeted and escorted to our table. Consequently, I really didn't have much time to examine the cutouts of Ben Franklin, John Kennedy, Jerry Garcia, Samuel Adams and Teddy Roosevelt wearing various John Harvard t-shirts. The decor is pretty nice with lots of shiny fermenters and brew tanks to ooh and ahh over. The dining area had comfy chairs, solid wood tables which were stained or painted black, and some nifty lights that reminded me of copper kettles. I found the stain glass windows of the previously mentioned famous Americans in saintly garb a bit unnerving. Additionally, the underlying captions such as "Ask not what your country can brew for you, ask what you can brew for your country" (guess who?) were rather cheesy. Music from the 80's played continously (can you say 'target demographic') and though Karma Chameleon usually doesn't do much for my appetite, the food was so good it didn't matter. We ordered the nachoes and jambalaya with the beer sampler to wash it all down. The beer arrived in glasses slightly smaller than the sort you might find in a Holiday Inn. Of the 5 beers we sampled, the Brown Ale was our favorite with very nice chocolate/coffee overtones. The Porter was not quite as good, but still enjoyable. The light beer was better than any other light beer I've ever had and it's subtle flavor almost made it worth further investigation. The raspberry was acceptable, while the pale ale was too bitter for either of our tastes. In all, I'd say the beer quality was pretty high, with excellent clarity and great color; it's just that some of the recipes weren't exactly what we liked. The nachoes ($6.95) had both blue and yellow corn tortillas which were covered with melted cheese (monterey jack?) that glued down bits of fresh tomatoes and onions. Gobs of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole were all piled ontop and it made for a great tasting appetizer, though more than we bargained for. The jambalaya ($11.95) arrived piled atop basmati rice. It had lots of squid, sausage, shrimp and mussels and was probably the best jambalya I've had in the city (though I can't think of too many other places that serve it). Our waiter was very attentive, and very friendly, though being his only table helps. The place wasn't too busy as it only opened on Wednesday, but judging by the great food and service, they should expect a lot more business. kevin
Pittsburgh, PA