Brü Grill & Market

[StarRaptor]

Thanks to Facebook Bonnie and I got a sneak peak at Brian's (brianc) new endeavor Brü Grill & Market.

I've been waiting to check this place out for months and have to say the wait paid off. Bonnie and I loved both the food and beer at Brü Grill & Market.

Let's talk about the beer for a second. Not only does Brian plan on having 42 taps of nothing but craft but the list is one of the best I've seen. I'm most excited by the large representation on those taps of local OC breweries such as Taps, Bootleggers, The Bruery and Cismontane. He is also covering a wide variety of styles something that I, as a beer geek, really appreciate. Last night for instance I had super fresh Double Jack, probably the best I've had for a while, and Green Lakes Organic Ale that Brian selected for me. Both paired excellent with the food I was enjoying. Bonnie had a West Coast IPA and Stone IPA. The Double Jack was severed in a nice fluted glass while the rest came in a 20 oz Imperial Pint so it could hold a full 16oz with head. It doesn't hurt that it also happens to be one of my favorite shaped glasses.

Then there is the bottle menu which will be incredible essentially if it's in the Market section you can order a bottle. The selection was top notch and included several beers I was shock to find such as Abyss as I hear only 11 cases made it to OC. Best of all is the pricing, the price in the Market is the price no corkage. This is a recent trend that I am definitely enjoying as I generally ignore most beer bars bottle list not wanting to pay an arm and a leg.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the food. We had the Brü Crü pretzel appetizer and split a Cesar Salad and Brü Burger. The house-made Cesar dressing was excellent and the season on the fries was wonderful and nothing like the ones on the kid's menu fries.

Overall we had a great time and it was great to get to talk to Brian on what's he's been up to for the last few months.

Cheers

[backyard brewer]

+1 This place in incredible.

I had the Bru Burger last night and it was off the hook good. My wife had the lamb and it was incredicble too. We ordered the prawn appetizer, I've been serverd smaller "lobsters" at other places. They do some unique things like the cheeze plate appetizer; you select 3 cheezes from a cheese menu for the appetizer plate. The market has an extensive wine inventory and unlike other restaurants you can purchase your wine at market price in the market and pay only a modest $10 corkage fee at the table.

We're planning on going back next week.

Oh and I had the Hanger 24 Alt beer. I love a good Alt but they are hard to come by, the only domestic commercial example being Alaskan Amber which tends to be sweet forthe style. The Hanger 24 example I thought was very good. A nice clean lager-like finish with just a hint of toffee and a nice body.

[BrewMasterBrad]

Can't wait to go. Might try tonight or this weekend sometime.

[bwarbiany]

How kid-friendly is it? Not that taking a 2- and 4-year-old to a restaurant is ever a pleasant event, it's a lot easier than getting a babysitter... Need to know whether to plan this as a family outing or as a "date night" with the wife...

BTW if anyone's in the area for it, let me know as I live practically around the corner (okay, 3 miles away). I might be able to escape for a quick beer, or host someone for a quick pint at my place. (Note: until early next week, my kegerator is absolutely dry -- so the second half of that offer needs to wait!)

[StarRaptor]

How kid-friendly is it? Not that taking a 2- and 4-year-old to a restaurant is ever a pleasant event, it's a lot easier than getting a babysitter... Need to know whether to plan this as a family outing or as a "date night" with the wife...

BTW if anyone's in the area for it, let me know as I live practically around the corner (okay, 3 miles away). I might be able to escape for a quick beer, or host someone for a quick pint at my place. (Note: until early next week, my kegerator is absolutely dry -- so the second half of that offer needs to wait!)

I would say it is kid friendly. We took our 2 year old and they have a kids menu and crayons to color on it. They also use a different spice blend to spice the kids fries vs the regular ones

[bwarbiany]

I actually went there last night, with the whole family in tow (kids, wife, in-laws). It's definitely okay for kids, but for us, the service was *painfully* slow. I chalk that up to them being new, but I'm going to make sure that we give it a try on a date night once or twice to see if they pick up the pace before bringing the kids back.

Overall everyone was very pleased. I had the burger, and thought it was quite nice. I also had a taste of the chili, which was excellent. Even better was that my wife liked it, so we can actually go back