Granite City Brewery

[The Niz]

New restaraunt in Maumee in the Shops at Fallen Timbers Plaza. I had been waiting for what seems like forever for this place to open. Finally got to go there on Friday evening. The food was excellent, really damn good. The beer, the part I was really excited about, was completely lackluster. The have about five different styles and they are all pretty plain. The most flavorful one was the IPA, and by traditional standards, it wasn't much.

They have one truly astounding dish, worth a trip by itself. The Idaho nachos. Take Mr. Spots Waffle fries, add something like Red Robin's fry seasoning, then melt cheddar, mozzerella, and some other cheese all over it, then put bacon, green onions, and tomatos on top of that. There is no beating it. Given the choice, i would take one of these over a Myle's pizza.

[hammb]

Thanks for the tip Niz. I'll have to check it out.

Good food & lackluster beer? Not uncommon for these brewpub type places to have lackluster beer...they're trying to appeal to the masses, of course. Still, I'll have to check the place out sometime.

[Bono]

Lacklustre beer? Dreadful. The solution to lacklustre beer is Wadworth's 6X brewed in Devizes, Wiltshire. Nothing lacklustre about 6X. You never know what you're likely to say after a few of pints of this stuff. You just won't believe what you 're saying. Neither will your significant other.

[hammb]

Just did some searching, and as I suspected this is actually a chain. Looks like it's similar to Hops, if anyone remembers that place (used to be one on Dussel).

Basically it's a chain "brewpub". They brew their own beers at each location, so you're getting fresh, craft type brew, but you're not going to find outstanding offerings at these types of places. Still, I think these type of restaurants are good for the beer industry. You won't find anything great for true beer lovers, but they do offer a place where beer novices can try something a little better than standard BMC.

[The Niz]

They don't actually brew the beer on location. They brew it all at their warehouse in Idaho then ship the worts to the individual locations to be fermented. A friend who works there filled me in.

There's a place similar to the GC called the Thirsty Dog out in NE ohio. You may recognize brews like Old leghumper from that establishment. The food there is not spectacular, however the brews are fantastic.

[hammb]

I hit this place up Friday night. I pretty much echo Niz's comments. The food was outstanding, but the beer was not special. The IPA was definitely the best brew, but it didn't stack up with top notch commercial IPAs on the market. I didn't try their light beer, but the Stout & Bock were both only okay; drinkable, but I wouldn't go out of my way for them.

I did join their mug club though. For $20 you get a free beer & 10% off all food purchases. Future beers are always $3.50 and they're 25 oz instead of 20. Pretty good deal, really, so I figured if you go there 2-3 times it pays for itself.

The beer was not special by craft beer standards, but it was definitely better than standard BMC that most places have on tap. I found the food & prices to be very good though, so it's definitely worth an occasional visit.

[The Niz]

Did you try the Idaho Nachos?

[hammb]

Did you try the Idaho Nachos?

I saw someone eating them, and they did look awesome. I elected for something that wasn't quite the instant coronary. It was probably equally unhealthy but at least gave the air of something a little better.

I had the Mussels & Shrimp Linguine. It was tossed in marinara sauce & cream.

Real good combo, I was impressed by the quality.

The nachos looked amazing, but I think I'll save them for when I'm there with a larger group of people to split.

[FortWayneFalcon]

One just opened in Ft Wayne. The pizza made an excellent lunch. Beer? Bad?? Huh????

[VDub26Falcon]

Given the choice, i would take one of these over a Myle's pizza.

BLASPHEMY!!!!

[billchase2]

i went here a couple of weeks ago and pretty much had the same reaction. it was a really nice place with excellent food... the beer wasn't bad... but it was nothing special. we also found it funny that our waitress said something about how the beer was fresh brewed from their bar and kind of pointed behind her. we were thinking to ourselves... "no... you don't even brew it here."