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We called ahead since there were eight of us going out and they told us it would be an hour wait, first come first serve. We ended up hanging out at the bar while we waited and enjoyed some of their specialty brews. I tried the IPA, which was hoppy as expected, but not too bitter. Josh had the porter, which he wasn’t a big fan of because he thought it was too watery and thin and didn’t pack enough flavor. He ended up switching to the IPA, while I went with the Killibrew Brown Ale, which was not too light and not too dark – just right.
The wait wasn’t short but it wasn’t terrible, as we were all deep in conversation. We were seated soon enough and ordered a bunch of appetizers to share. First up was the spinach artichoke dip, which was served with garlic/parmesan toasts. The dip was cheesy and creamy, and though it could have used a tad bit more seasoning, it was a very good version.
We also got a vegetarian version of the nachos, which were a huge pile of tortilla chips covered in cheese, refried beans, tomatoes, guacamole, salsa, and scallions. The nachos were pretty standard but still tasty to snack on.
Lastly, we got an order of chicken wings with “Hot” sauce, which was in the middle on the mild to hottest options. The funniest comment of the night was from Claire’s friend S, a chemist, who upon reading the hierarchy of spicy wing sauces questioned: “Why is ‘Nitro’ hotter than ‘TNT’? TNT is TRI-nitro!!” Fortunately the Hot sauce wasn’t too spicy, though it did have a nice kick at the end that lingered on our lips. The order came with a pound of wings, which turned out to be a lot of pieces since these were the tiniest wings I’ve ever seen. They were almost half the size of wings that I usually see but they were still pretty meaty and much less messy to eat.
For my main course, I got a Bad Ass® Burger, which is a half pound burger topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions simmered in their Bad Ass® Ale, served with lettuce, tomato, and pickle. I added swiss cheese to the burger, as well as raw red onion (I love raw onion on my burgers).
Unfortunately, my burger was cooked way past my requested medium rare, so it was a tad dry despite all the toppings. Was it Bad Ass®? No, but it was pretty well seasoned and very filling. I also liked the beer battered fries that came on the side, which were nice and crispy.
Josh had a “BYOB” (build your own burger). He requested Bad Ass® onions, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and swiss cheese. His burger came out without bacon, but at least it was more medium rare than my burger though it was still overcooked. I think the waitress forgot to write down bacon because she didn’t seem to notice that it was missing.
Claire also had a burger while Sean went with the BBQ Combo, which included half a rack of St. Louis ribs and a grilled chicken breast. His combo came with a side of fries and his choice of soup or salad. He requested the soup but our waitress also forgot to bring that out and had to be reminded. He enjoyed the bbq a lot though, and the bite of ribs that I snagged was moist, tender, and flavorful.
Overall I didn’t think the food at The Brewery was spectacular (it’s mostly basic bar food after all), but it was pretty good and I liked the atmosphere a lot. It’s very casual and lively, and from the outside, it looks like somebody’s house. I liked the variety of beers on tap and prices were very reasonable, especially for a ski resort town. The specialty brews were only $4.50 a pint, which isn’t too shabby especially compared to NYC prices. Service was a bit lacklaster but maybe that was because they were so busy that night. I think it would be a great place to hang out over a few pitchers of beer, order a bunch of appetizers, and watch sports games on the TVs all around the room. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting the area, and I would definitely come back here next time we’re in town. And maybe next time I’ll actually try the Bad Ass® Ale!
The Brewery at Lake Tahoe
3542 Lake Tahoe Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA
There are lots of food stalls all along the Malecon, and we couldn’t decide where we wanted to eat. There were many different options to choose from but we wanted to stick with typical Ecuadorian cuisine. We ended up going ordering from Tenedor de Oro, which I think is a chain because we saw several of those stalls all the way down the Malecon. We hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch on the plane and we were starving since it was early afternoon at this point, but we had dinner reservations already so we decided to just split an entree and two sides.
We started off with two cold Pilseners, which are Ecuadorian beers. Not bad, a bit light though in flavor. We prefer darker and hoppier beers. In afternoon heat though, these beers really hit the spot.
I was excited to see salchipapas on the menu, as I had just tried them at Pio Pio (post coming later) and absolutely loved them. The french fries were ordinary but they were hot and freshly fried. The hot dogs were cut into the shape of baby octopus, which I thought was cute. That also gave the hot dogs more surface area to crisp up when they were fried, and I really liked this dish.
The ketchup, however, was really strange! It was pink and almost translucent, with little specks in it. It was also very sweet and mild in tomato flavor. I definitely prefer Heinz over this ketchup.
Our other side dish was fried plantains, which we call tostones in NY but they call patacones in Ecuador. These were also freshly fried and not too starchy but they didn’t give us any sort of sauce to go along with them. We asked if they had any salsa picante, or hot sauce, and they seemed a bit confused. We ended up with a little container that I think had mayo and ketchup and some sort of chili sauce mixed together. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but it wasn’t terrible.
Our main dish was arroz con pollo. It was tasty enough, kind of like fried rice with peas, carrots and peppers mixed in, but there wasn’t a whole lot of chicken. They gave us a huge platter of it though, more than enough for the two of us, and it came with pieces of maduro (sweet plantains) on top that I enjoyed a lot. The dish kind of needed a bit more salt but I liked that they sprinkled fresh herbs on top.
Overall it was a nice quick “snack” and a good introduction to Ecuadorian food. The total for this feast? $7, including the beer. Unreal! They use U.S. Dollars in Ecuador so no need to exchange money or worry about conversion rates. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting Guayaquil for the first time. Sitting outside next to the river on the Malecon was a scenic and relaxing way to get acquainted with the city and the cuisine.
Tenedor de Oro
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Here are a few highlights from our walk along the Malecon:
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After you’ve had a few drinks, you’re bound to want some food. The favorite here is the boneless buffalo wings that are spicy and saucy and come with celery, carrot sticks, and blue cheese dressing. They use white meat chicken so it can get a little dry, but the ample amount of sauce usually helps with that. We always order the wings hot so the sauce has a nice kick to it.
We also tried an order of their chili nachos, which was a huge messy pile covered in beef chili and cheese. Unfortunately the tortilla chips they use taste kind of funny, like they are the baked variety. They had a weird cardboard-y taste and texture and I found them to be pretty unpleasant. It was too bad, because the other ingredients were really tasty. We ended up only eating the top layer of the nachos, where there was the most topping to cover up the flavor of the tortilla chips. I probably wouldn’t order this dish again.
Rattle & Hum is a must-visit bar for any beer lover. We go there all the time and I rarely repeat my beer orders. There are so many options to choose from and it’s a lot of fun to try all the different varieties of brews. The food isn’t the greatest but we come here for the beer; the food is to just soak up the alcohol. If you’re really hungry after all that drinking, the bar is just a stone’s throw away from K-town. You only need to walk one block and you’ll find some of the city’s best Korean BBQ joints!
Rattle & Hum
14 East 33rd St. between 5th and Madison Ave.
New York, NY
But back to the food. Reade Street offers typical bar menu items (nachos, buffalo wings, burgers, sandwiches, etc.) but executes them very well. Josh’s standard order is the pub burger with swiss cheese and bacon. While the burger obviously doesn’t compare to some of the city’s greatest (i.e., Corner Bistro, Shake Shack), it gets a nice char and is well seasoned.
They have a tendency to overcook it a bit, so a medium rare order usually ends up being closer to medium. It’s still really juicy though, and I’ve burned my hand many times on the juices that run out when you bite into it.
My grilled chicken club is seriously the best I’ve had anywhere. I hesitate to order chicken/turkey clubs at an unfamiliar place because they’re usually just dry and mealy, but somehow the kitchen at Reade Street manages to keep the chicken breast completely moist. Their version is a standard triple decker sandwich piled high with grilled chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato and red onion. Mayo is not necessary, but I love mayo so I slather it on liberally (yet another reason why I have a fat belly). Both the sandwich and the burger come with a side of fries (you can substitute with salad) that are made from real potatoes and are the perfect thickness – not too thin and not too fat.
When Josh and I lived in Battery Park City, we would stay for hours at Reade Street listening to Chris, going through multiple pitchers of Reade Street Ale (only $9 a pitcher!) and then stumbling home. It was a nice walk and gave us a chance to sober up on the way. Now that we live uptown we have to take the train, which just isn’t the same, but it’s still worth the trip. Reade Street is really an awesome place. I’m almost hesitant to give it such a great review as it’s crowded enough, but then again, it’s not really a big secret. It’s popular among the after work crowd as it’s a stone’s throw away from the Citi building and the World Financial Center. It’s also a hangout for New York Law School and BMCC students. The bartender is quite a character (and is friends with former Mets players whom she encourages to come hang out!), and the waitresses are always friendly. We can stay there for hours eating and drinking pitcher after pitcher until we can drink no more, and somehow the bill always comes down to less than $25/person, including tax and a generous tip.
Reade Street Pub & Kitchen
135 Reade St. between Hudson and Greenwich
New York, NY