McKenzie Brew House Makes a Great Meatloaf (and Plenty of Quality Beer)

I had heard a lot about McKenzie Brewhouse over the years so when one (somewhat) recently opened in Devon (or Berwyn, or whatever), a visit became a virtual inevitability. We're pleased to say that the visit was totally worthwhile, and I only hope that other people begin to agree so that this maker of good brews can remain in my area for a decent stretch of time.

We visited on a Sunday for lunch. The place was absolutely beautiful and supremely spacious. We were there with our young son so we were not going to be sitting at the bar, but a quick drive-by marked it as a fine place to sit and have a beer. From our table, we were able to view their brewing area. While there was no one at work on brewing, it was a nice touch to have such a transparent view of the operating systems and I imagine it would be fun to watch over a dinner during a busier time. And I wonder if that is a concern? True, we were there on a Sunday around noon in the summertime. When people think brunch, a brewery/restaurant probably isn't the first place they think of. But the lack of people certainly did have me worried that business may not be picking up as quick as ownership might like. Hopefully, these concerns are totally unwarranted.

Now to the beverages. I was the only person of our party to drink beer (friends went with Mimosa and Bloody Mary, respectively, while the wife went with a water, and the kid inexplicably chose chocolate milk) so I figured I would go all out. After downing a very decent, citrus-laced Application IPA, I called for a sampler. Along with the IPA, it featured a Saison, an American Pale Ale, a Belgian Wheat, a Belgian Pale Ale, a light beer, a stout, and a dreaded barleywine. As we were there to have lunch with our friends, I didn't take a ton of notes, but I do have a memory of which ones shined and which ones didn't. I've already mentioned that the IPA was agreeable, but I also found that the establishment excelled in the area of the Belgians. Both the Belgian Wheat and the Belgian Pale Ale were highlights. The unquestioned best was the Saison Vautour Farmhouse Ale. It absolutely soared with a "dry hoppiness" and a "significant addition of malted rye." (Uh....sorry about the quotes. I'm writing this write off of my beer stained souvenir sampler mat. I also found (and this is a shocker, because I despise the stuff) the barleywine to be quite tasty. Flavors were a lot more subtle than I've ever experienced in a barleywine. I almost think regular barleywine drinkers (if such creatures exist) might think it a little weak. But for someone like me, the thing was perfect.

In the area of duds, I have to touch on McKenzie Light. I understand the need to pander to the cretin who walks off the street and enjoys the refreshing taste of horse piss upon their lips, but this just wasn't good. It had a bitter, vinegary mouthfeel that I've never even experienced in a Coors Light forced into my hands at a frat house party. And while it is easy to dismiss this as a fine brewer not having his heart in the beverage for the common people, I will say that back in the day Rock Bottom (a similar sort of establishment in King of Prussia) made a very good light beer called Lumpy Dog Light. I would often get it despite its lack of heft due to its crisp, refreshing nature. Moral of the story: If you are not into making the light beer, just get it off the menu and force the beer amateur to try something new.

While I am not a fan of stouts, I also have to call bull on McKenzie's Oatmeal Stout. When you consider that the sampler mat describes the potion as "silky and smooth," it will come as some surprise when your first sip gives you the same off-putting, sour notes as the Light. Maybe I just got a bad batch, but if I was a big stout supporter and I bought a pint (and I had any courage or love of confrontation, of which I have none of either), I would ask for a refund.

Aside from the two beers I described, I would give McKenzie's a very nice B grade for their beers. But what of their food? Would its focus on the brews leave the food as a mere afterthought? Absolutely not. I can not vouch for their omelettes and such because I took the brunch road less traveled. That is right: I saw meatloaf on the menu and pounced. Many times, I find that people make a fundamental mistake when serving the dish. They simply don't give you enough. Look, if I am ordering meatloaf at noon it means that I am a hearty eater...and probably a bit of a freak. I want a finely cooked piece of meat, yes. But I also want it big. And McKenzie delivered with a sizeable portion and plenty of rich, flavorful gravy (not enough gravy being another common meatloaf faux pas). With my meal, I had the choice of gravy or BBQ sauce and the piece comes with onion rings and field greens (they quite nicely allowed me to substitute fries for onion rings because I quite simply can't think of something less appetizing to me than a big-ass fried onion). It was the sort of dish that, upon future visits to the establishment, will force me into a form of menu paralysis. You know, when you are looking at the all of the menu options, but your eyes keep moving back to the meatloaf subconciously. It was that good.

It should also be said that the service at McKenzie's was spectacular. As I said, our server did not have a lot of customers to take her attention away from us, but aside from being attentive, she was also courteous, friendly, knowledgeable about the beer, and actively engaging of our young one, making jokes and bringing him some materials to play with sans an eager plea from his parents.

All in all, McKenzie Brew House offers a very quality experience with good beer, delicious food, and a warm, inviting atmosphere in which to consume both. Hopefully, the customers are flocking while I am looking the other way. It would be nice to keep these guys in the neighborhood.
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McKenzie Brew House
324 West Swedesford Road
Berwyn, PA 19312




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Frankford Hall: A Real Good Time Despite Insane Heat Lamps

As a kid who was born in Fishtown, moved somewhat quickly, but still has a ton of family in the area, I can definitely say that I did not see the influx of hipsters coming. But now that they have been there for a while, I feel a bit of a need to thank them for the slew of great bars they have brought along in their wake. First it was Johnny Brenda's, which is not only a very good bar, serving local standout brews, but also a pretty good spot to catch a band (I saw the Ting Tings there; they were outstan-Ting). Then it was Memphis Taproom, a place cool enough to host a kid's day during Beer Week so that me and Spicy Hawaiian were able to kill exotic cans in their beer garden while our toddler watched some weird lady break it down Raffi-style on her acoustic ax. Finally, Barcade came along, with its wicked combo of 80s and early-90s era video games and a superb selection of national microbrews.

So when I heard that my cousin was having his bachelor party at Stephen Starr's Fishtown outpost Frankford Hall, I was definitely psyched. (Full disclosure: OK, this was not the actual bachelor party. That was at Daydreams (yeah, probably not cool for me to link this; sorry, fellas). However, I boycotted that because I am not willing to pay an exorbitant cover charge to get into a place to see breasts that I am not only not allowed to touch, but would receive a severe beating if I had the temerity to accidentally rub up against.)

I really didn't know what to expect as I drived to the place. For wahtever reason, I thought it would be a huge expanse in some old abandoned parking lot or something. But actually it was very well built into the area's urban landscape. After walking into the place and navigating the two fellows who were there to check my I.D. even though I usually feel like I am the age of Tony Hopkins, I spied a large heavily populated bar on the left and a series of tables for dining. On the right was a ping-pong table, which was kind of odd. Not because there was a ping-pong table in a bar. No, that seems like exactly the kind of thing hipsters would want to do whilst swilling suds. It was simply funny because I was hitting the spot at 8 p.m., it was getting dark, and the table was completely underlit, making it impossible for the players to see such a small bouncing sphere. Of course, this made perfect sense as I assumed they were just swinging the paddles to look cool anyway.

As I made my way out to the courtyard, I spied my "homies" at one of the establishment's many communal tables, designed so people will be forced to make new friends. Basically, my worst nightmare. But it was nice. It had been a slightly rainy night, but the open-air area was still somewhat packed. Being that it was a tad bit nippy, I had dressed warmly: flannel shirt, cardigan, Chucks with athletic socks, fingerless gloves that I planned to keep on no matter how hot I got because I just thought it looked cool. However, despite the slightly chilly temperatures, the place felt a bit like a sauna. This is because of the heating lamps, which seemed to be operating at wildly disparate levels. While some were letting out a little bit of a blue flame, the one nearest us was spilling out heat in the manner of Sherman doing his best to completely eradicate Atlanta, Ga. In the heat department, the camp fire in the middle of the courtyard, which customers are able to roast Smores over if they buy them for a minimal price, probably didn't help either, but I did enjoy how it sent me home smelling like I had just spent the evening camping in the forest instead of downing beers in the city of my youth. Seriously, I spent half of the next day sniffing my attire.

And what of the beers I consumed? Well, I certainly wasn't taking notes at a Fishtown bachelor party if that is what you are wondering. I will simply tell you that they were affordable enough for people who are used to spending way too much at metropolitan night spots and they were available in 16-ounce and 1-liter sizes. Since I can't imagine what the last sip of even the best one-liter beer would taste like, I went with the smaller ones. The first beer I had was Eliot Ness Amber Lager by Great Lakes Brewing Company. It was very good. The second was Hofbrau Sommer. It was very good. The third I had was Victory Prima Pils. That was very good, too. But then again, when you are drinking beers with your cousin who is about to get married, hanging out with good men you rarely get to see other than at momentous events, and getting served by unusually attractive ladies with massive amounts of tattoos, it usually tastes very good.

I cannot vouch for the food at Frankford Hall. I didn't have any. The truth is that the menu mostly consists of sausages and I don't really love sausage that much. Also, I forgot that I was hungry due to all of the "hipster-gawking" I was doing. (Actually, the truthier truth is that I was saving my money in case I wimped out of saying "No" to the strip club and had to spend my evening giving women money for baring their lady parts and pretending that they found me remotely sexy.)

All in all, in the two or so hours I spent at Frankford Hall, I had a wonderful time. But how could you not? There's beer, ping pong, beer, a couple ladies in lederhosen, beer, gigantic pretzels with cheese sauce, beer, heat lamps that could render the Antarctic a gargantuan puddle, beer, and a band that featured an accordion, a tuba, and a jug player (can't believe I forgot to mention them!). Basically, it's hipster nirvana and I can't wait to go back on a nice, sunny day because...dude, wait 'til you see my rockin' Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas tee!
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Frankford Hall
1210 Frankford Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19125



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Tale of the Pie: SliCE (Rittenhouse Square)

When we went to Rittenhouse Square's economically named SliCEthe other day, we forgot our notepad. So I took notes via texts to my wife's phone. I figured I would then just look at the sent messages and I could recount the experience that way. One problem: I then proceeded to lose my phone that night. Being that I did not want to monopolize my wife's phone for a significant stretch, I was kind of stuck. Five days after the experience, the memory is starting to fade slightly so I had to snatch Spicy's mobile. I will now write a review of the pie, only rather than using the notes as the backbone of the review, I will type the texts in their entirety and then try to translate them as best as possible as extinguished memories hopefully return.

Beer, Video Games, Hipsters, BARCADE!

For myself and my friends, there was a time where every Thursday was "Guys Night." We would gather in Jersey and, from there, the town was laid out before us like an ocean leading to the star-strewn horizon. If we wanted to get our crunk on, we would head to South Street's Fluid Nightclub. If we wanted a touch of hipster, it was Northern Liberties' 700 Club for a little old-school rap party. If the college crowd was desired, it was straight to the now-defunct Who's on Third! A little pool, some elbow-to-elbow, and a jukebox with an intriguing roster of artists? Olde City's Sugar Mom's, so nice to see you!

These days, things have changed.

Top Fourteen Thoughts I Had While Out at Sapphire in Manayunk

1) Goodness gracious. F*ck am I doing in Manayunk?

2) "You know, I think I had a little too much Cosco beer at our friends' bridal shower before coming here. Maybe I'll just start off with a nice, refreshing wat...whoa, they have Stone IPA on the menu!?!?!?! I'll take six in a wine tub."

3) "I don't think I am in the mood for dancing tonight. Plus, I have a cold. Think I'm just going to go ahead and keep it a little chil...whoa, is this that "Friday" song by Katy Perry. Did I just do the Cabbage Patch?"

4) "I'm literally jumping up and down uncontrollably like a maniac right now. I don't even think I would know how to stop if I wanted to. There's some sort of brain/nervous system disconnect going on here. And this is to the Black Eyed Peas. Fergie, Will.i.am., the little black guy, and the long-haired dude of indeterminate origin. Even I want to punch myself in the face right now."