Stout

The Beerbrarian and Brewologist soak it up.

BC caught wind of this new beer & burger bar last November and decided to meet here for a Sunday beer & burger brunch. They'd only been open for 4 days, so in light of that I say not too shabby, but there are some things to work on.

I like to learn about new beers every time I drink. This afternoon we sampled Kilt Lifter, Old Speckled Hen, Racer 5, and our B-E.M.T. added some espresso to her Old Rasputin stout (this was a classy alternative to Sparks?).

The chef/owner came out and chatted with us for a while; he was super cute and genial. He told us he lured his brewmaster away from Portland and will soon be serving housemade brews under their new Hollywood Brewing Co. I'm keeping my eye out for the "Director's Cut," an IPA that promises to be nice and snappy.

There are two quinoa-based veggie burgers on the menu and we tried them both. I had The Charlie, which was topped with an asian peanut slaw - soggy, salty and ill-fitting IMHO, but I still ate the whole thing. The Beerbrarian had better luck with the Bollywood, which included arugula and sharp cheddar. 'Twas super tasty so I kept stealing bites, and though I didn't find it to have any Indian flavors it did make me want to get up and dance in an epic romantic comedy musical number (what?).

Fellow BC members raved about the Six Weeker (a real meat burg with fig jam and carmelized onions) and the side of bread pudding was decadent and amazing, melt-in-your-mouth vanilla-chocolate-almost- butterscotchy. The other sides were a notch above meh - some decent onion rings and yam chips - especially since they were $4 a pop and the portions were borderline share-able.

We were bummed that the Sweet Potato Tots we had heard about through the foodie blogosphere were not on the menu, and told them as much. The chef explained that they were very labor-intensive to make and lack consistency unless he personally hand-rolled them, so he discontinued them after the soft open. Bring back the tots as a special, Stout! Now that the burger bar trend is fading, it'll set you apart from the rest.