Brewer's Alley

Frederick, MD

Price:$$$

Decor: Simple/casual date

Summary:Creative menu that doesn't always live up to expectations

(3 crabs out of 5)

Karen-It was a dark and stormy night in the town of Frederick. Lightning streaked across the sky in yellow jags, and thunder rumbled the stones under our feet as Paul and I intrepidly combed the streets for a genuine taste of the city.. Suddenly, the spurts of yellow light reflected in big glistening metal cylinders. This could only mean one thing. A Microbrewery. Our eyes lit upon a quaint little alley, leading to a restaurant that at least looked historic. Success!

Paul- Short version....we were hungry...in Frederick...this place looked good.

Karen- It's not hard to see why microbrewery restaurants have skyrocketed in popularity, in and out of quaint cities like Frederick. They effectively take all the nice parts of a bar (plentiful portion of good old greasy food, a communal "Cheers" like friendly atmosphere, alcohol for the masses) and do away with all those unpleasant bits (having to sit next to all those masses, fighting said masses for your space at the bar, shouting through the smoke at your inebriated companion). Microbreweries take all the "seedy" out of a bar and replace it with a tame little poodle of a dinner date.

Paul-good point

Karen-Most of these breweries proudly display the aforementioned large metal beer bins (what are those called anyway?) and proudly serve good wholesome buffalo wings and predictable big burgers. At Brewer's Alley, Paul and I keenly noted the beer bin, and expected the logical counterparts. Indeed, as we approached our table and noted the woodsy, Beer-logo décor our expectations were partially fulfilled. As we opened the menu, however, we noticed that instead of "Buffalo wings" there were listed instead your choice of "red garlic special sauce" or "Szechuan" wings. Perplexed, we read on. All sorts of strange foods followed, which might be called fusion or might be called New American, but I'd call weird for a run of the mill brewery.

Paul- Yeah, the menu could be down right confusing. They get some real points for being creative.

Karen-Never resisting an opportunity for our favorite crustacean, we ordered a crab chili for an appetizer. The menu said "piping hot", and that it certainly was, but otherwise I thought it failed to live up to its promise of Southwestern flavor. It was instead mostly sour cream with crab mixed in and a slight zing of spice. While it was fatty and crabby enough to taste good, it did not do its description justice.

Paul- It was missing something. I was expecting something hotter (in the spicey way). On one end we had salsa..the other sour cream with crab in it and in the middle tortia chips. It was a good idea on the menu but they didn't carry it out very well

Karen-Not so for the main course. My choice was the "Mezquite-grilled Yucantan-style chicken skewers," which guaranteed after the first bite to have a taste rainbow complex enough to rival its name. The chicken itself was not so strange, being big lumps of grilled chicken on a stick. What is it, though, that makes food on a stick taste so good? Is it the chargrilled black stripes of enhanced flavor, or is it just the feeling that we are having exceptionally good camp food? The citrus dip they provided for the chicken somehow made tangerine a spicy flavor to be reckoned with. It enhanced the bird in an exotic way which was tasty if only for the novelty.

Paul-I thought the chicken was pretty good. It was cooked to just the right texture...not rubbery but tender, with a nice grilled flavor. I had a Muffelleta. Which from what I got was a salami sandwich with a TON of olives. I mean a TON of different types of olives..wow. I like olives thank goodness but they really over did it. The olives overpowered everything. You could hardly taste the meat though it went very well with the hearty bread. I think in the future they should serve this just with the olives as just a starter. It could be a interesting spin on foccaccia and olive oil.

Karen-I'm not sure what they did to the pineapple bits served as a sidedish, but it made me think that the "flavor-blasting" process they supposedly use on goldfish crackers has incredible power that Nabisco has not yet begun to explore. Each one packed a powerful spice whallop, with specific tinges of cilantro-like flavors appearing in the aftermath.

Paul- It covered the whole range from spicey to tangy to sweet. I didn't like it that much but I was impressed. I think Karen's dish in general was much better than mine, though mine had potential to be very good if they just turned it down a notch....I think they are watching too much Emeril in the kitchen.

Karen-Paul and I have encountered culinary oddities in the breed of these foods before, but never have I experienced these dishes on a vinyl tablecloth such as those at Brewer's Alley. The resulting cognitive dissonance between the exotic food and the simple style décor took something away from both. However, it's not often that one is surprised in a restaurant, so the experience was certainly worthwhile. Also, they demonstrated an impressive insight into human nature: in the men's bathroom old pin-up's of women were displayed, and in the women's there were pictures of babies and little kids. All in all, an interesting little diamond in the our unexplored ruff of Frederick.

Reviewed-8/2001