Pete Tittl: Bar food, groovy atmosphere and primo beer — life is good at Lengthwise
| Wednesday, Mar 25 2009 09:24 PM
Last Updated Monday, Mar 30 2009 04:23 PM
LENGTHWISE BREWING COMPANY
6720 Schirra Court
836-ALES
Hours:11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Prices:Appetizers $6.95 to $9.95, salads $3.95 to $9.99, hamburgers $8.50 to $9.50, entrees $6.95 to $11.95. Child’s plate $4.95 to $5.95.
Payment:MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover accepted. Does not accept personal checks or The Californian’s Press Pass.
Dress:Casual
Amenities:Wheelchair accessible; beer and wine served; some vegetarian options.
Atmosphere:31⁄2 stars
Service:21⁄2 stars2
Value:31⁄2 stars2
Next week:Amestoy Grill
Images
A jug of brew is prepared for a customer at Lengthwise Brewing Co. Lengthwise concoctions will be available at the 16th annual Festival of Beers at Stramler Park on Saturday.
In these tough economic times, restaurants like the Lengthwise Brewing Company undoubtedly will continue to thrive. The menu is not as extensive as what the chain brew pubs offer, but the food is solid and the atmosphere bar-casual. The owners have a nimble touch when it comes to tweaking what is offered.
And what has always struck me is that the guys working there always seem so happy to see you. They seem to get that it’s a hospitality business. Since I have noticed many local restaurants now serving their beer, I figured the big tanks behind the bar at the Schirra Court restaurant were just for show, or at least were used to produce only a part of the company’s output. No, the bartender assured me breezily, it’s all made here.
“Thursdays are bottling days,” he said. “Come on in sometime to see it.”
Hard to tear myself away from the dinner visits. Our favorites on the menu include the grilled Southwest steak salad ($9.95), both made from juicy, still red grilled and smoky beef that is included in generous portions in both creations. The sandwich is so high it’s hard to even get a handle on it. It’s made with focaccia bread, has cheddar cheese, onions and red bell peppers as well as a nice brown mustard. The salad has a great mix of vegetables (corn, bell peppers, onions) with jack cheese and a taco dressing that was a nice marriage partner for the beef, laid in strips across the greens.
There’s more. I do like a lot of the meat served at Famous Dave’s, and there’s one smoky, tender item here that seems similar to what that chain offers: the smokehouse rib tips ($11.95). These small bits of smoky pork have a honey barbecue sauce that is nearly perfect with the meat. My companion chose the Centennial fish and chips ($10.95 dinner, $8.95 lunch) which I’ve touted in the past as comparable to the Westchester Bowl product. The Lengthwise strips are thinner, like fingers, not the thicker strips many others offer, but with five of them the portion is adequate.
Almost everything on the menu seems to be described as slow cooked, but I think that’s not hyperbole. Sam’s Texas Style Chili ($6.95) seems like a good example: beef, onions, tomatoes and no beans. It’s a good choice, as are the fish tacos ($8.95), which are similar to the fish and chips but notable mostly for a made-on-the-premises creamy salsa dressing. The hamburgers can also be recommended if only for the focaccia beer buns.
I’ve written favorably in the past about the tequila chicken sausage sandwich ($8.95), and the fried Twinkie desserts ($7.95 for three with ice cream — so rare to find that outside of a county fair), but I haven’t yet tried the Crude Porter beer float ($5.95) as an adult alternative to the root beer float ($4.50 — yes, they do make their own root beer). The idea of beer and ice cream, even brew pub beer is just too disgusting to embrace.
More new and different menu additions include a barbecue chicken salad and a chicken sandwich. Like Jake’s Original Tex-Mex and Frugatti’s, the menu is kept fresh through tinkering.
Service is elemental but efficient. You order and pay at the bar, then get a number so the kitchen can find you when the food is done. Though it’s a noisy place, it’s more a family restaurant at dinner time then a bar. Don’t be afraid to bring the young’uns.
