Stone Brewing Company

First off, for full disclosure, I’m a craft beer nerd and have beer goggles for Stone beer. I’ve (amazingly) only been up to Stone once before and hadn’t eaten there the last time because of the long wait for a table without reservations. So when my wife suggested we go for an early Valentine’s Day dinner, I was thrilled. We were seated in the beer garden, which can be a bit chilly after 7 on a February evening. But they have several fire pits going and heaters and almost every table, so after that got fired up we were fine.

For Valentine’s Day they had a special menu which we mostly ordered from. We started by sharing locally grown oysters on the half-shell for an appetizer. There were five, seasoned perfectly. We then both went with the Maine lobster bisque, which was a little spicy (which I loved) and had nice big chunks of lobster. For the entrée, I went with the Filet au Poivre, with lobster mashed potatoes and petite vegetables. The filet was cooked and sauced well (although honestly at this point in the dinner, I was a little sauced as well) and the petite vegetables were fine, but the highlight of the dinner was the lobster mashed potatoes. They had big chunks of succulent lobster meat mixed with herbed potatoes, they were magnificent. The Valentine’s dessert was a Chocolate Caramel Tower with Strawberry Coulis. I’ve been on a diet and staying away from sweets for so long I don’t know that I could offer an objective opinion, it was excellent.

As for the beers, I went with a different one per course. I started with a Vertical Epic Ale (8/8/8) with the appetizers, an 8th Anniversary Ale with the bisque, a 2010 Double Bastard with my steak and a 2010 Oaked Arrogant Bastard with dessert.

Surprisingly, beer service was the most problematic part of the meal, they were out of my first selection several times and delivery was slow. Granted, I’m sure most folks don’t try to do a different beer per course, but I was halfway through the entrée before my double bastard arrived, no bueno. And when the waitress told me they were out of the Russian Stout I ordered with dessert she offered me a free coffee instead as a substitution. WTF? I’m not sure what she was thinking, I wasn’t driving and it’s not like I was slurring my speech or causing a disturbance in the beer garden, so I’m not sure why she felt it was time for me to stop drinking. I assured her, it was not.

Overall it was a great experience. The food and beer was excellent, the service was decent and the surroundings were beautiful. I can’t wait to go back.

Wow, talk about a Jekyll and Hyde experience. A group of us went up to the Stone Brewery for lunch and the brewery tour. We arrived at about 2:15 and were going to take the tour and then eat. As it turns out, there were no tours available until five. OK, no problem, we'll just grab food first and then take the tour.

So how long for a table of seven, you ask...2 hours. Now I worked in the restaurant business for several years, and when you quote somebody a 2 hour wait, you're basically saying "get the hell out of my restaurant". Anyway, not a problem, we were able to chill out at the patio bar.

Service was slow, but after two Oaked Arrogant Bastard ales and commandeering some seats at the bar, we started having a really good time. Also, the patio and dining room at the bistro are quite stunning--a multi-level sectioned outside area, complete with trees, stone sectioning walls, and coy ponds. After 45 minutes, we were sat at our table (where the hell did 2 hours come from?).

The food, beer, and atmosphere at Stone are really top notch. We had the spud buds, onion rings, and extra stinky cheese plate for appetizers and were all blown away. For dinner, I went with the duck tacos which were also delicious--lots of duck which was really well-seasoned. Several folks in the group had the mac and cheese and raved about that as well. We also got to try several of the breweries offerings, including the Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Sawyers Triple, and Anniversary ales...all very well crafted.

The Stone Brewery is a great time (oh, the tour was fun too), but they don't take reservations, so be prepared to spend some time there if it's busy.