Of Love & Regret 11/18/2013

We rolled into this place on a Monday around 6pm and were served by a knowledgeable fellow who I recognized from my last trip there. Mussels and sliders were ordered and looked delicious. I didn't have any food this time, but I have eaten dinner here before and I remember the food being above average but nothing mind-blowing. This seemed to be what the others thought of the food this time as well. Solid stuff.

We tried a few of the beers off the beer list. I remember Olivia having a delicious ale of some sort that all of us agreed was the best (comment with the beer if you remember it!), but this was all before we got to taste the highlight of the night: "GOAT session beer" by Mr. Steve Joe.

Okay, actually it was "Classique," and was advertised on the can as a "postmodern beer," whatever that is. When I tasted it, the first thing to pop into my head was "hops," and the second was "superior drinkability." Like more drinkable than Bud Light. Impossible, I know. The waiter agreed, though, telling me that the bone dryness and lightness of the beer makes it easy to drink a lot without getting that sticky, sweet feeling in your mouth. It wasn't long before the table looked like this:

The overall great experience at OL&R this time around was enough for me to give it a 5/5. Solid food, great service, Nina's first outing with us in a couple months, and a fun beer experience. I will be back!

Dog Watch Tavern 29/10/2013 (Olivia's pick)

DOGWATCH TAVERN, Fells Point (On Broadway) ***

When you first enter the bar, you notice the pinball machine, pool table and the set of couch in front on two TVs. This is a great place to chill and play games with your friends. We tried out the giant Beer pong or Bear Pong as it was called. During the week, this bar is full of regulars, we have yet to see what it looks like at the weekend but I presume it must fill up with the usual Fells crowd. If you want to become a regular, make sure you do the "30days in a row challenge". Drink there for 30days in a row and you will get your own personal bar stool with your name on it! This means that whenever you come to the bar you are entitled to "kick off" anyone sitting in YOUR chair and use it as you please. 

The beer list was pretty small but their menu was well sized. The special of the day was a "build your own burger" which was set up like a sushi list were all your toppings, type of bread, meat cooking temp. etc.. could be marked off. Great burgers!!! Friendly staff but nothing special.

A place I would love to check out again during the weekends or during a game to sit and watch TV and play some games.

Overall, a nice place, nothing too special I'd give it 3.5 stars ***/*

Link here: http://www.dogwatchtavern.com

SPECIALS:

Happy Hour!! Monday thru Friday 4pm – 8pm : 

4$ Pinnacle Bombs, Wine, Rail Drinks, 5$ appetizers

Lunch Specials!! Monday -Friday 11am- 4pm:

$7.95 1/2 Sandwich and Soup or Salad!!

NFL Games: $6 Wings (order of 10)

Orioles Games

$5 Brats n Bohs: A Natty Boh Bratwurst Sausage with grilled peppers and onions or an Old Bay Bratwurst Sausage with sweet corn relish and your choice of a Natty Boh Can or Draft!!

Monday:

Build Your Own Fries or Nachos!! Starting at $5.00

Industry Night! 25% off your entire check 8pm-2am

Tuesday:

Build Your Own Burger!! Starting at $5.95

Chair Holder Night! 25% off your entire check 8pm-2am

Wednesday:

Build Your Own Burrito Day!!!! Starting at $5.95

Thursday:

$6 Wings (10 per order) All Day!

ALL DAY AND EVERY DAY:

$2 Natty Boh Cans and Drafts

$20 100oz Domestic Beer Tower’s

$7 Slushies

Hudson Street Stackhouse - 10/23/13 (Roswell's Choice)

The burder crew and I hit up HSS during Baltimore Beer Week - gooooooood decision.

They had 36 Belgians on tap and they were definitely the main attraction. We all had one or two and left satisfied. We didn't try food or anything other than the special brews, so we'll have to go back on a more standard evening for a true test, although the atmosphere seemed pretty cool. Huge bar and within walking distance.

Some noteworthy beers we tried:

• Dilewyns Vacaris Tripel
• De Dolle Arabier
• Timmermans Pumpkin Lambicus

All in all, a solid experience. This is a beer bar, through and thorough. I'd go back, Belgians or not.

4/5

Smaltimore - 10/16/13

I'll get straight to the point here; While we did not experience the beer-pricing economics the bar is known for (price increases with demand and decreases with lack of demand), we were impressed by just about everything else.  It happened to be a pumpkin beer specialty night, so pretty much all the drafts were pumpkin-somethings and very tasty.  The food is excellent.  We shared some appetizers (deliciously loaded fries) and everyone but me ordered a burger....until I laid eyes on them. First, the burgers are very affordable...around $7-$8 for the standard fare....and they are delicious.  Smaltimore gives you choices for a ton of toppings and apparently the meat is local and never frozen.  So yes, I caved hard and was glad I ended up ordering these fine burgers.  The decor is great, the bar has enough TV's to be utilized a sports bar but also has the feel of a modern establishment catering to both the bar crowd and sit-down eaters.  The large, open windows gives the bar a very spacious feel and is nice during fair weather. 

All in all, would come back 10/10, and we have too in order to experience their beer-ordering system. Still, even if it's just a novelty, this place has more than enough reasons to convince everyone to go there at least once. Oh, and definitely order a burger....it was almost a mistake I regretted.

 

9/26/13 - Kisling's Tavern

Baltimore classic on the corner of Fleet and Boston. This place is known for its wings and has won "Best Wings in Baltimore" a bunch of times.

When we showed up the place was not crowded at all and we got a table outside on a beautiful afternoon. We thought the happy hour specials were half price drafts and wings, but apparently the food discount is only on Friday. Still, we ordered chili cheese fries, crab dip, and wings. I thought the dip tasted good and the fries were meh. The hot wings did not disappoint - they were fairly big, the sauce was delicious, and they were crispy despite being drenched in the sauce.

My only complaint is that the waitress could have been more attentive. There weren't many people there and we still had to go inside to order food and get drink refills.

Going to give it a 3.5/5 because of the misleading happy hour advertisement. Would definitely go back for wings though!

10/8/13 - Bartenders

So we went to Bartenders on a Tuesday for "Taco Night". They had 2 ground beef tacos for $4 and 3 fancier pork tacos for $9. The beef tacos were solid, definitely a good deal. Ross said that the pork tacos were ok but not worth the price.

Draft beers were between 4 and 5 dollars and they had a good selection. The bartender was pretty solid, managed to give pretty good service despite there being a decent sized crowd and him appearing to be the only bartender working. 

Place was somewhat small but I enjoyed the vibe. I hear the Pizzas are really good so I definitely want to go back and try one.

4/5 stars

9/3/13 - Elliott's Pour House

Olivia's Choice - Craft Beer Sports Bar in Brewer's Hill ****

@3728 Hudson St.
Website
Happy Hour weekdays from 4-7pm - half price drafts and 1$ off other drinks
Draft club : Drink 10 drafts and get the 11th free

4/5 ratings - nice small local bar with a younger crowd than your usual corner bar. The bartender Paul will hook you up with local carry out/delivery menus as this place does not serve food (yet?). They had a good selection of 10 or so craft beers on tap and with their half price Happy Hour these are much cheaper than your usual "boh". 

Their house shot a "beauch beer" (spelling TBD) is saranac root beer with vodka and is delicious! Brings you right back to childhood.

They have a ping pong table on top of their pool table so thats always good fun.

Bartender told us that it gets crowded on weekends with a lot of dancing going on.

Overall nice bar, good service, good beer selection. No food can be a plus or a minus and location is kinda far from other bars  4/5!

UPDATE: Fun bar to hang out on the weekends too, good crowd. And it's a great place to host birthday parties too.

**4/5 Stars**

8/29 : Laughing Pint

Roswell's Choice - Laughing Pint

Laughing Pint is blue collar beer bar in Highlandtown. They've got pool and a shuffleboard table. Bartender Monica was good to us and kept the decent variety of taps they had flowing. Downside - Happy hour only goes from 3-6.

**4/5 Stars**

8/21 : The Chasseur (formerly Adam's Eve)

Ben's Choice - The Chasseur (formerly Adam's Eve)

 
Huge newly renovated bar area as soon as you walk in. Drinker friendly. We went on "pint night" and had some Heavy Seas beers for 6$ for the first, and 4$ for refills. Also got to keep the glasses. The bartender from Hummers works here. Gooooood stuff.

**4/5 Stars**

Ben's edit - wanted to add that we sampled a few of their appetizers such as duck fat (tater) tots, steamed mussels with hot sauce/blue cheese, and fried crab balls (basically crab cake balls). The prices were standard (nothing to write home about), and I felt that the mussels were a little on the meager side. However, everything was delicious and surprisingly the steamed mussels with hot sauce/blue cheese (intriguing yes) worked fantastically.  Would love to come back and enjoy some of their entrees in the spacious and sports-friendly (lots of TV's) dining room.

8/12 : Bay Cafe

Crosby's Choice

Bay Cafe was not bad - Something like a poor man's Seacrets. Decent drink prices and great views. Good for a cocktail and a sunset.

**3/5 Stars**