Rocky River Brewing Company

We recently visited the Rocky River Brewing Company, which used to be one of our favorite restaurants when we lived on the west side. The place has a really nice feel to it. The lighting is just dim enough to be comfortable but light enough to see your food and for kids to feel comfortable. The prevalance of hardwood and brick all around and the visibility of the brewing kettles add to the atmosphere as well.

We ordered the beer cheese soup as an appetizer. It’s one of our favorites and is rich without being too heavy and very well balanced between beer and cheese flavors.

Sarah ordered the Pierogi appetizer for her meal which, once I’d tasted it, I wished I’d gotten as well:

The pierogies were really brought to life by what tasted like a reduction sauce, and the bratwurst was excellent too.

I ordered the Pacific Beach Tacos, which were a little disappointing. The mango salsa was very good, but the fish appeared to be cajun blackened and pan fried rather than deep fried which seems more typical for fish tacos. The combination of flavors didn’t work too well. The tortillas were also flour rather than the more common corn (which I think work better for the flavor / texture of the tacos). The lack of apparent authenticity was particularly perplexing that the rice and beans was completely identical in both composition and flavor to those I’d gotten with pretty much every meal I’d eaten during a weeklong trip to Costa Rica.

While Rocky River’s beer is always very good, I was a bit sad that they were out of the Pumpkin Ale and had neither their Stout nor their Zeus Juice (my two favorite beers there). I ordered the Cooper’s Gold, which was satisfying but seemed more suited to warmer weather. Then again, I could have been adventurous and ordered one of their Belgian beers, which probably would have suited both my food and the weather.

Jonathan got the Chicken Fingers and fries. The fries at RRBC are wonderfully battered and crispy and could almost be a meal on their own.

We’ll definitely return to Rocky River Brewing Company again when we’re on the west side. They probably have their Christmas Ale on tap now, which I’d definitely be excited to try.