Brewster’s has been on my list of places to check out for a little bit now – I’m not sure how I stumbled upon it, but it was one of those I kind of earmarked for one of my weeks to pick. Although I do have to admit, I was surprised to find the place to be as “fancy” as it was when we walked through the door. For a place whose website shows people enjoying tailgate parties and bike nights, we weren’t really expecting to walk in and find linen napkins on the tables and a menu with a wine list longer than the draft list. Surprise!
Maybe to kind of counteract that, we asked to be seated in the bar area – you know, because even in fancy restaurants, that’s where the fun people sit? Whatever. In the case of Brewster’s the bar is definitely not where the visually challenged typically sit, because the place is darker than a downtown alley on the wrong side of town. Here’s an idea, maybe open the blinds? Or turn on a lamp? Just a thought. Or, as Shane mentioned, maybe it’s a vampire bar. There’s one we haven’t been to before.
If that’s the case, I guess maybe they realized we weren’t one of them, because it did take us a little bit to get waited on after we were seated. I think the hostess was trying to find someone “not busy” to take us – which was odd, since the place wasn’t exactly packed to the gills. Or maybe our reputation precedes us and they were all afraid of being mentioned in this review. Hmmm. In any case, the guy who finally drew the short straw and came over to take care of us mentioned that he was brought over from the dining room side – so I guess that was supposed to excuse him if he didn’t get things right? Is the menu different over there? I mean, other than being easier to read with the more light available and all?
Regardless, the waiter actually was great. He was personable without being overly so, and he was also capable of memorizing our orders without writing them down – which always impresses me because, well, some days I’m surprised I can remember to put on a matching pair of shoes, much less how a group of strangers wants their dinners prepared. But that’s just me.
Although, side note, while it didn’t seem that our lovely waiter regretted drawing losing the bet and taking our table, he may have regretted asking about the material of Shane’s wedding band and getting an alcohol fueled story about how he lost the last one. But you’ll have that I guess. Welcome to waiting on the WTGW group. We say things that are wildly inappropriate. Carry on.
So, speaking of, let’s just start off with our alcohol orders: three hard ciders and a dark beer, so pretty much par for the course with us. Amanda and I were hoping for a good seasonal summer beer on the draft list (*ahem* Summer Shandy *ahem*), but pretty much everything that came out of the server’s mouth sounded like another language, so clearly that wasn’t happening. See my previous comment about not being prepared for “fancy.” Shane, Amanda and I just leapt at the words “hard cider” and hoped for the best. We weren’t disappointed … although I think we were all a bit drunker than we had planned on being. Thanks high alcohol content.
Shane found calamari on the menu, as he often does, so we ordered that for appetizer. It was delicious. The lemon sauce was a nice change from the usual red sauce. Ted said it tasted like a lemon meringue pie.
Flatbreads abound at our table for our dinners – the Surf’s Up for Ted (which he subtly tried to kill Shane with, “pretending” not to realize it has shrimp on it … well played, Ted), the Chicken Portabello for Amanda, and the City Council for me (which was basically the same as Amanda’s but with pepperoni added). Shane got ribs, and then was almost very disappointed once he realized that flatbread is really just a fancy word for pizza. I’m not sure how he never knew this.
The food was great. Shane quickly got over the disappointment of not ordering a fancy pizza and really enjoyed his ribs. And the flatbreads were plenty enough to have some to take home – well, unless you’re Ted, who let’s not forget ordered two meals last week.
We noticed that Brewsters has a nice patio outside, and I could definitely see us coming back for that. Not to mention that across the street is the Twinsburg Paninis, which Shane, Amanda and I have been to before in the off-season, and have been dying to go back to in the summer just to sit at the back patio. This area could prove dangerous for the three days of summer we actually get around here.
Speaking of places on the list for the future, we passed the Mexican restaurant Marcelita’s on the way to/from Brewsters – and both times Shane’s head swiveled and he did a “oooh, what’s that place?” – which was by far funnier at the end of the night (once again, thank you high alcohol content). I can assume that will be on the list in the near future, it’s just a matter of who gets to pick it.
CAPSULE
Picked by: Steph
Drinks: We went into this expecting more draft selections and less wine or craft beers. We weren’t disappointed by what we ended up with, but it was definitely higher class than our expectations.
Food: Delicious. Good portions for the price.
Service: Despite the hiccup with getting someone to take us initially, it all turned out great, and our server was wonderful.
Overall: The patio alone deserves a return visit.
Next Pick: Amanda
Where To Go Wednesdays 