The summer of the Medina Brew Path continues. At least this time we’re actually adding some food from the same brewery we’re sampling beers at.

We’ve eaten at the Blue Heron before but it’s been a hot minute. 2019 I believe? Anything pre-pandemic feels like a different lifetime in a lot of ways.

I do remember admiring the patio on that visit, but not being able to actually take advantage of it at that time. So this time we made sure we got seats there. Which also makes this our first official WTGW patio experience of 2025. It’s only June, about time there Mother Nature.

For beers, Shane and I were intrigued right away by the first one we saw on the list, a blackberry lemon tart ale called Velvet Hands, on nitro.  But then I kept going down the list and found a few more that sounded interesting, like the Fruit and Fire (a stone fruit habenero cream ale) and the Spill the Beans (a vanilla coffee cream ale).

So Ted and I both went with flights, while Shane opted for a glass of just the blackberry one.

I’m glad I got the flight, because the blackberry was honestly disappointing. Shane and I both agreed it the flavor could’ve been a lot stronger.

The Fruit and Fire and the Spill the Beans ended up being my favorites. Shane also switched to the Spill the Beans after his first round – and a sample of mine from the flight, because I’m nice and know how to share food.

Well, actually, what he said to the server at first when she asked if he wanted another was “can I get a coffee?” Luckily he paused after that and she was able to fill in with “do you mean the spill the beans draft?”

I said I would’ve laughed if she had legit just brought him a black coffee. After all that was what he asked for.

The Wednesday food special is AYCE crab legs, which admittedly is not a special we see often on our WTGW travels. Hence why Ted was really drawn to that option. But he was also torn between that and the chicken shawarma bowl.

Our server basically made up his mind for him by pointing out that Wednesdays are the only time they have the crab legs, so if there’s an internal debate you can always get the other option on literally any other visit.

Sold. I maybe need this lovely person to just follow me around and just give me these obvious but often overlooked little life pointers.

I got the crispy chicken sandwich. You can order it grilled, regular or spicy so – without the assistance of the sever – I chose the spicy option. I mean, if you can be spicy you should. It’s a good motto.

Hey look, jalapeños. Bet you can’t guess where the spice comes from.

Shane was going to get the jumbo wings – which, there’s not a number on the menu so know it’s seven large wings ones, we asked. But he wasn’t convinced their version of jumbo would love up to his expectations of jumbo, so he went with the Reuben instead. 

And of course a pretzel, because, well why not.

Personally I think the pretzel was my favorite part of the meal. It was just the right combination of doughy and salty.

Not to say my sandwich was bad. The flavor was good, but it was just one of those sandwiches that was super difficult to eat. I ended up eating the chicken and pretty much leaving everything else.

Ted kind of got the short end of the stick (leg?) on the AYCE special, since by the time he started eating it was already after 7pm and he really only had time for one reorder. If you’re going to do AYCE you need to leave enough time to pace yourself and get the most from the money you’re spending in our opinion. Especially with something like crab legs, which make you do a lot of work for very little final edible product.

He didn’t seem disappointed in the food, just his ability to order enough of it.

Which, really, is often the story of this group, no?

Picked by: Shane