This week is Baltimore Restaurant Week, and the Bob Ganoosh team decided to partake by conducting a review that no legitimate restaurant review blog could be without - The Brewer's Art!Located in eclectic and trendy Mt. Vernon/Midtown, The Brewer's Art is just as eclectic as the community in which it resides. The upstairs dining room is somewhat formal and quaint, the type of venue to which you'd take the folks out; while the basement bar has the dark grungy-yet-trendy ambiance you'd expect in Baltimore. We started our evening off downstairs, because despite being the middle of the week, we could not get a reservation until 8:30 (I guess it is Restaurant Week!).
For those who don't know, The Brewer's Art is a brew house that serves a selection of its own Microbrews right out of the basement bar. Their regular beer selection consists of about 8 (I'm guestimating) brews, and pretty much covers all ends of the beer spectrum. The most popular is their Resurrection Ale, which is a favorite around time and I believe has won a "Best of Baltimore" award.
Prior to last night, many of us had tried their beers, or at least the Resurrection (it is served at at least one other bar in Baltimore), but we were all virgins to their food. Now, they serve pretty decent pub grub downstairs, but we learned quickly that the real good stuff is served in the upstairs dining room. Taking advantage of the Restaurant Week menu, we all went with the Steak Frites - some medium and some medium rare - and either the Caesar Salad or the Tortilla Soup. The soup was a tomato-based soup with adequate spice, but not too much to make it unenjoyable; the salads were large, generously dressed, and topped with some spicy cheese wafer that we were not able to identify.
But lets get to the most important part - the steaks! The steaks, New York Strips that I'm guessing were about 12 oz, were cooked to the perfect temperature and topped with a sweet demi-glace sauce. It was served upon a bed of flavorful garlic fries, and with a side of a sweet buttery sauce for dipping. Being a bit of a steak snob, I must say that for an establishment not known as a steakhouse per se, these were some of the best steaks I have ever encountered. They were large, juicy, and cooked perfectly to our specifications.
After we conquered our wonderful steaks, we were provided (as part of the Restaurant Week special) with a small dessert, consisting of a rich chocolate tart and a small cheesecake tart topped with blackberries. Can't really go wrong there.
Being Restaurant Week, all of this came out to $30.09. This was particularly a good deal because their regular menu prices, for an entree, are not much less than that. Though I wouldn't put this in the "fine dining" price range, it is definitely pricier than just a casual dinner out (at least for someone as frugal as myself). The prices for the entrees range from $19 to about $30, and the appetizers were around $8. If everything they serve is as good as the Steak Frites, well worth it!
So, here's the Bob Ganoosh summary:
Is The Brewer's Art worth all of the hype it gets? 5 full stomachs and 10 thumbs up say YES!
Is is a good place for a large party? Sure, but definitely make a reservation! This is not the place to go spontaneously, if you plan of having dinner.
Is this a good place to take a date? Most definitely! This is definitely a great place to take a beautiful date or a guest from out of town (interesting side note - they are walking distance from Penn Station).
So take a trip out to Mt. Vernon, get yourself a great steak, and check out the sisters of the Resurrection!
The Brewer's Art
1106 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD
410-547-6925
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