Howdy folks, from your friend...Sleeping Brewty! (Get it?! Get it?!!) We Decaturites had long been anticipating the opening of another Brick Store Pub...errrr, I mean, a place to dodge the crowds of the Brickstore. I was getting seriously tired of waiting for a seat at the bar on Monday or Tuesday nights! So....when Leon's Full Service opened on Monday, we were all super excited.
I was just one of many beer clubbers present for the occasion - in the words of my fellow beer clubber - it was damn cool. The space itself has been nicely remodeled from a gas station (to an antique store) to a lovely ambience filled restaurant. Or, I mean, gastro pub. The food is local-seasonal and I hear, pretty damn good. There are lots of nice booths and out of the way places. They have bocce ball outside, too...a real plus!
The beer selection is obviously excellent...and on tap is my new favorite beer, the Duck Rabbit Baltic Porter. BeerAdvocate gives it an A-, but Rate Beer gives it a score of 100! I tend to agree with the Rate Beer peeps. Also on tap is the classic Gordon's IPA from Oskar Blues, Great Divide Titan, Dupont Saison, Victory Stout (that one takes like a watery Guiness) and lots of others, of course. Unlike the Brick Store, though, that rotates every week, they will keep these beers on tap for a while, to train the new staff. I'm ok with that, because it's a pretty great selection! One interesting factoid we learned is that they are keeping the stouts and porters they have in wine coolers - 49 degrees while the other beers are kept in regular (colder) coolers. Cool huh? pun intended.
We Atlantans are super lucky to have such wonderful beer establishments (and we Decaturites are even more lucky!) I especially like the outside space. We have a special beer club booth that they promised to reserve for us whenever we need it (uh, not really...). We tried to convince Dave (one of the owners) to do a guest lecture for us - but he expertly steered clear of committing. We will have to try again. It has been my goal to get us a guest lecturer. I've also tried my luck with the beer guy at Sherlock's (no such luck). And would love to have the Creative Loafing dude who is the beer guy (Jeff someone)...anyone know him?
LYLAS (anyone know what that means??),
Sleeping Brewty with the power of the King of Beers (Club)
Food was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI went again on Wednesday with housemates and we ordered a whole bunch.
The ham/cheese and pineapple app was pretty tasty, but the pineapple was overpowering and not much food on the plate.
Rabbit tenders were like overcooked chicken fingers. Mustard sauce it was served with was good.
Frites with selection of sauces were pretty good- especially liked the goat cheese one.
Smoked bacon was very yummy.
Other's steak sandwiches were good- great ingredients, except for the bread was a let down, and brought the rest with it.
My arugula salad was outstanding. Peanuts and a fabulous dressing. It was a light, perfect balance with the peppery greens. I don't remember what the ingredients were in it, except that it was yummy, and there was a huge portion of arugula.
Foris, Rogue Valley Claret, Oregon red wine was fabulous!!!!
I sampled the cider on tap which was quite tasty- not too sweet, but crisp and refreshing
My Victory Donnybrook Stout, was a step above a Guinness, just a wee-bit richer, and still quite smooth, but not highly impressive
My Duck Rabbit Barley wine was just sweet enough with heavy hints of spices, high level of flavor complexity
Duck Rabbit on tap was still the best of the night- again and again- who'd gonna compete?
LYLAS- Love Ya Like A Sister- I think
ReplyDeleteI have now been twice and after the first time I was only mildly impressed. There are not many vegetarian options and though the fires are fine, I have heard from several people that they prefer the fries at the Porter. (Also, the Porter runs specials, like $2 Old Chub and Dale's Pale Ale) But the second time I went to Leon's I enjoyed it (the food) much more. So I am warming up to it, but still prefer the Brickstore OVER ALL!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I noticed Creative Loafing gave its review. They would agree with you, it seems, Christa, having had two of the same apps. They too love the ambiance!
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.creativeloafing.com/omnivore/2009/02/20/grazing-first-look-leons-full-service/