Penn Brewery

Since Adam and Leslie were without water last night, we decided to venture over to Penn Brewery for dinner and drinks. This was the first trip to Penn for all three of us, and we had high hopes after a couple of bad experiences at PGH's other main brewpub - Church Brew Works. Luckily, Penn came through.

The brewery's building is pretty cool, with a cobblestone outdoor seating area in a back corner of the lot. It reminded me of Schnitzel's Tavern in Bellefonte, which burned down last year and happened to be one of my favorites. Inside, we found mostly older folk partying with a Dixieland jazz band. A large sign reminded us that Oktoberfest is only 22 days away.

Adam and I started off with the Tomato Bisque soup, which was pretty good but nothing spectacular. As for the beer: Adam went for the Dark and Leslie had the Weizen. Unfortunately their Oktoberfest beer is not quite ready, so I tried the Kaizer Pils, which was light, crisp, and refreshing. Other beer on tap includes their "standard" Pilsner as well as their Gold.

For the main course, I had the Chicken Cordon Brew, and I'm still not sure where the "brew" comes from since I didn't see anything about it containing beer on the menu. Nonetheless, it was delicious. Crispy chicken breasts stuffed with ham and swiss cheese, a creamy wine sauce on top, with mini baked potatoes and mixed veggies on the side. At $16 it sounds pricey, but it is a big meal and I ate half of it for lunch today. This is a key Snacky D strategy, because I am often too lazy to prepare lunch ahead of time, and I feel too guilty if I eat out for lunch all the time.

Penn has good food, good beer, and a warm atmosphere that makes me really want to go back for their Oktoberfest celebration. Great place overall, I highly recommend it. Too bad it isn't within easier riding distance from where I live, but I guess beggars can't be choosers...