I've been to Meister's twice now, once in February with Ambrose, and once in June with Ambrose and two other friends. The place first caught my attention with its claim of being the best Chicago-style pizza in Columbus. As a fan of Chicago-style pizza, and seeing from pictures that they did look reasonably Chicago-style, that meant I had to try it at some point. The only other place I know of that's Chicago-style in Columbus is Pizzeria Uno at Tuttle Mall, and while it's good, that's very little variety.
The pizza is only one aspect of Meister's, though. The other part is the "bar" part. And indeed, that is probably the dominant part by revenue. It's kind of a unique setup when you go in. The layout is roughly rectangular, and at one corner is the bar, with a wide variety of choices of various styles (mass-produced American lager, craft beers, and local beers in particular - something for everyone. And you can get cocktails or cider as well if you prefer). At the opposite corner is the pizza area, where you can place an order for a pie. In between is the seating area, a slightly-elevated alcove, and two pool tables. The atmosphere I'd classify as neighborhood bar. It's a very casual place, and people are there for a variety of reasons - beer after work, beer and pool with friends, grabbing a pie for dinner, or on occasion having more than a few beers for whatever reason. Yelp classifies it as a dive bar, but considering that it has quite a few high-quality food and beverage choices, it's clean and in good condition, and it's not particularly cheap, I don't think that classification is accurate.
The pies themselves take 35-40 minutes to bake, which is a good thing - authentic Chicago-style pies should take a long time to bake due to the thickness. So it's a good idea to place an order, the head over to the bar, order a nice Ohio-made brew from the potentially-mustached bartender, and either catch up with friends at a table or play a game of pool while you wait. Should you be hungry, the cheese garlic bread is a good choice of appetizer. Plenty of cheese, tasty, good texture - just what cheesy bread should be. And it it much quicker than the pies - perhaps 15 minutes.
Once the pies do arrive, it's time for the feasting to begin! Like any good Chicago pie, the sauce is on top, with the toppings on the middle and the cheese as the first layer above the thick crust. This is pizza to be eaten with a fork. It's also quite filling. Provided you and your friends had lunch that day, a cheesy bread and pie will be adequate for 4 people.
On the whole, I'd say it's pretty good Chicago-style pizza. The sauce is a bit smooth for my preferences - I'd rather it be chunkier. Otherwise, however, it's pretty solid. Good toppings, a good, perfectly-cooked crust... it's not going to beat everywhere in Chicago, but I didn't leave disappointed. Whether the pizza is better than Uno's is personal preference. I'd say you get more sauce here (good), but it's less chunky (not so good). Meister's does have a better beer selection, and at least relative to where I am is a lot closer. And it is the best Chicago-style pizza I've had from a place that was not based in Chicago. So if you like Chicago-style in Columbus, it's definitely worth checking out.
Total price: I forget exactly, it's been awhile. The pies were somewhere in the $6 - $7/person range, and in June we had a coupon for a free garlic bread with a pie (which was upgraded to a cheesy garlic bread when the cook forgot it was supposed to be a regular one... I'd pay the extra dollar or so for the cheesy one in the future). Beers range from $2 - $5 depending on the specials and your choice of beer. Overall, it sounds like a lot for a single pizza, but as filling as they are it winds up being reasonable per-person.
Ambiance - 5/7.
Food quality - 6/7 (assuming what you're going for is Chicago-style pizza and you don't live in Chicago)
Service - 6/7
Value - 5/7
Overall - 5/7
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Brazenhead - Grandview
Note: This post has been in our drafts list for nearly a year now. I reckon that means we probably aren't going to be editing it any more and I might as well hit publish...
On Monday, May 13th, 2013, Ambrose, myself, and a third friend (referred to here as Charles) met at Brazenhead, a place that bills itself as an Irish pub in Grandview. They also have a few other locations in town; the one that comes to mind for me is in Dublin. We arrived at about 5:45, to a relatively quiet place, and got a booth indoors.
After perusing the beer menu, which had a fairly good variety, we started off with two Goose Island 312 Urban Wheats (including myself), and a Blueberry Ale (Ambrose). I found the 312 to be a solid choice, despite not usually being a wheat beer fan, and was glad I followed Charles's recommendation. However, the beer menu would ultimately prove a point of confusion, due to differing accounts of the special between the website (which indicated it was craft beer week and $2 PBR day), the primary menu, and the insert in the menu (which reported $2.50 domestic bottles from 4-7). It seemed that the $2.50 deal was the actual one. But when Ambrose ordered a second beer, we learned that the only ones that were actually $2.50 were "the commoners" - options like Budweiser, Miller, Coors, and the one Ambrose chose, Yuengling. This was a letdown - I'd never seen "domestic" in such a context refer to something other than "from anywhere in the U.S.", and may well have chosen a European brew had I known that.
Next came the food. Here we ran into one of the issues I often run into with Irish places in the U.S. - it's not clear what's actually Irish, and what's just "pub". In the end, we all got some variety of burger, though they also have non-burger sandwiches, soups, salads, appetizers, and mac and cheese. I got the Hot Hawaiian, with jalapenos and pineapple on cheddar and curry mayo. It also came with fries that appeared to be made on-site on the side. This proved to be a tasty choice. I'd never had pineapple on a burger before, but after having it, it made me wonder why it wasn't an option more places. The medium-well burger was cooked accurately, and the quality was on target, with the jalapenos adding a nice but not overwhelming amount of spiciness. We all added garlic mayo sauce as a dip for the chips as the waitress recommended; this proved to be a good and tasty addition, worth the 40 cents. Charles got the Carolina burger, with barbecue sauce and slaw, and Ambrose got the Breakfast in Bed, with bacon and egg on Texas Toast; both seemed happy with their choices.
What was Irish about our meal, I asked Ambrose. Nothing, he replied - accurately as far as I can tell. This is the weakness of Irish pubs in general in my opinion - unless perhaps you've been to Ireland, you can't point at anything except a few of the beers, whiskeys, and perhaps a couple ciders, and say "that's Irish". Nevertheless, as a nicer-than-average pub, it did fairly well.
In the final analysis, it was an enjoyable and tasty place to go to, and I'd go back. The specials pricing certainly needs to be clearer and more consistent across the menus and website, but that's the only thing that was really not up to par. As far as the food and beverages go, you'll leave satisfied. I'd place it between Graffiti Burger and 101 Beer Kitchen in quality.
Total Price: $14.15
Price Breakdown:
Hot Hawaiin Burger: $9.50
Garlic Sauce: $0.40
Goose 312: $4.25
(Subjective - Everything out of 7)
Ambiance: 5/7
Food Quality: 5/7
Service: 5/7 (would be 6 if it weren't for the specials pricing issues)
Value: 4/7
Overall: 5/7
On Monday, May 13th, 2013, Ambrose, myself, and a third friend (referred to here as Charles) met at Brazenhead, a place that bills itself as an Irish pub in Grandview. They also have a few other locations in town; the one that comes to mind for me is in Dublin. We arrived at about 5:45, to a relatively quiet place, and got a booth indoors.
After perusing the beer menu, which had a fairly good variety, we started off with two Goose Island 312 Urban Wheats (including myself), and a Blueberry Ale (Ambrose). I found the 312 to be a solid choice, despite not usually being a wheat beer fan, and was glad I followed Charles's recommendation. However, the beer menu would ultimately prove a point of confusion, due to differing accounts of the special between the website (which indicated it was craft beer week and $2 PBR day), the primary menu, and the insert in the menu (which reported $2.50 domestic bottles from 4-7). It seemed that the $2.50 deal was the actual one. But when Ambrose ordered a second beer, we learned that the only ones that were actually $2.50 were "the commoners" - options like Budweiser, Miller, Coors, and the one Ambrose chose, Yuengling. This was a letdown - I'd never seen "domestic" in such a context refer to something other than "from anywhere in the U.S.", and may well have chosen a European brew had I known that.
Next came the food. Here we ran into one of the issues I often run into with Irish places in the U.S. - it's not clear what's actually Irish, and what's just "pub". In the end, we all got some variety of burger, though they also have non-burger sandwiches, soups, salads, appetizers, and mac and cheese. I got the Hot Hawaiian, with jalapenos and pineapple on cheddar and curry mayo. It also came with fries that appeared to be made on-site on the side. This proved to be a tasty choice. I'd never had pineapple on a burger before, but after having it, it made me wonder why it wasn't an option more places. The medium-well burger was cooked accurately, and the quality was on target, with the jalapenos adding a nice but not overwhelming amount of spiciness. We all added garlic mayo sauce as a dip for the chips as the waitress recommended; this proved to be a good and tasty addition, worth the 40 cents. Charles got the Carolina burger, with barbecue sauce and slaw, and Ambrose got the Breakfast in Bed, with bacon and egg on Texas Toast; both seemed happy with their choices.
What was Irish about our meal, I asked Ambrose. Nothing, he replied - accurately as far as I can tell. This is the weakness of Irish pubs in general in my opinion - unless perhaps you've been to Ireland, you can't point at anything except a few of the beers, whiskeys, and perhaps a couple ciders, and say "that's Irish". Nevertheless, as a nicer-than-average pub, it did fairly well.
In the final analysis, it was an enjoyable and tasty place to go to, and I'd go back. The specials pricing certainly needs to be clearer and more consistent across the menus and website, but that's the only thing that was really not up to par. As far as the food and beverages go, you'll leave satisfied. I'd place it between Graffiti Burger and 101 Beer Kitchen in quality.
Total Price: $14.15
Price Breakdown:
Hot Hawaiin Burger: $9.50
Garlic Sauce: $0.40
Goose 312: $4.25
(Subjective - Everything out of 7)
Ambiance: 5/7
Food Quality: 5/7
Service: 5/7 (would be 6 if it weren't for the specials pricing issues)
Value: 4/7
Overall: 5/7
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Graffiti Burger - Dublin
Name: Graffiti Burger (Burger joint with two locations local to Columbus)
Date Visited: Saturday, April 27, 2013
Time Visited: 2:00 PM
Wait: none
Total Price: 11.69
Price Breakdown:
Build a Burger - Angus = 5.99
Regular Fries split between 2 people = 3.79/2 = 1.90
Vanilla Shake = 3.79
(Subjective - Everything out of 7)
Ambiance: 5/7
Food Quality: 5/7
Service: 4/7
Value: 5/7
Overall: 5/7
--------------------
So Andrew is moving back to Columbus (and is part of the impetus of starting this blog) and today we helped unload the truck from Madison, WI. I do have to say that he sure does pack light! After all the hard work was done, Andrew treated us to lunch (Thanks, Andrew!) and after some indecision, we settled on Graffiti Burger.
Now, I have never heard of Graffiti Burger before, and it is a relatively new store that has two locations. One in Dublin and one in Grandview. Now I live very close to Grandview, so I'm surprised that I have not heard of it yet nor have I received any fliers from them. Anyways, we stop in and the store does strike me as a bit small. Other than that the decor is very urban and has murals of graffiti from floor to ceiling covering all of the walls.
I decided on creating my own burger. Now, basically here, you order what kind of meat you want, which is what you pay for, and you can customize it to your own liking (all of the toppings are free). I went with the original size Angus beef patty (there is also a junior size) and decided to have it on Texas Toast. I added cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickle to my burger--just the way I usually get a burger. But then I decided to be more adventurous and added cole slaw, grilled onions, and grilled mushrooms. Someone suggested we get a couple orders of fries to go around, and at Andrew's dad's urging, I also got a vanilla milk shake.
The order arrived pretty quickly and I got my burger. Somehow the message got lost in translation and I got my burger on a roll instead of on Texas Toast, but it wasn't that big of a deal. The place that I would most compare Graffiti Burger to is Five Guys, but I actually enjoyed this burger more. There was less meat to it (one patty, albeit a slightly larger patty), but I think the combination of toppings worked out well. I really think the cole slaw was well made and complimented the other flavors. It was a very messy affair and I commented at one point that I wish I had a fork, but it was overall less greasy than Five Guys. The fries through, were a bit of a let down in comparison to the burger. I personally preferred seasoned fries, and here they were just regular fries. They were very crisp, but I would have liked more flavor. The Vanilla shake was delicious, and it seemed on par with most handmade shakes and a lot better than places that use a machine to make a shake.
Bottom line: I would definitely go back there again when in the mood for a good burger, but if I want fries, I still might stick with Five Guys.
Date Visited: Saturday, April 27, 2013
Time Visited: 2:00 PM
Wait: none
Total Price: 11.69
Price Breakdown:
Build a Burger - Angus = 5.99
Regular Fries split between 2 people = 3.79/2 = 1.90
Vanilla Shake = 3.79
(Subjective - Everything out of 7)
Ambiance: 5/7
Food Quality: 5/7
Service: 4/7
Value: 5/7
Overall: 5/7
--------------------
So Andrew is moving back to Columbus (and is part of the impetus of starting this blog) and today we helped unload the truck from Madison, WI. I do have to say that he sure does pack light! After all the hard work was done, Andrew treated us to lunch (Thanks, Andrew!) and after some indecision, we settled on Graffiti Burger.
Now, I have never heard of Graffiti Burger before, and it is a relatively new store that has two locations. One in Dublin and one in Grandview. Now I live very close to Grandview, so I'm surprised that I have not heard of it yet nor have I received any fliers from them. Anyways, we stop in and the store does strike me as a bit small. Other than that the decor is very urban and has murals of graffiti from floor to ceiling covering all of the walls.
I decided on creating my own burger. Now, basically here, you order what kind of meat you want, which is what you pay for, and you can customize it to your own liking (all of the toppings are free). I went with the original size Angus beef patty (there is also a junior size) and decided to have it on Texas Toast. I added cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickle to my burger--just the way I usually get a burger. But then I decided to be more adventurous and added cole slaw, grilled onions, and grilled mushrooms. Someone suggested we get a couple orders of fries to go around, and at Andrew's dad's urging, I also got a vanilla milk shake.
The order arrived pretty quickly and I got my burger. Somehow the message got lost in translation and I got my burger on a roll instead of on Texas Toast, but it wasn't that big of a deal. The place that I would most compare Graffiti Burger to is Five Guys, but I actually enjoyed this burger more. There was less meat to it (one patty, albeit a slightly larger patty), but I think the combination of toppings worked out well. I really think the cole slaw was well made and complimented the other flavors. It was a very messy affair and I commented at one point that I wish I had a fork, but it was overall less greasy than Five Guys. The fries through, were a bit of a let down in comparison to the burger. I personally preferred seasoned fries, and here they were just regular fries. They were very crisp, but I would have liked more flavor. The Vanilla shake was delicious, and it seemed on par with most handmade shakes and a lot better than places that use a machine to make a shake.
Bottom line: I would definitely go back there again when in the mood for a good burger, but if I want fries, I still might stick with Five Guys.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Journal Guidelines/Template
While your posts should be in a style that fits to your personal writing style and your personal tastes (no pun intended!), it would make things easier if we had at least a standard form to fill out at the top of each post. Here is a sample post with what I think are good ideas. Of course we can edit this and make changes as we go along if things aren't suiting our purposes.
Name: Name of the restaurant visited
Date Visited: Date you visited the restaurant, if visit spans multiple days, list the date the visit started
Time Visited: Time you first arrived at the restaurant
Wait: time spent waiting for a table. If you made a reservation or called ahead, state so. Time from the moment of arrival to the time seated should be counted here.
Total Price: Total price before taxes and gratuities should be used. This is to standardize across the different suburbs things are located in with differing tax rates/
Price Breakdown: Mark separate items for posterity.
(entree, drinks, dessert, exclude tips)
(Subjective - Everything out of 7)
Ambiance: Evaluate everything about the atmosphere including cleanliness, music, noise level, decor etc.
Food Quality: How was the food? Was it a good temperature? Were the portions appropriate for the meal? How did it taste?
Service: How were you greeted? Were the waitstaff attentive and courteous? Were the any problems? If so, were they resolved satisfactorily?
Value: Did you feel that you got a good value for what you paid?
Overall: Overall impression. 1 = poor, 4 = average, 7 = superior. 1's and 2's we will probably not visit again, 3-5 are those that are ok but nothing special, 6's and 7's are places that we would definitely want to go back to. Note that this section is not intended to be an average of the other sections!!!
That's it for the heading, now complete the rest of your entry here!
Name: Name of the restaurant visited
Date Visited: Date you visited the restaurant, if visit spans multiple days, list the date the visit started
Time Visited: Time you first arrived at the restaurant
Wait: time spent waiting for a table. If you made a reservation or called ahead, state so. Time from the moment of arrival to the time seated should be counted here.
Total Price: Total price before taxes and gratuities should be used. This is to standardize across the different suburbs things are located in with differing tax rates/
Price Breakdown: Mark separate items for posterity.
(entree, drinks, dessert, exclude tips)
(Subjective - Everything out of 7)
Ambiance: Evaluate everything about the atmosphere including cleanliness, music, noise level, decor etc.
Food Quality: How was the food? Was it a good temperature? Were the portions appropriate for the meal? How did it taste?
Service: How were you greeted? Were the waitstaff attentive and courteous? Were the any problems? If so, were they resolved satisfactorily?
Value: Did you feel that you got a good value for what you paid?
Overall: Overall impression. 1 = poor, 4 = average, 7 = superior. 1's and 2's we will probably not visit again, 3-5 are those that are ok but nothing special, 6's and 7's are places that we would definitely want to go back to. Note that this section is not intended to be an average of the other sections!!!
That's it for the heading, now complete the rest of your entry here!
Welcome
Welcome!
This blog's main purpose is to serve as an eating journal for a group of friends who grew up together in the Worthington, OH area and now currently reside throughout the Greater Columbus area. But if you're reading this, you're probably not one of us. So let me start with a bit of history and then explain the blog to you in a bit more detail.
The authors of this blog all grew up together and attended the same high school, Worthington Kilbourne in one of the northern suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1803 by James Kilbourne (hence the name of our high school), the suburb has a rich history which we learned about in school, but never did much exploring past that. We were all heavily involved in activities at our high school (whose mascot is a wolf named Lobo, hence the name of the blog), but never got a chance to look past the daily bustle.
After graduation, though we remained close friends, we all spread throughout the county to attend college. It was here that we realized how many hidden gems are located in the cities we went to school in and started wondering what we were missing back home. We were never home for more than a few weeks at a time, but it was around this time that we started exploring more of Worthington, Columbus, and the surrounding areas and found out what we were missing all along!
Fast forward a few years. We are now all in our early to mid twenties and for one reason or another, life has led us back to the Columbus area. We finally have the time and disposable income (with the exception of the poor med student who still subsists on stipends and government loans) to explore more and we decided to start trying more restaurants in the area. Of course, one of the problems we have now is that unless a place is particularly good (or bad!) we don't always remember everything about it and it makes it harder to decide where we want to eat on a given night when we are together.
Enter this blog. The purpose of this blog is to allow us to journal about our experiences and keep track of what we've tried, what was good, what wasn't good, and help guide us in what to try next. Also, it allows any one of us to read where others have been since there are times that we can't all be in the same place at the same time. (Read: the med student is too busy buried under a pile of books in the library) We realized that other might find our reviews interesting, so we are keeping the blog public. Of course we'd appreciate any comments you have about any of your own experiences! To keep the spam down to a minimum, we review all posts before they are posted, but this also ensures that your post is read and you will get a reply should one be warranted!
The main purpose of the blog is to talk about our eating habits, but if we see that a lot of people out side of our circle of friends are reading this, we may just start to add in a few stories here and there so our readers can get to know us better!
This blog's main purpose is to serve as an eating journal for a group of friends who grew up together in the Worthington, OH area and now currently reside throughout the Greater Columbus area. But if you're reading this, you're probably not one of us. So let me start with a bit of history and then explain the blog to you in a bit more detail.
The authors of this blog all grew up together and attended the same high school, Worthington Kilbourne in one of the northern suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1803 by James Kilbourne (hence the name of our high school), the suburb has a rich history which we learned about in school, but never did much exploring past that. We were all heavily involved in activities at our high school (whose mascot is a wolf named Lobo, hence the name of the blog), but never got a chance to look past the daily bustle.
After graduation, though we remained close friends, we all spread throughout the county to attend college. It was here that we realized how many hidden gems are located in the cities we went to school in and started wondering what we were missing back home. We were never home for more than a few weeks at a time, but it was around this time that we started exploring more of Worthington, Columbus, and the surrounding areas and found out what we were missing all along!
Fast forward a few years. We are now all in our early to mid twenties and for one reason or another, life has led us back to the Columbus area. We finally have the time and disposable income (with the exception of the poor med student who still subsists on stipends and government loans) to explore more and we decided to start trying more restaurants in the area. Of course, one of the problems we have now is that unless a place is particularly good (or bad!) we don't always remember everything about it and it makes it harder to decide where we want to eat on a given night when we are together.
Enter this blog. The purpose of this blog is to allow us to journal about our experiences and keep track of what we've tried, what was good, what wasn't good, and help guide us in what to try next. Also, it allows any one of us to read where others have been since there are times that we can't all be in the same place at the same time. (Read: the med student is too busy buried under a pile of books in the library) We realized that other might find our reviews interesting, so we are keeping the blog public. Of course we'd appreciate any comments you have about any of your own experiences! To keep the spam down to a minimum, we review all posts before they are posted, but this also ensures that your post is read and you will get a reply should one be warranted!
The main purpose of the blog is to talk about our eating habits, but if we see that a lot of people out side of our circle of friends are reading this, we may just start to add in a few stories here and there so our readers can get to know us better!
Bon Appétit!
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