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
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