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