Monday 1st of June 2009 02:06:57 PM

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I visited Fat Head's Brewery in the middle of a sunny Sunday afternoon. The brewpub stand's in the corner of a large parking lot next to a strip mall. We entered through the bar.

The first thing that struck me was the size of the place. This is a big operation. Stainless steel tanks line both sides of the entrance. The bar has seating for a football team. The vibe is somewhere between sportsbar and family restaurant. It's comfortable, but not homey.

The menu is a mishmash of pub grub, pizza, and barbeque with a little polish flair thrown in the mix. My friend ordered a plate of sausage & pierogi. It was a platter of knockwurst, kielbasa, bratwurst, pierogi and various accoutrements. I ordered six bbq wings with chipotle sauce and a plate of garlic fries. The chicken was good and smokey, and the sauce had a nice pepper kick while still having good flavor. The fries are the new king of spuds. Serving sizes were ginormous.

Service was solid. Our waiter had a decent grip on the menu, but did get a blank expression on my beer order. (I told him the style, but not the beer name) We were seated quickly, and served quickly as well. Everything seemed to operating smoothly.

The beer menu came printed on a dated printout. There were seven or eight house beers, about twenty guest taps, and two casks. The house beers didn't stray far from standard fare. I tried their amber lager, and it was clean and flavorful. The guest taps included many local beers, and a few imports. The most notable included Victory Storm King on cask, and BORIS on tap.

I'd definitely like to return. The beer was solid, and the garlic fries are awesome.

4/12/2010
Really enjoyed the Headhunter IPA.
Ordered sandwiches, and they were HUGE.
Garlic fries still rock.

Monday 4th of May 2009 09:42:40 PM

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This brewpub is an extension of the version in Pittsburgh with a few nice improvements. First, the brewmaster is the former brewer at Rocky River Brewing. The original taps include a full range styles with the best options in the first group seeming to be the chocolate stout, ipa and saison. Since it is the first ever batch as of Apr-09, most likely the brews will improve as they go forward.

They also have 22 guest taps which include the brewmasters favorites from other places including a nice selection of rogue and hopping frog on tap amongst many others.

The bar is not huge, but it wraps around the place. The eating area is quite large, although there is a decent amount of wasted space so it doesn't sit as many as it would appear. There are also a number of games to play including bar bowling, billiards and darts.

There is plenty of parking as the place is located near a strip mall and was built in a former farmer's market.

The food was very good, come hungry if you try a headwich.