Monday 21st of July 2008 08:53:22 PM

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The official hotel for the ABA annual meeting was the nearby Holiday Inn Five Flags [free parking!]. In our registration packets were coupons from this brewpub.
I had extra time on Thursday after motoring in from Chicago. (It took less time than I planned to get here.) I had time for a late lunch here before we were bussed to Potosi for the National Brewery Museumâ„¢ tour.
I will get specific, but let me tell you now that this is a solid three-star venue. It is not great, but I submit that is because _it has not had any opposition_. So it has been coasting along, not brewing "good" beers - but beers which were "good enough"; all of which I would term 'bridge' beers. The arrival of the Potosi brewpub *shall* change things in Dubuque. Potosi has additional capacity. It should get into having its beers served off-premise. When the brewmasters at Bricktown taste what Potosi is putting out, they will realize they need to kick-it-up a gear.
I also had a hamburger here. (That was another coupon.) It was ok. The french fries were institutional, but sufficient.
As I scrawled, all of the beers here are 'bridge' beers. I most appreciated the Laughing Ass Pale Ale, which was along the lines of a Point Pale Ale.
I also note that the _closed_ Dubuque Star Brewery down by the river's edge (on the tourist trolley route, as is Bricktown) is undergoing rehabilitation. I have strong reason to believe that at some time in the future, _it will resume brewing beer_, albeit perhaps only as a brewpub at the resumption. That will also have repercussions on Bricktown.
The venue subscribes to Mediacom cable television. I noticed during a brief span of when it was browsing its channel listings that it has 'extended' cable, but maybe not the digital tier. I also point out that there is no statewide ban on smoking in Iowa, so you might espy people lighting up here. [YMMV]

Tuesday 28th of August 2007 09:29:29 AM

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My wife and I had a very poor experience here overall.
First, the place has great parking and was easily accessible. It's a bit trendy inside, with the design reminding me a lot of the last Rock Bottom Brewery that I went to in Chicago. The copper tanks are showcased in the center of the restaurant.
Second, the food was mediocre at best. My burger was burned, just like my wife's steak for her fajitas. The place skimps on condiments. I was supposed to have guacamole on my burger; there was about a teaspoon in the center. My wife had to ask for more sour cream because she was given about a tablespoon. The whole food experience felt half-a**ed. My fries were even cold, like they had been plated before anything else was cooked and waited. It was pretty pricey for it being so inconspicuous too.

Next, the beer. Meh. There were several varieties available in the sampler spinner ($7.75). We had Laughing Ass (like Coors bred with MGD), The Mexican (served with lime), a wheat (with lemon, tasting alot like the Mexican and the scotch ale), the Scotch Ale (I ordered another pint of this one), a stout (sweet with a really dry, tart finish...not very good), and a vanilla brew. None of the beers stood out to me as being special or really good. I only ordered another pint ($3.50 a pop) of the Scotch Ale to give it a second chance, just as my wife did with the Mexican. We came in hoping to get a growler for later; we ended up leaving almost a third of our pints and stopped on the way home to pick up a couple 22s of Rogue at the local beer store instead.

Last, but certainly not least, we had some of the worst service we've ever seen, let alone experienced. Our waitress (no names here) was listless, slow, and scarce. We barely saw her. She never told us her name; I learned it from the receipt. She brought us the sampler and then, much later, brought us our food. We had been waiting to order another pint for a while. After we had eaten, and waited for her to come back, she surprises us with the check, without even asking if we wanted anything else. Other people's servers looked more attentive, but they all had those secret-service style earpieces in. We didn't know if this is a trend there, but with so-so food, so-so beer, and poor service, we don't plan to return. Sorry for negativity in this, but it's best to be honest