One of the (only) cool things about the area we live are the couple of great local breweries not far from home. Not far = less than an hour. But it’s totally worth it for delicious food and beer, especially since the offerings in our town are less than stellar.
Saturday we headed out to Ellicottville, NY for a day of hiking (this was actually an excuse to go to the brewery, on my part). The hike was supposed to be quite a climb up a mountain but we took a wrong turn and ended up going in a big circle on the side of a hill. Still fun! There were plenty of fresh berries to pick and eat on the way and some neat views too.
After we worked up a sweat on the hike, we naturally had to shove our faces with beer and fries refuel with protein and carbs. Ellicottville Brewing Company has always been one of our favorites, but they recently re -opened after a large remodel and addition so I thought I’d do a review.
First of all, the remodel to the place was amazing. They turned a tiny restaurant into a large facility with two added bars (one outdoor and one more indoor for a total of 3), beer garden with outdoor seating and (I think) banquet facilities for weddings and events. It was beautiful inside and out.
new indoor seating
new bar inside (crappy pictures, I tried to look like less of a creeper taking pictures)
outdoor seating and bar
I thought it was weird when the hostess asked for my phone number, but I guess this is the system they use instead of those buzzer things. I thought it was a cool idea. You don’t have to carry around a germ-covered buzzer and keep track of it. They texted me when my table was ready and it was far below the quoted wait time. We hadn’t even ordered our drinks at the bar yet!
I went with the oatmeal stout. I don’t know what it is but ever since St. Patrick’s Day this year I have been obsessed with stouts. This one was had a rich, chocolate-ly, coffee taste without being too heavy. You’d think these types of beers would make you full but it went down (too) easily.
Austin got a hoppy type. I forgot to take a picture of it but he liked it. We ordered our favorite appetizers, loaded brewer’s fries. They come topped with pulled pork in their amazing BBQ sauce, melted cheese and scallions.
We also split a BBQ brisket sandwich. I absolutely love the BBQ sauce. The sandwich came with a side salad and pickle.
The brisket was pretty good- a little tough but the flavor was excellent. No I was not being particularly healthy on this day if you didn’t notice…..things have been a little more lax since the wedding….it feels good to relax a little! I know I’ll clean it up once work starts again.
Both dishes were around ten dollars which made for an inexpensive and tasty lunch.
I highly recommend checking out EBC if you are in the area!! Good beer and food!
What are your favorite types of beer?
I need to start dipping my french fries in BBQ sauce!
That hike–beautiful!! Jealous that you live somewhere so gorgeous. I LOVE microbreweries! That one looks all sorts of awesome. My favorite beers are wheats and ambers. Not much of a stout girl–only in small doses!
How fun that you got in a hike and a brewery trip! We have a few brewery’s in our area but don’t go that often. My hubby and I both went to school in Chico where Sierra Nevada Brewery was and went there quite often. We still love going back to visit and tasting all their yummy beers!
Hiking + tasting = a perfect day 🙂