Harry's Alehouse

After what seemed a long wait, Harry’s Alehouse finally opened a couple weeks ago. We made two visits to Harry’s last week, and excepting a couple minor hiccups, we liked what we found. Our first visit was for a weeknight dinner, and we opted to sit in the dining room. Harry’s features 24 rotating taps, and I was most interested in seeing what sort of variety would be offered. Our waiter reviewed the menu with us, pointing out beers that were sold out, and ones that had been added. I made my selection, only to have the waiter return minutes later to tell me it was no longer available. Another selection made, and another selection reported out. After the third time, a manager came to the table with a couple samples of other beers, and offered a sincere apology. The beers were turning over more quickly than the staff could keep up. I ended up with a very tasty beer, Space Cake IPA from Clown Shoes Brewing, and chalked the miscues up to opening pains and trying to sort out inventory. To be fair, Colleen got her first pick of beer.

Sierra Nevada Celebration & Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout on Nitro

After a delicious appetizer of a Fried Green Tomato Stack, we both opted to try a couple of the burger varieties for our main course. The burgers were quite flavorful and served with crispy hand cut fries. After dinner, we loitered awhile over our beers, and vowed to return.

We paid another visit this past Sunday, this time taking seats at the bar. As the bar area is our preferred seating at any pub, we took note of the ample seating space, the wide bar, comfortable foot curb, and to Colleen’s delight, a hefty purse hook. Since our last visit, Harry’s had modified their beer menu, adding boxes so tapped out beers could be marked and newly tapped beers in the “upcoming” section could be marked as available. This made making my choice much easier. The Big Papi IPA from Commonwealth Brewing Company served as an introduction to a brewery I had not tried previously. Harry’s is a verified Untapped venue, and I suggested to the bartender they make use of that and display an electronic “live” tap list. He let me know that they are doing that now, but the TV screen was currently in use for Sunday football. When I last checked on Untapped, the list was a few days old, so on another visit I’ll check on how well it’s working.

This visit Colleen and I shared a Bavarian Pretzel with Cheddar Beer Dip. We devoured that appetizer quickly, with plenty of cheese sauce left over. We opted to save the remaining sauce for dipping the fries which we knew were to come with our meals. We both opted for sandwiches this time; Colleen picked a Shrimp Po' Boy, and my selection was a Beer Fish Sandwich. Once again we found the food to be well-prepared, tasty, and of generous proportion.

Oskar Blues Death By Coconut Porter & Commonwealth Brewing Big Papi IPA

The staff at Harry’s is quite friendly, and our service has been prompt. The beer selection is limited to drafts currently, and they have a pretty decent selection of American craft beer. For those opposed to drinking beer with flavor, they also currently list both Bud Light and Miller Light, which seems redundant and a waste of at least one draft line. 😉 Most of the beers are offered in 12 ounce servings, rather than pints. (I wish more American pubs would offer the pint and half pint options we enjoyed in Ireland.) In my opinion, the price point on the craft drafts is a bit high; ranging from $6.00 - $11.00 a glass during our visits. On the plus side, Harry's does seem to be offering some selections not commonly seen in the area.

After much anticipation, we are excited to finally have another local option for enjoying good beer and food. The food is reasonably priced, and there’s quite a variety of what I consider to be good “pub grub.” Everything we’ve tried so far was, simply put, delicious. The service has been attentive and friendly in both the dining room and at the bar. We've long lamented the dearth of good dining and drinking establishments on this side of town. Harry’s Alehouse is a welcome addition to our neck of the woods, and I look forward to more visits and seeing what the future holds as they become more established. I expect we'll become "regulars" at Harry's.