Need to drink in Cleveland, Kansas City, Denver

Goin on a road trip to Red Rocks in Denver, CO and I need some suggestions for stuff to do along the way. I've already planned for Great Lakes brewing co in Cleveland, and I know of Falling Rock and Boulder Brewing in Denver (in KC I'm focusing on the bbq ) Anything else I should be looking out for?

In downtown Cleveland there's a great pub called The Winking Lizard not far from Great Lakes. You can get most of the local brews there and a 100s more. It is a chain, but foods decent and if you can drink their world tour of 100 beers you get a free vest

I love Great Divide's tap room in Denver. Cool people, impressive beers, and they'll give you just about as many samples as you want as long as you're buying pints. They have a happy hour, too.

In Cleveland
The Bier market is very near Great Lakes. Personally, I'd skip Great Lakes and head for the Bier market.

http://bier-markt.com/

Another with a good beer menu is:

http://buckeyebeerengine.com/tap

It's in Lakewood (suburb of Cleveland)

Enjoy your trip

Not sure if its open yet, but be on the lookout for The Market Garden Brewery in the same neighborhood as Great Lakes and The West Side Market.

I agree with Hugh Jass. The Great Lakes brewpub is nothing special. Its worth checking out what they have on tap since they have brewpub only beers seasonally. I'd check out the Buckeye Beer Engine. They have a huge selecton of commercial drafts as well as their own offerings (From Buckeye Brewing).

For BBQ in KC you need to check out Oklahoma Joe's, Arthur Bryant's, & Gates.

Oklahoma Joe's is awesome. If my memory serves me correct, it was on one of the food network shows as one of the top 10 places to eat in the world. The only thing is, it's in a gas station!

Arthur Bryants is a well known BBQ joint that people travel from all over to get. Their sauce has a strong vinegar flavor to it that I don't care much for, but everyone else I know loves it. The meat is great though.

Gates is one of my favorites, and their extra hot sauce is my absolute favorite sauce. It's what I use on most of my Q, both the rub and sauce.

Whichever one (or all) you choose, go hungry. And they will all usually have a line out the door.

And if you need something to wash it down with, I like the Flying Saucer in downtown KC (Power & Light District). They have a good selection of brews, and it is fairly close to Arthur Bryant's if that helps your plans at all.

Have fun!

For beer in KC if you want selection Flying Saucer, if you want good knowledgeable service, Waldo Pizza tap room, if you want good food Swagger.

Also Foundry, McCoys, Barleys. I don't recommend 75th Street. The best brewpub in Kansas City is in Lawrence KS, it is called Free State. The second best is in Topeka KS, it is called Blind Tiger. Both are on I70. Bunch of burger and beer places these days but you want BBQ so skip em.

BBQ, I'll second Bryants and OK Joes. I don't personally care for Gates. I really like LC's and Woodyard. Woodyward is fairly close to OK Joes. Also they are both close to El Camino Real whose tacos are the best thing to eat in KC.

Two more in Cleveland to try:

http://www.thebrewkettle.com/

http://www.fatheadscleveland.com/

For KC, call boulevard brewery, and get scheduled for a tour. As far as BBQ, Oklahoma Joes is your answer.

I wouldn't take the time driving through for the tour. It's mostly looking at videos. I like Boulevard but it is one of the worst tours I have been on.

remilard said:

I don't recommend 75th Street.

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+1 on this. Trying not to get too far off topic, but I went there a couple weeks ago having not been for a few years. The service was horrible, and they were out of 3 of the 5 or 7 (can't remember) beers they had on the menu. Our beers sat empty for some time before the waitress came back. The calamari was like rubber. Just all around crappy. It was the first time I can remember not tipping, and I'm usually a standard 20% guy, even for mediocre service.

Edcculus said:

[...] The Great Lakes brewpub is nothing special. Its worth checking out what they have on tap since they have brewpub only beers seasonally. [...]

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I used to live in Cleveland, and I couldn't agree more. I used to frequent the Wink often when I lived in town, as well as the Rock Bottom (before it closed).