Brewpub food menu

Whether I'm sipping on a light session beer or a palate wrecking IIPA it's nice to have something to nibble on between sips and conversation. So I was thinking(a dangerous activity), what are everyone else's favorite food items when they're at a brewpub or just kicking it with their drinking buddies?
If you had to create an appetizer/snack menu for a brewpub what would be on it? Would it be simple for the sanity of the chef or would it be gourmet to add another layer to your pub's identity?
I'm not planning on opening a brewpub, but maybe someone who is will be inspired by this list.

Smothered Fries
Covered in your choice of Mozzarella or Cheddar cheeses, bacon, green onions,and Chili

Soft Pretzels
Two large pretzels complemented by stone ground mustard and beer cheese

Breakfast Sampler
Five silver dollar pancakes, hashbrowns , 3 strips of bacon or 3 sausage links, and 2 eggs cooked to order

Fresh Chips
Fresh cut deep fried potato chips, made daily

Chicken wings
8 wings available coated in: Hot, mild, honey mustard, cajun rub, and Hot BBQ sauces

I hate going to a brew pub and they decide to serve pretentious culinary food. At a pub, I want pub food. The smothered fries, pretzels, chicken wings/tenders, burgers, pizza. Stuff like that. Anything that has a 'presentation'....should not be there. At least, that's what I want.

I agree with Hammy71. When I go to a brew pub I want food that is terrible for you but taste awesome!

Other than what's already been listed, jalapeno poppers, nachos and potato skins are great.

I wish some bars around here would start offering fried pickles. You just don't see them out here.

I am agreeing with all the above post.
non pretentious, basic and a bit salty
Soft pretzels and fried pickles a bonus!

In addition to the great choices already listed, I'll add pickled sausages, pickled eggs, baskets of onion rings, taquitos, mini-chimis, and of course, pistachios. I used to hang out at a bar that had a big gumball machine, but it dispensed pistachio nuts instead of gum. We'd get a big double handful & sit there drinking beer & eating pistachios while playing backgammon & waiting for the pool table to open up.
Regards, GF.

I like pizza with my beer. We have a great high quality pizza joint that cares about the food they serve and the beers they brew and keep in house. That makes my dining options easy. Three day aged pizza dough makes for outstanding flavor in their pies, and they only use fresh, high quality ingredients for toppings.

My old neighborhood craft beer place did something called Scottish nachos - really thin sliced potatoes baked and covered with smoked pulled pork, cheese, onions, sour cream, etc. best pub grub ever.

Call me pretentious, but I have had good mussels and fries with some Belgian beers while in northern France and I was a happy dude. I will say a good burger and fries with an IPA is prettty hard to beat though.

Fried calamari

Scotch eggs. The local place that was famous for them has closed and I haven't found anyplace else nearby that has them.

Oh heck yeah. Jalapeno poppers, aka armadillo eggs, and ABTs are great. Tater skins. Irish nachos. Chili cheese fries. Chips and caso or salsa. Fried or grilled sausage slices with cheese. Spinach and artichoke dip. Bacon cheese burgers. Chicken strips. Roasted salted peanuts. Salty soft pretzels. Any reason to have spicy and honey mustard. Sopapias and honey.

I gained 10 pounds writing this.

jeffjm said:

Scotch eggs. The local place that was famous for them has closed and I haven't found anyplace else nearby that has them.

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Only recently had one. Was good with some mustard.

The fried stuff sampler - mozzarella sticks, o-rings, fries, poppers, chicken fingers, and fried mushroom caps.

JonM said:

My old neighborhood craft beer place did something called Scottish nachos - really thin sliced potatoes baked and covered with smoked pulled pork, cheese, onions, sour cream, etc. best pub grub ever.

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That sounds awsome! I'll add to the list fried okra. Maybe with some gravy ladled over it. Maybe cold boiled shrimp (peel & eat). When I was in Nurnberg, we used to get 2 Nurnberger wurst in a split Vienna roll with sauteed onions. And there was a guy outside (especially in winter) who had a big oven on a cart & he sold baked potatoes. He had every topping & condiment known to man & for about a buck you could get a huge, hot, tasty, freshly baked potato with about a pound of toppings. Awesome pubfood!
Regards, GF.

Stuffed clams maybe?

I might be grossly outnumbered here, but I do like the idea of the "gastro-pub". I think pub food can be elevated or remain approachable depending on what the pub is "going for".

One place in New York had japanese shiso peppers simply roasted in sea salt and olive oil on the menu. I ate 2 giant plates of them... glorious. Went nice with a brewdog.

I love the salty and not terribly healthful suggestions thus far!

That said, I'd also consider having a few permanent choices, and rotating a few, keeping the food selections as 'fresh' and 'new' as the brew selections.

For those that rotate in and out, I think it might be nice to have them follow the 'theme' of the beer that rotates in and out - something like bratwurst to pair with a traditional German beer, just as one example.

Fried zucchini is always good tasting, and practically good for you. Practically.

I'm a creature of convenience and I think street tacos are perfect. If I were to open a brew pub, I think I'd start the menu there!

I like that idea. What's great about tacos is you can get creative and playful with the ingredients. It would also be a good way to get rid of leftovers "on special"

I like the idea of tacos also (real tacos not those things they have at taco hell)
Seems like the perfect summer paring. A few beers and A few tacos just like in the winter months you would have a few beers with a nice stew with cheesy garlic biscuits.

Drizzled is another key word I hate on a menu. pour that **** on.

I don't care what it is as long as it's good. There's a bad habit some places get into in frying some frozen s**t and calling it an appetizer.

Sausage, cheese and mussels are my top three choices.

There's a place here in Southern Indiana called Buckheads Mountain Grille, they have a good selection of beer on tap, and a dish called Cheese Boulders. They are similar to a hushpuppy, but have melty, somewhat spicy cheese inside them.....absolutely incredible! It's kind of a blend of cheddar, cream cheese, and maybe riccotta, fried crispy, and served with marinara.

Damn, I think I might have to head over there tonight!

littletommy said:

There's a place here in Southern Indiana called Buckheads Mountain Grille, they have a good selection of beer on tap, and a dish called Cheese Boulders. They are similar to a hushpuppy, but have melty, somewhat spicy cheese inside them.....absolutely incredible! It's kind of a blend of cheddar, cream cheese, and maybe riccotta, fried crispy, and served with marinara.

Damn, I think I might have to head over there tonight!

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In corn meal? I told my wife of this and she wants to make them.

Fried brussels sprouts. They taste way too good to possibly be healthy, but by virtue of being a vegetable, it's still possible to fool yourself.

Zuljin said:

In corn meal? I told my wife of this and she wants to make them.

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No, the only thing I can think of to compare the batter to is.... similar to Long John Silvers fish, no cornmeal is involved.

JonM said:

The fried stuff sampler - mozzarella sticks, o-rings, fries, poppers, chicken fingers, and fried mushroom caps.

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This x1000. Lucky 13s cheesy tater tots (deep fried of course) in Spearfish, SD are pretty damn good.

Now I'm hungry again

stevo4361 said:

This x1000. Lucky 13s cheesy tater tots (deep fried of course) in Spearfish, SD are pretty damn good.

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Tater tops topped with cheddar, and then top THAT it with cumbly bacon. ... I may have strayed from pub grub into stoner food.

Really feeling some loaded potatoe skins right now

Cured meats, baguette, cheese, good olives, home made pickled veggies, deli slicer. Order a charcuterie plate, pickled veggie platter, or a sub. The place wouldn't even need a fridge.

Don't offer pizza unless you know what you're doing. If you know what you're doing, the above ingredients would make some amazing pizza.

So many ways you can go

1. Chicken Wings are a must in someform. Either going traditional buffalo, or BBQ, or another flavor.

2. I also think some form of Nachos or Chips and dip

Then you can go bonkers.

What I'd serve at my hypothetical brew pub would be

Loaded Fries - Double fried Fries with cheese sauce, ranch, bacon. Scallions for presentation

Pretzel Bites served with horseraddish mustard and IPA Cheese Dip

Buffalo Wings - Classic, mild, hot, extra hot.

Sandwich sliders - 1 each cheeseburger with chipotle mayo, BBQ with bourbon coleslaw, and beer battered chicken with maple honey mustard

BBQ Nachos - Topped with Pulled pork and smoked sausage, Mac and Cheese and BBQ Sauce. Though I haven't tried that out to see if that would work texturally.

The some other things so to keep everyone happy have vegetarian options and fish and things of that nature. But the ones listed above would be my pride and joy.

Im gonna have to go with...anything fried, potato skins, nachos, burgers, pizza, mac and cheese.

I used to go to this Greek restaurant that served up an appetizer of a slab of goat cheese with a bit of olive oil poured over it, some red olives, they looked like kalamata, but they weren't salty; and some sort of yellow peppers that weren't very spicy, but NOT pepperocinis. Can't remember what they called it, but that, with a couple of beers was almost a full meal.
Regards, GF.

Whatever you do, be reasonable with prices. It is now commonplace to charge more than a dollar per buffalo wing. The brewpub I was at last night charged $17.99 for a dozen wings or $10.99 for 6 wings. That is F'ing ridiculous! I don't care how good it tastes, those wings would taste very bitter to me. They're chicken wings, not porterhouse.

Just FYI, immediately after posting this, I went over to Small Bar in University Heights and they had Fried Pickles on the menu. I knew there was a reason I loved that place, besides having the best beer board and jukebox in town.

JonM said:

Tater tops topped with cheddar, and then top THAT it with cumbly bacon. ... I may have strayed from pub grub into stoner food.

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My girlfriend and I make something not far off from this, which we call "The Stoner Special." Tater Tots topped with Shells and Cheese mixed with Soyrizo (She's vegetarian, and I don't eat pork), ranch beans or green chili, then topped with more cheddar. It's really simple to make and oddly enough neither of us are stoners, just really good and making stoner food. Stoner food and Pub grub are a very overlapping Venn diagram.

i'm pretentious and like the style of a gastropub..

thrice cooked fries
bacon wrapped stuffed dates
fresh oysters