Wild Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery

7/14/2008 10:22:33 AM, monday, july 14, 2008 [ Updated monday, july 14, 2008 ]
Visited on a Sunday afternoon so the place wasn’t incredibly busy, but was still probably half-full with both drinkers and diners. Semi-rustic lodge/cabin/mountain atmosphere, small bar in the back that opens onto the wood deck which overlooks a small stream. The IPA was out when I visited but the pale ale was appropriately hoppy and bitter, overall well-made. Didn’t get any food but damn me if it didn’t smell great. Service was great and the crowd was mellow. No complaints from me about service or quality of the beer. Perhaps they ironed out the wrinkles they had when they opened.

3/9/2008 2:38:17 PM, sunday, march 09, 2008 [ Updated sunday, march 09, 2008 ]
Must preface notes by saying I was up there for what might be their busiest day of the year: Frozen Dead Guy Days. So things might net out a little differently on a less-crazy day. Atmosphere was alright, a little cobbled together. Given plastic bakets to eat out of, plastic cutlery. Yucky. Beer list was pretty savvy. Bottle prices probably the fairest I’ve seen in my travels so far. Server was nice, attentive despite the mayhem surrounding him. Knowledgeable about the brews. Food was fair. Some interesting offerings, sauces for meats were pretty tight. Sweet potato fries were nice. Overall, it wouldn’t harken me up to Ned, but if I were in that neck of the woods and I wanted dinner, I’d choose it again.

10/6/2007 7:18:15 PM, saturday, october 06, 2007
There’s good news and bad news. Bad news first: I ordered a cold plate of sausage, cheese, and apple slices. It took about 45 minutes to come, and this was early afternoon. Why? And it wasn’t good either...mild orange cheddar, pepper jack, and a lightly smoked cheese plus supremely bland slices of meat. I could bike down to Whole Foods and get better quality versions of every single thing on the plate. But the staff is quite nice, and there are other reasons to come here. Yeah, their house brew isn’t that exciting, but it’s not that bad. More interestingly, they have a small bottle list that includes St. Bernardus 12 among other neat choices. And they have a few cool wines and liquors as well (Springbank 10, anyone?). So, this place has definite potential. It’s a fairly new place, after all...things are probably still a little difficult. Definitely will revisit.

5/27/2007 6:42:56 PM, sunday, may 27, 2007
This place is a little overcrowded with too many tables in a small place, but the decor is interesting family dog theme. The service was slow and pitiful. It took 15 or more minutes to get our beers after we ordered them and had to ask twice to get a glass oif water. The beer selection was slim at 4 house brews, but they did have 5 or 6 guest taps. The food was,nt bad but what’s up with a BBQ joint where you can’t try more than one meat without ordering more than one meal? Where’s the combo platter? Overall it’s not really worth the trip up the mountain in my never to be humble opinion!