beer bar recovery

After our more-epic-than-intended hike up City Creek Canyon, we drove down to 200 South and limped into one of SLC's latest eateries/drinkeries, Beer Bar.  We like the name because it is so on point; as H said, you don't know what you're getting with "Lucky 13" but with "Beer Bar," you know exactly what you're going to find inside.  Located right next to Bar X at 161 E 200 S (and sharing a co-owner: Ty Burrell, from Modern Family), Beer Bar opened just a couple months ago and if what we experienced Saturday night is any indication, it's going like gangbusters.

They have at least twenty microbrews on tap, mostly Utahn but also some from Idaho and Oregon, and a massive catalog of bottled beers - pale ales, IPAs, Belgians, ambers, browns, Scottish, porters, stouts, lagers, wheats, strongs, ciders.  If you can't find something you like to drink here, then you aren't a beer drinker.  They also have a small selection of wines (red, white and rose), aperitifs and digestifs, so unless you really want booze, you should be good to go - and if you do really want booze, you can just go through the interior connector door and get a fancy cocktail from Bar X.  It's slightly self-service for drinks, where you stand in line at one of the two beer stations and then carry it back to your table yourself; it's a little unusual but I think the service is pretty quick that way.

It ain't all drinking in Beer Bar, however, because they've also got food: handmade sausages, Belgian style frites with dipping sauces, salads and strudel.  We were absolutely starving when we got there so we sat down at the small bar (the rest of the large, open space is filled with communal tables, plus there are a few tables and benches out on the sidewalk) and perused the menu.  Food ordering is at the counter too and then they bring it out to you.  I got a Louisiana Hot (Cajun pork sausage with smoked paprika) with sweet peppers and carmelized onions; H got a traditional bratwurst with spicy peppers and sauerkraut; we shared a large fries (hand-cut and double-fried) with a chipotle aioli and a sambal aioli (no, I didn't know what sambal was before I ordered it but it was slightly spicy and very tasty).  The prices may be a little high for how much food you get - just under $20 and the sausages weren't huge as H was still hungry afterwards) but omigosh it was so good.  My Louisiana Hot was simply delicious, the casing blackened and snappy, just how I like it.  The frites were fantastic too - I'm not sure I've had that double-dipped Belgian style before, but dang I'm a fan now.

By the time we left (after 9:30 p.m.), the place was jam-packed with hipsters, and because the space is so large and industrial, it was very loud.  We were clearly the oldest people there; we wondered if there might be a more diverse late afternoon crowd.  Still, hipsters aside, Beer Bar is a great, new place and SLC seems to be welcoming it with open arms.  Days later, I'm still thinking about how good that Louisiana Hot was - gonna have to go back soon.