Alewife GastroPub
Baltimore, Md- Today, I went to the Brand GastroPub in the heart of downtown called Alewife. It's located at the corner of Eutaw and Fayette Streets, near the Hippodrome Theatre, where Lucky's Irish Pub & Maggie Moor'ss once were. Walking in makes you take a gander all around to take in all the beauty of this one time Bank. Gorgeous ornate wooden bar with similar accents all around. The taplist will feature 40 rotating, from some of the best Micro/craft breweries from around the nation as well as imports. The bottle list is deliberate and well thought out and will continue to evolve into more than the 100 or so that they have now.
I am gonna include a few pics that I took while down there.
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Dogfish Head Alehouse - Gaithersburg, Md
August 28, 2010 - Was out and about with my father, who I am still trying to get to commit to craft beer, when we decided to go to one of three DFH Alehouses in the region. Driving up to the place, it was a little anti-climatic. I was expecting a big and elaborate facade, but it was actually a laid back presentation with a single DFH sign, and an awning over the double front doors. There was actually a pretty cool set of wooden benches with the DFh logo carved into them. 
Once inside, we walked into a big wooden stairwell splitting the dining area and the bar area. Up those stairs were extra dining seats for overflow. We sat down at a hightop table in the bar area and parused the available beers chalkboard. The usual were there, nothing really hard-to-find, so I had a 60 Minute, and dad had a Black-n-Tan(90 Minute & Chicory Stout)...Good choice. We ordered an appetizer, Fries, Rings, & Chips(all cut in house). Kinda wasn't expecting much, but wow...this was great. The chips were crisp and salted just right, as were the fries, and the onion rings were lightly breaded red onions that came with ketchup and a zingy remoulade.
After eating and having our one beer I walked around and took some pics of the decore. There were the DFH sharks all over, along with funny art, prohibition photos, and a nice mural on the wall near the bathrooms. After sitting back down, Jack, one of the managers came over and we started chatting about things DFH. He gave me a scoop on a brew being made exclusively for the Alehouses. 
All in all it was a nice experience, good food, good beer and a good atmosphere...just what you should expect from a DFH owned pub.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alonso's/Loco Hombre - Baltimore, Md.
July 14, 2010 - Went to Alonso's/Loco hombre for the first time today, even though I live only a mile from it. I just haven't made time to get there. Believe me though, i will go back regularly from now on. When we walked into the entry way i was greeted with an open-aired packaged goods store...not your run-of-the-mill packaged goods store either. They had row upon row of Craft/Import beers. This was a good sign. On top of it, they had a pretty good singles deal(any 6 mixed for $9.99). 
Once we got to the hostess, she sat us in a comfortable booth seat in a corner of the restaurant/bar. On the way to the seat I gandered upon the beer taps...13 that rotate frequently. There was Evolution Craft Brewery- Summer Session, Newcastle Summer, Wild Goose - Oatmeal Stout, Stone, & Dogfish Head, along with the regulars of Guinness, and Yuengling. There were numerous flat-screen tv's along with local sports items on the wallsThe menu was small but still had a decent variety of apps, salads, main courses and burgers. 
We started with two appetizers...Beer & Cheese Preztels, and Beer battered Onion rings(I think they were panko breaded, they were awesome). I had the Asian Burger that had local Md. beef or Bison, in an 8oz. or 1 lb. patty. It was topped with lettuce, tomato, Hoisin sauce, red peppers, and portabello mushrooms on a decent kaiser bun. The wife got Veal Medallionss that also included Polenta, and feta-stuffed mushroom caps. The one son got basic sliders that looked suffice, and the other son got a build-your-own thin-crust pizza with spinach on it. The waiter/Bartender was pleasant and attentive. He knew what was on the tap list and added commentary on the Wild Goose Oatmeal Stout I had(which showed his knowledge). They have an extensive bottled beer list and a number of craft beers on draft, plus here and there they will bring in specialty casks and firkins. All that being said, it is a nice place to bring the family, or to go with some friends to have a few craft brews and shoot the poop. The check wasn't too bad for all of the food we had. The service was accurate, prompt, and overall very good. So I would definitely recommend going here to friends and strangers.
Score: 9.3/10
