Eating Normal
  • Home
  • Support Us
  • Recipes
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Writing
  • Green Bay Coffee
  • Cookbook of the Month
  • Archive

Enjoy Big Burgers at Brickhouse Craft Burgers and Brews

4/10/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sunday afternoon is a busy time in downtown De Pere. The city’s restaurants are all full– especially with the weather being on the warmer side compared to most of March. I arrived at the building that Brickhouse shares with Julie’s Cafe to find that there wasn’t a single parking spot available in the lot. I considered it a good sign for the meal I would have inside the doors, so I found another spot in the downtown area to walk back down to the restaurant.

During the height of the pandemic, I ordered a burger for delivery from Brickhouse, so I had some idea of what to expect. Big burgers and tasty fries were still fresh in my memory. Little did I know that they developed a rotating monthly menu that included a limited offering poutine, burger, and sandwich. On another visit, I would love to try the buffalo chicken poutine. This visit wasn’t that visit, however.
I’ve neglected downtown De Pere since moving closer in the last year. I had my eyes on trying the same burger that I enjoyed during the pandemic from inside the restaurant rather than after a delivery. I did not expect to sit down at my table and be offered a plate of their house made pickles– sweet, dill, and spicy. Both for snacking and the burgers to come, the wait staff offer them at the beginning of the meal like chips and salsa. As a pickle lover, I appreciate that.

​
​Taking home leftovers will allow you to take home cups of these pickles for future use if you’re as enthusiastic about pickles as I am. The number of sandwiches and wraps I made with the three types of pickles that Brickhouse delivers to the table first thing cannot be over exaggerated. Their spicy pickles especially became a welcome component for grilled cheese once I brought leftovers home with me. 
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

Cocoon Brewing's Open for Business

2/7/2023

0 Comments

 
Cocoon Brewing has been long anticipated in the Ledgeview area, and it's finally open. Their soft opening in the first weekend of February was the first rumbling of a formal date with the following Monday opening their doors to the public. I was planning on being in the area anyway, so I diverted my afternoon to stop in and see what they have going on so early into their new business.

​
​
Firstly, it is somewhat difficult to see from the highway. If you don’t know where you’re going, it would be easy to go right past it. I suspect more signage is to come over the Brewery’s life. The building is striking when you turn off onto Kaftan Way. Google Maps will get you that far, so if you come with a mission, you’ll find it just fine.
Picture
Picture
The interior of the building is bright and vibrant in a way that the exterior, modern architecture does not betray in the slightest. It felt cozy, comfortable, and welcoming, to belly up to their short bar and order. The bartender guided me through the early modifications to their business model set to get them through the first month or so.

​As of the writing of this article, their own beers are not yet available, and their taps are loaded with guest breweries from throughout the region. The bartender on staff during my visit reported a likely early March date for their own beers to begin trickling into the line up. Until then, house cocktails are available as well. If I hadn’t started out with a beer, I would have definitely been ordering from that.


Read More
0 Comments

Schlafly Highland Park - Highland, IL

1/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Going home for Christmas often provides the unique opportunity of reviewing restaurants outside of my traditional coverage area, and this year was no exception. It’s the first time in three years that I’ve been home. The universe gave me a gift: Schlafly Brewery of Saint Louis opened a location in the family’s ancestral home of Highland, Illinois during Christmas week. 

After coming to the USA from Switzerland, the founders of the craft brewery first put down roots in a small town not far from where I would be staying this Christmas. I saw the news of the opening through the old television station I got all my news from as a kid. It struck me as unusual for many reasons. Saint Louis, while not far away, so rarely extends the tendrils of its businesses out into these rural communities. It wouldn’t be until I actually visited that I’d find out the historical significance of the choice. It also promised a dining experience to an area often underserved.

So I planned Christmas Eve lunch with my father and my husband at the new restaurant, and we arrived ahead of the doors opening to make sure we could get a table. The location wasn’t taking reservations– and they may never. That wasn’t particularly clear. What was clear, however, was that we were not the only people in the region with this idea. Even ten minutes early, car after car arrived to park along Highland Square and wait their turn to walk into the doors of the old bank turned brewpub.

When you enter, it’s obvious that the place was once a bank. They even kept the vault around as decoration behind the bar. The high ceiling and long dining room feel like the sort of place you once might have stood in line waiting on a bank teller. The wide windows on the right side of the room look out into the renovated yard, which will soon serve as an outdoor dining and entertainment area. There are tables with chess boards permanently part of them and concrete cornhole boxes set into the yard. We can’t wait to see it full of visitors in the summer.
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

    Archives

    June 2025
    March 2025
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    March 2024
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020

    Categories

    All
    2021
    2022
    2023
    2024
    2025
    Bar Food
    Breakfast
    Breweries
    Brew Pub
    Brunch
    Burgers
    Cleveland
    Coffee
    De Pere
    Farmer's Market
    Food Trucks
    Green Bay
    Hmong Cuisine
    IL
    NM
    Noodles
    OH
    Pizza
    Pop Ups
    Restaurant Week 2021
    Seafood
    Steakhouse
    Sushi
    Sweets
    Tacos
    Titletown
    Travel
    Vendor Highlights
    WI

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Support Us
  • Recipes
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Writing
  • Green Bay Coffee
  • Cookbook of the Month
  • Archive