beerbistro Grand Opening on November 10th

Uncle Bobby · Post by **Uncle Bobby** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:32 pm

Had a pleasant time at Beer Bistro last night. Ordered a couple of nice ones - a Fuller's London Porter and an Achel 10. Pleasant staff and reasonably well-served beer. (My waitress was happy to learn and asked me questions about pouring a bottle-conditioned beer. Although some things were new to her, she did mention that they had all received some training.)

Had a couple of starters, too, which were substantial enough to be like tapas. I had a lamb sausage appetizer -- three medium pieces of snag with baguette toast, watercress and a leek and blue cheese accompaniment. Ordered frites, too -- a healthy portion in a stylish holder.

I like the décor, although I agree it is potentially a very loud place. I think it will be geared to some extent to the stockbroker and flossies crowd anyways. If you want to enjoy a quiet pint, I suggest avoiding Friday nights.

And despite my carniverous predilictions, I do wish that more places in Toronto offered vegetarian/vegan options. I have friends who very often can have nothing more than fries or pita with hummus. Did not ask whether the chips at Beer Bistro were veggie friendly.

Welcome addition to the neighbourhood. Congratulations to all involved!

-Uncle Bobby

JWalter · Post by **JWalter** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 12:22 am

Hi Gang,

I'm super excited about this place. We should all make an effort to check it out, hopefully we'll have more good things to say about it than bad, and I'd recommend we all tell all of our friends about it too and get them to check it out. It's this type of simple, grass-roots stuff that we can all do that will -slowly- make a change in Toronto by getting more people onto good beer!

I'm not sure when I get there, hopefully in the next week or so, I'll post my comments when I do!

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 9:07 am

Walked by it last night. Looks like an interesting place. A bit smaller than I had invisioned it but nice. The menu is fairly reasonably priced as well.

[ This Message was edited by: jercraigs on 2003-11-12 22:10 ]

Steve Beaumont · Post by **Steve Beaumont** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 4:10 pm

I'm glad to read that everyone seems to be having good first impresssions of and experiences at beerbistro. We really had to crunch get the place open on Monday, so if you're already enjoying it, the good news is that beerbistro will be getting better and better as we iron out the inevitable initial kinks and get our terrific staff a little more familiar with the beers.

(I was able run a couple of seminars with the staff before we opened, but the plan is to get into much more involved education in the new year.)

Of course, reading all of your posts has me terrifically jealous because I'm in Washington, DC, right now and have been on the road since last Thursday, so I haven't even seen the finished room yet. I'll be in there on Friday evening, though, in case anyone would like to drop by and have a chat over a beer.

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 4:18 pm

On 2003-11-12 16:10, Steve Beaumont wrote:
I'm glad to read that everyone seems to be having good first impresssions of and experiences at beerbistro. We really had to crunch get the place open on Monday, so if you're already enjoying it, the good news is that beerbistro will be getting better and better as we iron out the inevitable initial kinks and get our terrific staff a little more familiar with the beers.

(I was able run a couple of seminars with the staff before we opened, but the plan is to get into much more involved education in the new year.)

Of course, reading all of your posts has me terrifically jealous because I'm in Washington, DC, right now and have been on the road since last Thursday, so I haven't even seen the finished room yet. I'll be in there on Friday evening, though, in case anyone would like to drop by and have a chat over a beer.

Jealous? Your in Washington DC hosting a beer tasting. Your job is to travel and taste beers. Jealous?

Seriously, the bistro sounds great. I can't wait to try it--probably next weekend. If you ever need "secret shoppers," don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers, Joe.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:19 pm

I forwarded the entree deal to my girlfriend.. now she's going tomorrow night without me!!!!

Sac · Post by **Sac** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:03 am

Congratulations Steve, Brian and everyone else involved. Can't wait to enjoy the place. It will be a great addition to the area. I'll call soon to book our Staff Christmas Dinner. Maybe I'll get there next week with my wife (who loves good beer). Again congrats on getting the project off the ground. We need more places like this in the city.

Rubaiyat · Post by **Rubaiyat** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:37 pm

Funny that such a boarish anti-vegetable rant comes from a person with a moniker that is "Rabbit" -- as for Bulba -- well, no comment ... I'm already mad at him -- or her.

For the record, my 11 year old daughter has been a vegetarian since she was 3.

Paul

SirIsm · Post by **SirIsm** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 9:06 am

Been a couple of times this week...fairly happy with it...great beer selection and really close to work for me. The effort is there on the food although I think that there are kinks to work out...I've had the belgian beef burger and the lamb shank so far...pretty decent although I thought the flavour could be kicked up a bit on the sauce. Overall, I enjoyed my experience though.

[ This Message was edited by: SirIsm on 2003-11-14 09:09 ]

DAN-D-MAN · Post by **DAN-D-MAN** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 2:46 pm

Went in last night and enjoyed a few beers on tap. Discovered that not only are the entrées half price but so are the appetizers! So, my wife and I had:

- the Cheddar and Lager (formerly Ale) Fondue, excellent!
- the Mussels in Oatmeal Stout (a little bitter tasting but still enjoyable)
- the Beer Braised Lamb Shank which just fell off the bone and had a nice strong taste to it.
- the Salmon which was mouth watering.

The portions were a good size and I agree that the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Brian Morin even came out regularly to meet his clientèle and get their impressions on the food and service.

While there, I saw and spoke with Sarah (JerCraigs' GF) with her friends, Michael Hancock, Rob Creighton and Kid Presentable (who is working there part time). He will be working mornings there to prepare for the lunch crowd.

Beerbistro is currently only open for dinner and opens at 4pm. Lunch should be served sometime in December.

Brian also explained that he is tweaking the menu daily as he experiments more and more with each dish and gets feedback from his customers.

The place looks very inviting with dim lighting, there's jazz/blues music playing in the background and yes it does get a little loud at times but not to the point where you can't still have a conversation without yelling. I'm glad to see the place was quite busy most of the night.

Hey Peter (Esprit), a table of 5 guys ordered a magnum (1.5L) of Duvel and looked to be really enjoying it!

Rob Creighton · Post by **Rob Creighton** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 4:39 pm

Interesting that Dan (seated at a table) found the music only "a little loud". At the bar,(granted we were coming in after a brewers meeting which may affect my judgement but shouldn't affect my hearing) we were overwhelmed by the music. I had trouble hearing Jason Britton from Walkerville Brewing next to me and simply nodded politely to anything said to me from down the bar - uh huh, yup, uh huh. The vaulted ceiling above does not help.

Didn't try the food so I can't comment but I heard some good reports. Really enjoyed the Sgt. Majors and Black Oak Nut Brown. The Mill Street PA was a bit floral for my tastes but was certainly a well done beer. The King Pils that a couple of the guys had threw a heavy chill haze and I don't know if it was product related or if the Bistro needs to fine tune the line refrigeration system. I suspect it was the latter because the ales I had were too cold.

The service was good and wasn't completely offended by a group of ultra critical, detail oriented brewers being in attendance (we generally frustrate staff in a group because of our over-focus/sensitivity/arguments on our products).

All in all, the start up rough edges weren't too rough and I'm sure they'll fine tune as they go. Michael Hancock's Weiss was selling well and looked great (the straight wall ale glasses don't do it justice though). Good luck to Brian and Steve in the future!

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 11:31 am

Dropped in for my first visit yesterday around 5:30PM and stayed until about 7:30...music wasn't an issue or problem while I was there and the place was pretty full....had the lamb shank and it was very good...very few bottles being purchased (I don't like that!) but the draft people should be happy. Too many martinis and bloody caesars going out though and virtually all to women...thank God they don't have Smirnoff Ice.

borderline_alcoholic · Wed Nov 19, 2003 11:15 pm

Popped in again tonight to find that the staff have been told to ensure that there is a 1 inch head on *all* beers served. This is fine for Bavarian-style beers and many Belgian-syle ales, but is just wrong for the English-style ales. Even for those people who like fairly large heads on their English ales, a full inch of foam would most likely be considered excessive.

The server informed us that these are early days and they will probably have a more extensive beer-specific set of rules later on, but in the meantime this will be a bit irritating to some of us.

Oh, and the 1 inch head also applies to tasters (!)

This practice was not in place as standard last week. Anyway, I expect this to improve over time, but for now, be warned...

[ This Message was edited by: borderline_alcoholic on 2003-11-19 23:43 ]

Steve Beaumont · Post by **Steve Beaumont** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:36 am

Fear not, boarderline, you are not getting ripped off at beerbistro. I know this because Brian and I specifically sourced glassware for the restaurant that would accommodate a full measure PLUS some room for foam. When we get our branded glasses in -- which are exactly the same as the ones we're currently using -- you will see that they will all be lined at precise measures. We pour half-litres and 300 ml sizes for most of our draught, and the reason the staff have been instructed to pour with foam is because they already know where the 500 ml mark is, even if it's not yet lined on the glass. This goes for the tasters, too, which although they will remain unlined are larger enough to hold a healthy 100 ml each with a topping of foam.

I drink in a lot of bars across North America and around the world, and am a long-time CAMRA member, so I'm very sensitive to concerns about short measures. Please rest assured that at beerbistro you are getting exactly what you pay for.

Steve Beaumont · Post by **Steve Beaumont** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:16 am

And BTW, courtesy of Michael Hancock, we now have proper glases for his weizen. Thanks, Michael.