Pubbing in the land of Zion: March 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Week 12 Recovery and a nice sit down dinner with BEER!!!!

So considering that it is Wednesday a full week after the debauchery that was the Irish Festival, I thought it was finally high time to get off of my arse and actually write the blog!!! Well, while it is a fact that we spent a very long time enjoying Piper Down and the festivities of this years St. Patrick's Day, We still had the serious duty to our loyal readers to fit in another establishment during the week in which we could blog and review. This week was the original Utah Pub...Desert Edge Brewery (formerly know as The Pub in Trolley Square). Now this pub is a wee bit different than the bars and clubs we have all been attending since the PITLOZ group has gone about. First food is very important and this is also the first pub where we get to sample local microbrews in their home environment. To say the least I was very happy with both. For dinner I ordered the French Onion Soup with the side of fresh fruit (and it is the time that the strawberries are coming in from California yum), Gina and Jon ordered the French Onion Soup and the Rare Roast Beef Sandwich, David ordered a Mushroom Bacon Burger (off menu) and lastly Melanie had the French Onion Soup as well. So without a doubt, the French Onion Soup was a hit all of us loved it! The mustard for the sandwich was wonderful and I even had half of David's burger (those of you who do not know David need to understand that this man really only eats one time per day and it is exactly at 2:00 PM, I think this is his hangover prevention diet) and it was tasty as well. With the food out of the way next comes the beer and today we had pitcher of the Pub Pils, a solid favorite and The Inversion Ale. The Inversion Ale is my favorite of the night with a deep dark filling taste with a wonderful smoke flavor made from home smoked malt barley. This is a heavenly beer. Pitchers also make this pub great but I recommend you going with a student BECAUSE each student receives 2 pitchers priced at $6.00 each with their student ID, This is great for me because Jon and Gina are in school and that made for a very economical night of wonderful beer, food and company. I give Desert Edge Brewery a 3 stein out of 5 stein review. The beer was great, the service and food were good, but the atmosphere does not provide the other pub enjoyments that I love. This is a great first stop pub for dinner if you are planning a long night out otherwise I recommend this pub for exactly the way we used it, a nice place to have dinner and beers with good friends. Next stop week 13 which is actually going to be picked by.........GINA!!!!!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Week 11: St. Patrick's Week and the one we've been waiting for PIPER DOWN!!!!

So yes I know it is Monday and all that but this weekend was the kickoff of the Chadivus County Irish Festival as you can all see. Now I am waiting till today because the PITLOZ group has been represented at Piper every day since Thursday. First off Thursday was a great party. We were there, Clint from work showed up, the band Potcheen played great Celtic jams and it was FUN!!!! We all got a wee bit trashed and that was fine because Piper Down has a great policy. If you spend at least $45 they will give you a ride home!!! You can not beat that at all. So drink up, we had at least 7 rounds of shots and you guessed it, Jameson!!! Ellen was our waitress and she was a trooper keeping us well oiled. Gina was the only one not shooting all Jameson although she had one so bully on her. Jenna was also there which made the day fun as well. Melanie of all people let herself drink up as well so everyone was in a great mood. On top of it I got to hang out with a very cute fiddle player named Laura who was a member of Potcheen (this band is great I even bought them a round). With Thursday over, David and I went back to Piper on Friday and saw the Dropkick/Flogging cover band. We had an enjoyable night even thought the band was very weak (one tempo was all they know and it was so fast they were sloppy). The Piper crowd and the bar itself was not a problem in the least. Saturday was the St. Patrick's Day Parade for Salt Lake so the kids and I headed down and then when it was over David and I headed to Piper once again. The bar was very different....and to let you know I do not fault Dave the owner at all he knows what his money season is. This is his time of year to play up the Irish of his bar and he did it and I am NOT one to disagree. The regulars at Piper get a whole lot of bonuses throughout the year so this time of year they had all better pay up to keep this great bar open. Drinks were more expensive and no pitchers were available on Saturday but the food was great Irish fare and it made us appreciate the bar even more. Side note everybody needs to play Killer Bunnies!!! (thanks for showing us the game Candice). After Saturday we decided to go to Piper Sunday morning for brunch and this time we were joined by some PITLOZ newbies Nicole and her husband Mike plus Ruthie and Jen. Thanks all of you for coming. Brunch was awesome and Piper does it right with $1 mimosas and a free bloody Mary bar. In addition beer is a great breakfast drink!!!! So as you can all see I love Piper Down it is a truly great bar in Salt Lake (and I am even going to so it is THE best bar in Salt Lake). Obviously this is 5 out of 5 steins for great service, knowing how to treat the regulars, a great owner, normally great beer selections (next time make your light lager different than Miller for St. Patrick's) great food and truly great atmosphere!! Thanks for providing that Dave and we will see you on Wednesday for St. Patrick's day!!!!!!!

The amazing Melanie!

Bromance revisited

David, Jon, Gina and Melanie is in the back

Gina's cleavage. Not nearly as impresive as Melanie's or Chad's...

Melanie and Gina drunk

Tonsil hockey

Gina trying to get in on the David action

Melanie and Gina dancing

Melanie, Gina, and DAVE dancing drunk

Chad with his pipe

Chad with pipe and beer

Melanie, Jenna, Gina, and the band guy who wanted Melanie

Chad and his lovely fiddle player Laura

Andrea and her husband, new friends we made at the bar. (As a side note I think Andrea bites harder than sara does.)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

2nd Annual Chadivus Irish Festival and St. Patrick's Week Events

Hey everyone here is the agenda for the upcoming Chadivus Irish Festival all are welcome to show up on the days they can!!!!!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Week 10; UTAH COUNTY DUN Dun dun!!!!

So we have finally left the safe liberal confines of our Salt Lake county bars and ventured forth among the lands of people we do not willingly associate with!!!! Translated, Gina had a dance competition at Thanksgiving Pointe and we felt that it was a great opportunity to try a bar in the land south of us where by nature we assumed the pubbing was going to be a bit more challenging. Actually just south of the Thanksgiving Pointe on the eastern border of Lehi there are 3 bars. I pass these bars every time I take my kids back to their mom's house so I had a general idea of what we were going to do. I picked a bar called The Big Easy and I must admit there were some things that made me nervous as we went in (number one we had the only cars in the parking lot that were not 3/4 ton pick ups). However once we got in we were quite happy, there were a good selection of tables and booths a big dance floor and probably the best stage I have seen out of all the places we have been this year. In addition there were 2 pool tables that were pay tables and a nice smoking patio. As usual I bought the first round and we got things started. (If any of you can guess what the round was attach a comment I want to see how many of you are paying attention). The bar had a great beer selection and pitchers were available. We were able to play pool all night and before the band played, a local patron picked Dropkick Murphy's The Warriors Code and Flogging Molly's Drunken Lullabies on the jukebox. This was way cool and very unexpected since easily those are my favorite bands. The band that played this night was also a pleasant surprise they were called Cellar Dogs and play a Southern Fried style of classic rock (plus making some INXS and Talking Heads covers in their own style as well). Plus we met a lovely young lady with a strong set of pipes named Ms. Andrea Starr who belted out some great songs during the bands first break. As the night drew on Gina decided I needed to drink shots like she did last week, this might not have been the best idea since she matched me shot for shot as well and I am easily the size of 4 Ginas (plus those of you who know me also know that my first super power is an immunity to beer) as a result....well you can all probably guess what happened in that contest. So in closing I am giving The Big Easy a 3.5 stein out of 5 this week. This is a bar I recommend if you find yourself in Utah County for a night and depending on the band playing, it would make a great destination bar as well. Kudos go out to our first Utah Valley experience and I am kind of excited to see how the pubbers in Provo will act later in the year.