I arrived in East Austin kicking and screaming in 2011 by way of marriage to a fine gentleman named Dave, who had built a house there in 2007. One of my main objections at the time was the lack of any decent dining options on my side of the freeway save for the blessed Justine’s, mere blocks from my house. While there has since been a welcomed explosion of great restaurants in 78702, that stretch of East 5th Street has remained largely the purview of Justine’s for fine dining until about 5 months ago with the opening of The Brewer’s Table. I had seen bits of buzz on Instagram and blogs, but as a working woman, even one with a food and wine blog, who can fully keep up with the restaurant scene in the ATX? My first visit to The Brewer’s Table was prompted by extreme hunger at 3 PM after a rare Saturday workday. Seeing that it was a 3 minute bike ride from the house, I told the hubby that we were out the door in 5. The space itself was surprising for this little pocket of the Eastside with ample parking (!) and generous outdoor seating spaces.
The restaurant and brewery is built into a metal, hangar-like building with a cream-colored facade and clean and simple signage. Outdoor seating areas are casual Austin, with overhead shade sails and colorful metal patio furniture or heavy wooden picnic tables. The interior utilizes the rectangular space well with a long bar, communal tables in the middle and booths opposite the bar. There is also an upstairs mezzanine with a view of the action below.
The menu is built around the concept of the beer and food sharing ingredients and complementing each other. Six beers are currently brewed in-house and we were surprised to learn that they were all lagers. However, they all have a unique style with a variety of hues, body and flavors. The beer menu is rounded out with more than 20 “Guest Taps” and “Guest Bottles and Cans.”
While a beer lover, gluten does not love me, so I was concerned about my choices of beverage but found my concerns to be misplaced. They include a solid cocktail and spirits program and the wine list was funky and fun with offerings from sparkling rosé to a Santa Barbara Riesling to a Barbera d’Asti. Happy hours feature $6 wines on draft which rotate and included four options on the day we dined. Three of the four were Texas made including Infinite Monkey Theorem’s Sparkling Riesling, Mesa Vineyards Chenin Blanc and a Lahey Vineyards Rosé. A chilled Walla Walla Syrah rounded out the drafts.
We had almost everything on the happy hour snacks menu and loved everything so much that we returned for brunch the next morning. Everything we had elicited exclamations of yumminess and groans of pleasure. The summer watermelon salad had perfect, crisp cubes of watermelon seated in a fresh broth and sprinkled with a spicy aguachile. Crispy fried new potatoes were served alongside a creamy aioli and an added chicken liver mousse for dipping.
The chicken drumsticks reminded me of the shake n’ bake drumsticks that I would make for my brother as a kid….if only they had been this good. The Szechuan basil crumble wasn’t overly spicy but left a subtle tingle on the tongue with each bite which was nicely muted by dipping the chicken into the silky hazelnut tahini. The dry aged pork rib was the dish that made us both yelp with delight. It was simply prepared with a dry rub of spices sourced locally and cooked to perfection to be tender and smoky. Many of the dishes, the pork rib included, are garnished with a green dusting of spices. The server pointed out that hanging from the overhead rafters on the interior are numerous bunches of dried herbs. When the restaurant is left with extra herbs, they hang them to dry and then combine and powder them to garnish plates or side dishes like the house-made chips that Dave had with his breakfast sandwich on our second trip.
Our server was surprised to see us less than 24 hours after our first visit as we luckily had obtained the very last inside table for brunch on a rainy Sunday. Mimosas and Bloodys started the day and the prettiest deviled eggs I ever saw arrived next. I loved them, but the husband, not being a fan of runny yolks, was a tad disappointed. More eggs for the rest of us!
Three of the four of us decided we must have the Smoked Pastrami Hash for our entrée after the server sang its praises. Tender chunks of smoked pastrami were nestled into a savory black bean espuma and sweet pepper jam. The dish was topped with a bird’s next of crispy potato shoestrings that seemed impossibly thin.
And, finally, the dish that best expressed the philosophy of The Brewer’s Table were the cutest little ice cream cones, made fully from spent grains that had been used to make the beer. Barley flavored ice cream was scooped into tiny waffle cones made of beer grains and drizzled with hop honey and yeast caramel. The little cones arrived seated in a bowl of fresh beer grains.
We haven’t had a chance to explore the dinner menu at The Brewer’s Table yet, but there’s always tonight, right? Cheers to beers and delicious food.