Getting Wet With Wick’s
I forgot all about the torrential rain and gridlocked 91 freeway once I walked into Wick’s Brewery Wednesday night. They had over 15 beers on tap from select craft breweries, including Stone, Lightning, Bootlegger’s and many more, along with six of Wick’s own beers and a delicious root beer for anyone under 21.
The brewery has a very pub-like atmosphere. It’s an open floor plan that feels very inviting the second you walk through the doors. The chalkboard wall behind the bar fills you in on the specials, beers and other info any beer nerd would love. On the other side, there’s a large wall of windows, so while you enjoy one of their tasty ales, you can watch the brewers adding hops, checking yeast and doing a quick taste test of a future batch.
Wick’s wide array of their own beers ranges from their light and smooth Sir Gordon Pale Ale all the way to Belgium for their Red Monk. It’s a very fruity seasonal Belgium clocking in at 5.2 percent Alcohol By Volume (ABV). Then there is the delicious India Pale Ale called Barbaric IPA which is piney and not too in-your-face like many of the west coast IPAs out there right now, not to mention it provides 7.2 percent ABV. They also have their White Monk, a Belgium blonde and Wicktoberfest, their version of an Octoberfest just in time for Halloween. My favorite of the night had to be the Black Knight Imperial Porter. It’s an Imperial that is perfect for the cold Riverside nights ahead of us. The porter is incredibly smooth, despite having an 8.5 percent ABV. It leaves your tongue with hints of coffee and chocolate.
The beer was amazing but I wouldn’t suggest coming here for a full dinner date. I had the pulled pork sandwich, which was just that. It wasn’t horrible but nothing really made it stand out or made me remember it. The only full meal options other than the sandwiches were the few Chef’s Specials, like beer clams and flatbread pizzas.
While I don’t think Wick’s is meant for a dinner date it is perfect for relaxing with some great brews and munching on appetizers. I suggest the pretzel or jalapeno pretzel bites. The jalapeno bites come with a nacho cheese sauce and the regular bites come with a pesto dip that I will be coming back for next week — I can promise you that. I also suggest pairing both of these with a pint or two of Wick’s own Barbaric IPA. And naturally, there are also a few of the pub classics, like buffalo wings, rib tips, potato skins and chips and salsa.
The beer and food was excellent but I was a bit disappointed with the service. It seemed to take an unusually long amount of time for my beers to be poured and for my pretzel bites to be baked. They could definitely benefit from having a few more staff taking orders and pouring suds.
Even though the service seemed to lag, one of the things I loved about Wick’s was that it appeared as a restaurant at first glance but they offered the essentials of any great brewery, including growler fills for just 10 bucks along with the chance to tour the brewing facility yourself. Also available are their beer towers, which you can have filled with six pints of your favorite ale for only 25 bucks. I suggest showing up on Wednesdays for pint night: All the beers are a dollar off and appetizers are 10 percent off.
While the service was slow and the menu limited, I had a great evening with some very remarkable beers and managed to stay dry, from the rain at least.
