Sometimes you just really need some crispy, juicy delicious chicken wings smothered in a glaze and bleu cheese dressing. The best place to get this kind of food is a good old-fashioned bar, at least most of the time (Dry 85 in Annapolis, MD is not quite a bar but has some of the best chicken wings I have ever had). For this venture we hit up the Antietam Brewing Company/Benny's Pub in Hagerstown, MD. Much like I traverse far and wide for local wineries, my fiance really enjoys craft beer. We've been to places like Brewer's Alley in Frederick and Pub Dog and Frisco's in Columbia, but I hadn't really heard of this place until I did some thorough online searching. We also heard a few fellow patrons of the Red Heifer Winery singing the praises of this place, and conveniently it was our next stop that day.
Benny's Pub is located close to the heart of Hagerstown in a strip mall and is easy to miss if you're not looking for it. It's open seating, so we plunked ourselves down at a round table near the front. The music selection was mostly pop with a little bit of country mixed in and it is loud like in most bars so be prepared. After choosing our beers (raspberry ales) we selected wings in a raspberry chipotle sauce for an appetizer (see a theme here?). These weren't too spicy and had a subtle raspberry flavor. I picked the crab cake sandwich with fries and Justin chose the Irish Burger, topped with bacon and a fried egg. Per their menu they only use local meat, always a plus with us. We really enjoy buying and eating local. Justin likes anything with a fried egg so he had nothing but good things to say about the burger, which was seasoned well and cooked to his liking, meaning close to still alive. Getting a crab cake sandwich that far away from the shore is always risky but mine was pretty tasty, not too much filler and a nice Old Bay flavor. We would definitely like to come back to this place.
Recently we also visited Frisco's, as I mentioned previously in this post. We had headed down to Columbia for an appointment of mine and to see a movie (we ended up skipping the movie) and food is always on the agenda for any outing. Frisco's has over 20 beers on tap and selections rotate frequently. The day's offerings are posted on HD screens above the bar and are a little difficult to read without getting up and walking over to the bar. Fortunately our waitress was very helpful in assessing our tastes and pointing us in the right direction. My favorite was a Ginger Lemon beer from Boulevard Brewing Company, which was like drinking ginger ale. So refreshing! Justin chose some darker Irish beers that he also really liked.
This time we skipped an appetizer and went straight for the main course. I chose the Pulled Pork sandwich, served dressed in housemade BBQ sauce with granny apple slaw and onion rings. The sauce was a little spicy and was good, but I prefer my BBQ to be more sweet than spicy. I really enjoyed the granny apple slaw. Normally I really don't like coleslaw, but I've been growing to like it more recently. This was a nice departure from the traditional cabbage that was still dressed in what appeared to be a light mayo and was mixed with carrots.
Justin picked the Spicy Steak Samich, which was grilled flank steak dressed with Thai bird chili BBQ and topped with avocado and goat cheese. He chose a side of beans and rice. I was told by him that his sandwich was good but nothing to write home about. He did like that they offered beans and rice as a healthier side option than your traditional fries and onion rings.We'll probably go back to Frisco's for the beer and maybe try appetizers next time. What are some of your favorite bars/craft beers?
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