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Trailhead Offers Solid Bar Food, Good Beer

Trailhead's portions are just large enough to soak up your beer without leaving you feeling bloated.

Trailhead is a microbrewery that anchors the far north end of Main Street. I’ve heard both the food and brews were good, so it was time to check them out.

I dragged along a teetotaling friend just in case the beers were too good. We were seated in the small non-smoking section. The broad patio doors were mercifully shut in this killer heat, but in nicer weather, it was obvious this would be a nice place to enjoy a fresh breeze along with a brew. The interior wall had windows opening to the fermentation tank room, giving a nice reminder that you're in a brewpub.

At $8-10, most of Trailhead’s appetizers are more expensive than their sandwiches. They include standard bar fare such as nachos, soft pretzels and chicken wings as well as somewhat more adventuous fare such as deep fried asparagus (a nice variation on the deep fried greenbeans seen many places), Cajun barbecue shrimp and mediterranean hummus. You can choose from half a dozen pizzas for only a couple bucks more.

At lunch they offer a $9 pick-two menu with your choices of french onion soup, seafood bisque, a bowl of beer cheese, a house salad, half chicken salad sandwich or half club sandwich.

I was incredibly tempted by the Trailblazer Turkey and Brie. For $9 it included caramelized onions, granny smith apples, turkey, honey mustard, and, of course, melted brie. The token vegetarian offering looked unusually appealing as well. The Porta Plank sandwich comes with a grilled portabella mushroom over deep fried eggplant slices topped with red peppers, cheese, and chipotle dressing for $8.50.

They also offer a small selection of steak and fish entrees for around $20, but really, this is a brewpub. The rest of the menu speaks to its strengths.

While we were both tempted by the sandwiches, for the sake of the review, we decided to go with the kind of food people would order with a round or two of drinks. For us, that meant the hummus appetizer and a barbecued chicken pizza.

You can't visit a microbrewery without trying the beer, so I also ordered a glass of Riverboat Raspberry. At $4 per glass, the microbrews here are very affordable.

The tiny scoop of hummus was a disappointment considering it cost as much as a sandwich. However, the dark red spread was tasty. There was a pleasant tang of heat in the background along with the strong earthiness of the roasted red peppers. This is a hummus which can stand up against a strong, dark beer.

The pita triangles looked identical to our barbecued chicken pizza’s crust. They had the same hard, crunchy factor, but instead of being covered in cheese they were dusted in salt, oil and a hint of garlic. The crunchiness made the pita messy eating. We finished off the entire  bowl of hummus and still had some pita chips left which we used to sop up some of the cheese that fell off our pizza.

The barbecue chicken pizza was a surprise. It had a thin, matzah-like crust, hand stretched so it was heart shaped. The middle slices were stiff enough to stand up to the moist fillings while the edges were crunchy as crackers.

The toppings included ground chicken rather than the usual chicken breast slices, which was topped with generous amounts of cheddar and mozzarella. The barbecue sauce was so mild the taste was nearly nonexistent. A handful of lightly sauteed red onion strips were draped over the top. I couldn't really think of this as a meal pizza. It was more like a large, shared appetizer. You won’t get full on it, but if you like thin, crunchy St. Louis style pizza this is a nice variation.

Both of us wanted more of the hummus in particular. The portion sizes were a little small as meals, but if we’d been enjoying a couple beers each, I suspect we would’ve found them just the right size to leave us full.

I quite liked the Riverboat Raspberry beer. This is a mild, mellow brew. I didn't really taste the raspberry, but there was a pleasant hint of sweetness. It was incredibly smooth. Be careful of this one. It’s an easy beer to drink without feeling like you’re downing a lot of alcohol.
If you have a friend who is an exclusive wine drinker, this is an excellent introductory beer.

Trailhead is hopping on weekends. Fair warning for you social media addicts - you won’t be able to reach Facebook, Twitter, or probably even text from inside Trailhead. Neither of us could get a reliable signal. If you're there to be social, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The total cost for the hummus and pita chips, a barbecue chicken pizza and my beer came to $25.15 plus a $4.50 tip. For a microbrewery with decent food to soak up their tasty beer, the cost is not unreasonable. I give them a solid B+.

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