We made it by the Blind Lady in University Heights for the first time last week. The place was packed and the vibe good. We ordered a caesar salad and the prosciutto pizza - perfect for 2! The beer selection is akin to what you'll find at Toronado, Hamiltons and O'Briens, tho IMO, not as extensive a selection.
Cons - the process. You order from a receptionist/cashier (I couldn't ascertain any other role she played) and they give you a number and a receipt that you then wait in line for a missing bartender to fill beers from. It's kind of beer centric so we were disappointed that it took so dang long to get a beer filled. This is a definite area that needs work.
Pro- community tables. Very cool vibe from mixed parties sitting together. And surprisingly, the noise level wasn't overwhelming.
Pro- Pricing. Decent food for the price. Our salad was $7 and the pizza was $11 and 2 of us were too stuffed to finish it all. Beers were priced similar to the 30th St brew pubs - maybe a bit higher.
Con -Selection... No Stone? Wassup with that? And as far as the beer selection- taps anyway - we found it to be a bit, meh. Had a 30th Street from Green Flash and a glass of Pliney the Elder. Really was hoping for a surprise or two among their tap selection
Overall, we'll be back and watch the progress but at this point, there isn't enough differentiation to give it preference over our more local haunts.
Yes, pizza was good, and fairly priced for how tasty it was. Beers maybe half a buck or so higher in price than O'Brien's, Hamilton's, etc. I'm not a hop monster, but there were still a few selections on the list that made me happy. Can't speak to the bottle selection, as I didn't get a good look at the cooler, but seemed limited compared with the other great pubs. Also had a Caesar salad. Decent enough, but the anchovies were way too fishy, and I need anchovies on my Caesar!
The crowd was nice, mostly locals. Ran into one of the tenders at Hamilton's. Even saw Sampson's mom from the bark park there. Parking in this neighborhood sucks. But we enjoyed the crowd inside, not too noisy and mostly being good.
As M sez, the process is awful. They make you work to get a beer. And after paying, we had to wait on the bartender both times to get a beer, as she seemed to wear more than one hat. The seating is problematic, as in most pubs. But since these folks seem to be playing the restaurant side as much as the beer side, I think they need to figure out a better way. After ordering and paying for your food, then waiting to get your beer, you look for a seat. Frankly, after I've ordered and paid for food, I don't want to hope I find one. They need to lose the line of people waiting to order and pay(it got quite long), and hire a server or two to take your orders after you've found a place to sit. The process in place will turn many off.
Some bugs to be worked out, but we'll check them out again.
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