DrDavidE
My wife and I had long planned the hour plus trip to Decatur to check out the Brick Store. We do not drink beer, but have traveled extensively in Great Britain and enjoy tthe atmosphere and food at pubs. Having read positive reviews of Brick Store online, we decided to eat there on Valentine's Day. The pub's location on the square was a great plus...and the crowd at 3:00 was impressive and indicated that it was a poplular place. As a whole, the experience was enjoyable but fell short of expectations. The staff, from the young lady who greeted us to the waitress who served us (helped by at least three others) were outstanding. They were all friendly, efficient and attentive. The atmosphere at the pub was enjoyable...everyone seemed to be having a good time and the venue/decor was inviting and comfortable. The disappointment? The food. It was good, but nothing outstanding. We ordered a pretzel appetizer and found them to be very ordinary, much like frozen pretzels. The sauce that is served with them, however, was very tasty with a late horseradish kick . My wife ordered the meatoaf sandwich and commented that it tasted "fine" but the bread was charred. When I asked if she would order the same entree again, she said "no". I ordered my favorite pub food, fish and chips. I have eaten fish and chips in at least a dozen pubs (and at several restaurants) in Scotland, Ireland and England and really enjoy the crunch of a thin, crispy batter. I enjoyed the taste of the Birck Store's fish and chips, but the batter was darker and heavier than I was accustomed to, and I was disappointed that neither malt vinegar nor tartar sauce was available as a condiment. The remoulade sauce that was served with the fish was very good, but I would have preferred a tartar sauce. As a Valentine's treat, we ordered dessert and again got mixed results. The pumpkin/chocolate chip pie that my wife ordered had a delicious filling, but the crust was very thick, overworked to the point that it was difficult to cut with a fork and burned. I ordered the banana whoopie pie...the chocolate cookie was much crunchier that I expected (but good); however, the filling had absolutely no banana flavor. Finally, we ordered "Tittle Pop" (homemade cracker jack-like appetizer) to take home. I tried it last night and ate very little before throwing it out...it had a strange burned taste as was overly salty (and I, unfortunately, love salt!).We are happy we visited the Brick Store pub. It was a fun Valentine's Day date, but there were some definite disappointments. We agreed that we would give the Brick Store pub a second chance if it were located in our home town, but it was definitely not a destination eatery.