Start at Square One...

Square One Brewery is an average sized brewery and restaurant in Soulard on Park Avenue.  My family went there, for fun and out of the blue, on Friday night and had enjoyed ourselves.  The first thing we noticed when we entered is that behind glass doors, you can see them brewing 3 beers and they list which ones they are, so you know that the beers you get come form here and aren't from some other place.  Besides that, they led us out into their little outdoor garden spot, complete with giant wall fountain, ample shade from a nice sized tree and those outdoor heaters making sure that everyone is as comfortable as they can be, while enjoying their food.

My family and I were placed in a great position for kids, against the wall and garden box, which prevented my 2 year old from running all over the place by corralling him into a spot with a wall, a garden, a tree and our table and chairs.  We sat, under a great view from a bright green tree contrasting with the baby blue sky and ordered our drinks. Not too long afterward, we ordered our food and it arrived, maybe 20 minutes later.

For the kids, we ordered chicken strips and french fries, which turned out be these huge strips of chicken, beer battered in the same coating as what has to be used with fish n'chips.  French fires were cut nicely and tasty, not too dry, salty, greasy, oily or raw, but cooked well.  My sons, split the dish and there was hardly any left, so on their behalf, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Then my wife ordered the wurst plate, which came with three types of sausage, a pile of red skinned mashed potatoes and some asparagus.Three sausages came with this one: a spicy chicken and two beefs.  All of them were differently seasoned but still good. There was a heap of some sour and sweet sauerkraut which was good enough to make me want to start eating sauerkraut again. The red skinned mashed potatoes had some onions and garlic in it that helped to compliment the potato taste, making for some flavorful mashers. There was the ground mustard sauce and some steamed and salted asparagus to finish. Everything was really tasty and this dish was given a 4 out of 5 by me.

We then had a plate of the stout braised pot roast with the same red skinned garlic mashed potatoes and some vegetables, which in this case, were more asparagus.  That was a mound of meat and gravy, on top of mashed potatoes: what better way to spend an evening.  The beef was tasty and tender, perfectly tender in such a way that it melted in my mouth. Or at least fell into perfectly cut sized pieces for easy chewing. (Hubert Keller should take a lesson on pot roast from this chef.)  The pieces of carrot and celery had the part they normally play in this classic dish and still added the same amount of flavor overall. The beef went fine with the mashed potatoes, as all beef does, and in this case, I ended up dipping everything I could into the gravy. This dish gets a nice 4 out of 5 stars as well from me.

We don't have pictures of the blueberry ice cream that was ordered for dessert and came out in a bowl with two large scoops.  As it was delicious and definitely worth ordering if you go there.  The funny part of the evening came when a person near to us, presumably with his date, probably tried to impress her by ordering a cask ale. Well, it was delivered to him and when he took a sip and made a disgusting face, he complained directly to the waitress. Complaining of the beer being too warm, the man demanded that his cask ale, which is supposed to be served warm or at least at room temperature, be taken back and a cold one returned to him. The waitress told him that all of the cask ale beers are warm, with which the man replied that he would like another beer.

Square One Brewery
1727 Park Avenue
St Louis, MO 63104
(314) 231-2537