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| - I stopped by the Dutch Mill on a whim following a bus trip to Chicago that had departed from the nearby Dutch Mill park & ride, and while my initial impression wasn't too great I came away thinking I could have done worse. I'm torn on the rating - a 2.5 would be optimal - but I can't quite say the beer selection (or the bartender's attitude when I inquired to said beer options) can be called good. But I'd not go so far as to say I'd avoid the place, and though I'm not going to find myself on that side of town too often, I'd stop by again if I did.
The place doesn't look like much from the outside, but the appearance is somewhat deceiving as it was comfortable inside. The building is located on the north side of Dutch Mill Road, about a quarter mile up from the P&R. The parking lot wasn't in the best of shape and the entrance, through a screen door on the side of the building, was a bit hard to discern. I walked in with my friend, and thankfully there wasn't the typical turn-and-stare routine from the seven or eight regulars at the bar. The bar was roomy and well-lit, with a long bar occupying most of the space and a few video poker machines and a pool table. There was a menu board on the wall, listing the items available on the grill. These were the usual burgers and sandwiches, and part of the grill in the back was visible from the bar. It looked clean and well-kept, and that's more than can be said about some places. We grabbed a seat and the bartender was over to help us right away. Thursdays were rum runner specials, basically any rum drink for a low price. That was good enough for my friend, but I stay away from demon rum so I asked about their taps. I didn't see any along the bar, which led to the first of my issues.
I'm not one to hide or try to explain away my beer snob proclivities, but I also know to temper my expectations depending on my location. Since I didn't see a bank of taps along the back bar I figured that there wouldn't be much to choose from but thought I'd ask anyway. The bartender indicated he had Bud, Bud Light and Miller Lite, and while I've been known to enjoy an icy can of Budweiser on a hot day it wasn't what I wanted that night, so I asked if he had any bottles of Capital. That wasn't exactly an unreasonable question, but I caught a distinctive roll of the eyes and a received a sharp "No" in reply. There were no suggestions or offers of what he did have, and I didn't feel like cycling through the names of other local brewers, so I just asked what they did have. Leinenkugels was what he had - that wasn't so hard, but I even felt a bit "fancy" ordering that from him. But aside from this exchange, the rest of the evening went well. The local regulars seemed quite friendly, and the bartender came around when we mentioned a few people from Oregon that he had gone to school with in high school. At one point a semi-regular scammer came into the bar offering to sell some sort of tool at cut-rate prices, and finding no takers left. The bartender indicated that he would stop by on occasion to try to unload some stolen items but everyone knew not to buy hot product off of him. I enjoyed the place, though I can't quite recommend it. Still, I'll go back the next time I'm at the P&R and need a cold one. I'll just know what to ask for next time around.
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