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| - Liberty Village get's a new Craft Beer focused restaurant serving 120 beers on tap... how can you hate on this place? Seems like some folks gotta remember the fact that being new comes with it's fair share of kinks to work out, especially if you walk in 1 day after a business has opened its doors - for shame!
I paid The Craft a visit on their second night in business (this past Saturday) and to be honest, I thought they were doing a great job all around. Let's break down the experience top to bottom from the other night.
Venue - great spot, they took over for an old speakeasy style pool hall on Atlantic Ave and they've really done some great things with the space. Huge bar area and a totally separate dining area. The decor is simple but doesn't overdue the whole industrial/vintage thing that every restaurant in the world is going for right now.
Down sides: 1) their A/C wasn't working properly so they attempted to patch this by bringing in an outside cooling unit to blow cold air in until the issue is fixed - it didn't work, I was soaked from sweat, 2) No patio, but one is on the way apparently... although I'm not sure where they are going to put one.
Service - Our server admitted that it was her first night. She'd had a chance to try a few dishes so did her best to make recommendations but where she earned points for the Craft was the fact that she was good at admitting when she didn't know and would go find the answer for us right away to ensure our questions were answered. This DID happen more than you likely want from your servers, even on a soft opening weekend, but most things do come with experience, so I see no problem here. That being said, both the manager and the chef came to check on how we liked everything and even thanked us for our constructive feedback on things that needed minor touches here and there... not even worth mentioning.
Beer - 120. Craft. Beers. On. Tap. That's pretty much all I need to say. There are a healthy selection european beers as well as some more well known brands, but the vast majority are craft microbrews. Gotta catch'em all!
Food - The Craft Charcuterie board had an assortment of nice flavours but was terribly skimpy for what it was. $25 for 6-8 slices of cold cuts and a few scraps of cheese isn't good value. I would avoid this sharable appetizer as it's a real disappointment if you want to try t share it. That said, the Chili Burger (done with a a spicy chili relish not actual beef and bean chili) was very juicy and perfectly balanced in flavour, it didn't need anything else on it - not even ketchup! In addition to the burger I subbed my fries for Asada Fries, which was essentially a carne-asada steak taco turned inside out onto french fries. The portion and quality of the steak on top was amazing, but the fries and dish overall were kind of dry. I'd rate the Charcuterie a 2, the burger a 4 and the fries a 3, respectively.
Price, very reasonable for the most part. Burger, specialty fries, 4 pints, part of the charcuterie board with tax and tip came to just over $70, not bad considering some of the beers were more expensive europeans.
Overall, I think The Craft is going to be a place to watch in Liberty Village, especially as the beer battles heat up in the Village between Local, The Craft and the 3 breweries coming to the area. I'll be back again, thirsty and with friends
Eatcrest Out
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