I was extremely excited to check out Church Brew Works; the idea of a restaurant housed in an old church is very interesting to me. Unfortunately, I felt that my expectations were high and the atmosphere and experience fell short in the end.
I came to Church Brew Works with a couple of friends on a Friday night. We were expecting to have a long wait, but as a pleasant surprise we were able to be seated right away. As I mentioned before, Church Brew Works is inside of an old renovated church, which is a very hip idea. If you look up towards the altar, you see all of the brewing equipment for the beer. I like that the owners made an attempt to preserve the original feel of the church while also renovating it to a point that it feels new and interesting. At the same time, I feel that the decor could be a little bit more extensive. The owners had a major opportunity to make this one of the coolest and trendiest restaurants around, but I didn't feel a wow factor when I walked in.
We decided to order a couple appetizers, as we weren't extremely hungry but were looking for more of a snack. I will say that the food is a step above the traditional pub food I was expecting. We ordered the pork tostadas, the gouda and artichoke dip, and the French fries. The tostadas were a little cold when they arrived, but the flavors were nice. They kind of had a zesty Mexican taste to them. The gouda and artichoke dip was probably my favorite app that we ordered, and I would get it again. I do wish the dip was bigger though, as we had a lot of chips left over at the end and no dip for them. The French fries were surprisingly pretty good, and they came with a roasted red pepper sauce on the side that we all enjoyed much more than ketchup.
Overall, the food was better than I expected but also a bit pricey for simple small appetizers. I love the idea of the restaurant, but the execution was a little lacking for me. I don't think I would necessarily rush back to Church Brew Works anytime soon. However, I have heard very good things about the pizza here, so I would like to come back at some point to try it out!