Free State Brewery

Free State Brewery or FSB for short has alot of good vibes. One of my first few serious dates with my then girlfriend, and now wife was at FSB. A couple of days ago, I just had one of my great friend's pre-wedding lunch at FSB. And now, we were invited by the Mothergoats to hang out for dinner with their Seattle friends. And what better place to show Lawrence than FSB?

Just to set the expectation right. It's a brewery. So you really want to just order beer and the food, well, the food is good but not exceptional because, hey, it's a brewery. I'm not a "beer-dy," so I can't tell you how good the beer is but what I ordered, "The Cyclists," was excellent. Some people in other parts of the world call it Shandy or my Singapore colleagues call it a sorority girl drink, I call it the beer I would order because I like beer like I like my women. Blond, bubbly and sweet. A combination of beer and lemonade provides a fresh and crisp after taste to any hot summer day.

I would highly recommend the chicken strips, though not pictured, everybody loved it. The Black Bean Quesadillas were highly recommended by a dude sitting behind us, as he overheard some of the out of towners wondering what to order, and yes, Kansas people are THAT nice, I ordered the chicken pesto pasta, which was actually decent, Mothergoat thought that the steak was just okay, (I believe that's code for average and deep inside, I think he regretted ordering it.) The wife ordered the Tortellini, and she thought it was average as well.

Lesson? FSB is still a great place to go to. Expect a long wait during weekend and nights. If you want to people watch on a weekday night, this is the place to be, the crowd and energy is young, not necessarily loud and the beer, I keep hearing from the other beer snobs is still excellent. Just watch what you order for your meal and you should be set.

I would still recommend FSB. The prices are reasonable. Ambiance of the restaurant and bar is cosy and not overtly polite.