Yesterday I was lucky enough to get to check out Big Grove Brewery and Taproom in Iowa City and try some of the amazing food and beer. Special thanks to Mr. Chad Young for the invite, the guy is a class act.
My wife and I parked in the back of the building and immediately noticed the huge outdoor patio area that will be a perfect place to enjoy multiple Big Grove IPAs this summer as well as a place to do some tailgating this fall. As you walk into the building you see what every beer lover loves to see; beautiful tap handles staring back at you waiting to pour you a lovely brew. I knew this place was going to be big, but I didn’t realize how big until actually walking through it. The brewery part itself was huge, add a stage and a green room for live music, a back area that will have a SHUFFLEBOARD!!! (YES!!!!, I’m a sucker for shuffleboard), and a ping-pong table, and the regular dining area and you have one big space.
The food and beer were on point. If you’ve had Chef Benjamin Smart’s food at the original Big Grove and Pullman then you know your expectations are going to be high going in and he and his staff did not disappoint. You walk up to place your order and you get a buzzer when your food is ready. You go and pick up your tray and dig in to your meal. My wife and I had the house salad which was refreshing and kind of cooled me down while eating some the Smoked Tapatio wings. The wings were spicy but the perfect burn for me. We also shared the Queso Fundido which could come with chips or homemade corn tortillas, we opted for the tortillas and very happy with that decision. Just to round out the night I had to have a couple of tacos. I went with the pescado(fish) taco and pork belly pastor tacos. Both were awesome but the sauce on that fish taco was amazing and I’ll be ordering many of those in the future.
Overall, amazing day to say the least. Many hours will be spent in Iowa City at Big Grove for myself and my family in the future. They will be opening up this Wednesday to the public so make sure you get over there and check it out. Thanks again to Chad Young, Chef Smart, Danny Standley and Doug Goettsch for the hospitality and congrats to them all!
