This past weekend my wife and I decided to go for a ride. Besides the other adventures we had that day (which I will write about in another post), we also visited a brewery in Ludington, MI.
Ludington Bay Brewery is nestled at the end of a nice downtown area in Ludington that is absolutely bustling with people in the summer months. On our visit, many of the shops and eating establishments were closed either due to their seasonal nature, or because of Covid, you could probably flip a coin and be right.
The brewery is actually pretty unassuming on the outside. It almost looks like you could be stepping into a library or a post office versus a brewery. Besides the lettering on the windows that you can barely see here there isn't even much of a sign.
Once you get inside, there is little doubt where you are. They have a glassed in area next to the hostess station that leaves all of the brewing equipment on display. Many breweries have this gallery view of the brewing floor. I took the picture so I could show it to you, but honestly if you have seen one you have kind of seen them all.
Many restaurants are moving to this QR code style menu system. It helps them cut down on many people handling the menus and I have a feeling even when Covid is far behind us we will still be using this system for viewing the menu. The largest issue is I have been in places before when only one of us was able to get cell service. That meant we were passing around my sister in laws phone just to read the menu. Not ideal!
That was not the case here and @mrsbozz and I were quickly able to decide what we wanted to eat.
We also ordered the two beers that you see in the opening picture.
My wife got the "Faded Memories" which is a Hefeweizen (one of her favorite styles of beer). I went with the Roasted Chestnut Brown because it was still a little chilly outside. I thought about doing a flight of beer, but I knew I had to drive home (2.5 hours) so I decided against it.
Both beers were decently hoppy with out being too much so. As I look back at the menu, they were probably two of the lowest in terms of IBU's on the whole menu. They were good pours and we were able to savor both of them the whole duration of our meal.
We decided to share a bread bowl of the spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer. The only problem was it came out with our main course, so it wasn't really much of an appetizer. It was decently good, but not the best spinach artichoke dip we have ever had. We were starving though and we finished the whole thing (minus the bowl).
In addition to that, we shared the BBQ chicken pizza which was pretty phenomenal. The crunchy onion straws on the top were the perfect accompaniment to the pizza itself.
Between the beer, and the dip we were a bit carb overloaded and we both only ate one piece of pizza. The rest we kept in the box to take home for dinner.
This is where I have to be brutally honest, the service was horrible. Due to Covid restrictions places like this can only be at 25% to 50% of their capacity. The inside was full so we ended up sitting out on the heated patio.
There were probably four other parties out there with us, but our waitress was nowhere to be found. We sat around for about fifteen minutes waiting for her to bring our bill (we hadn't seen her since she brought our food) until finally we just went inside to the bar to pay.
At the bar I snagged a six pack of their regular brown ale to take home and try.
I really like their cans. They have a clean look that is very pleasing to the eye.
At $60 for crappy service, I can't say as though I would return to this place. The food and the beer wasn't that mind blowing to make it worth it. There is another brewery a couple blocks down called Jamesport Brewing Company that I would probably be more likely to visit in the future. Sadly, it was closed on our trip.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
All pictures taken by myself or @mrsbozz
The pizza looked awesome! Maybe a takeout next time, if the pizza was decent. Decent pizza is hard to come by.
Maybe I am a little spoiled having grown up on NY bar pizzas, which was when I was old enough. Before that, there was no such thing as bad pizza! It was all good and we didnt' get it but once in blue moon!
I like the cans too!
I miss New York pizza. It has been way too long since I had a slice!
OMG!!! Me too!!!! I want to go home and get one!
Too bad the service wasn't great because the food looks yummy.
Yeah, I think our overall impression of the place would have been a lot better if the service had been a bit more on point. It really detracted from the whole experience.
Your post is reblogged and upvoted by me. It is a good post. Thank you @bozz
Thank you!
Looks like you and the wife had a good time!
It was a nice break for sure!
nothing like a good !BEER during the weekend 😄 Cheers! 🍻
For sure! Thanks!
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BEER.First off.. That pizza looks AWESOME! Even at 8am ish here. I was looking through the list and before I scrolled below to find out what you ended up picking, I also picked the Faded Memories. Tell your wife she has good taste! hehe.
I will let her know! I was a little hesitant on the darks for me since it is Spring, but it was still a bit chilly so I didn't feel to bad. I can't really do IPA's and that is the majority of what most places have these days. I went in thinking fish and chips, but the pizza sounded so good!