Crescent City Brewhouse

Crescent City Brewhouse
527 Decatur Street in the French Quarter
** ½

Crescent City Brewhouse is New Orleans' only brewpub. Abita has opened their brewpub up on the north shore, and there's talk of some folks opening up another one in either Mid-City or uptown, but Crescent City is it for the moment. Crescent City has the distinction of having three things going for it: It's in a neat old French Quarter building, giving it an interesting atmosphere; they brew their own beer that's very good; and they cook some really good food. Sure there are pubs like Cooter Brown's or The Bulldog that serve over a hundred different kinds of beer, but there's something special about a place where the beer is truly fresh. Combine that with the Quarter and special becomes magical.

I'm a big fan of the Brewhouse. It's a good place to grab lunch, dinner, or just to sit and watch Decatur Street go by. My last trip was for lunch with a colleague. We were up on Carondelet Street in the CBD last week. The weather was really nice, so we decided to walk over to the Country Flame, a little Latin place on Iberville near Chartres. It was closed (they were doing some interior work on it), which put us in a bind-we wanted something relatively quick, but we were already in the Quarter. My colleague suggested Hooter's, but Ed don't play that in da Quarters. I countered with the Brewhouse, and it became a plan. The place wasn't all that crowded at straight-up noon on a Tuesday. We were seated immediately, our waitress got us menus and drinks in short order, and within a couple of minutes we were ordering lunch.

Lunch on this occasion meant burgers, which is no problem at the Brewhouse. In fact, Crescent City Brewhouse is #8 on my Top Ten Hamburgers in New Orleans list (http://www.yatcom.com/neworl/dining/burger.html). The Brewhouse burger is a half-pounder, cooked the way you want it, dressed with lettuce, tomato, onions, and a pickle spear on the side. They bring one of those little three-way condiment holders with three different mustards to the table when the food arrives. Not that this matters, of course, because one of 'ems Zatarain's Creole Mustard. That is sufficient. I ordered my burger medium rare, my colleague ordered his medium, and the kitchen got both of them right. That's no small feat for many a hamburger place, of course. With the burger comes a healthy sized order of the CCBH's seasoned french fries. These are fries that are seasoned well, but not battered like many of the "Cajun fries" you see at many places. This isn't so much a side order of fries as it is a potato dish you find at a better restaurant. What was really nice about our meal was that the quick service we received in terms of getting seated and having our orders taken carried through to getting our food. The burger was on-the tomato was fresh, the burger was cooked right, overall a good meal. I can still think of 7 places where I can get a better burger, but this one hit the spot on a beautiful November afternoon.

Crescent City isn't just a burger place, however. On other journeys here, I've had some excellent crawfish pasta, and grilled chicken. Walking around with some friends one afternoon, we stopped in and had a couple of beers, and I ordered a grilled sausage appetizer that was the perfect complement to the fresh-brewed beer. Prior to doing some streetcar research, a friend and I stopped by the Brewhouse and polished off an excellent order of onion rings that usually feeds four. Now, onion rings are one of those foods that you can overdo, but these were just great. We sat on the oyster bar end of the bar that day, and the oysters the guy was shucking were driving me absolutely crazy. I'm not a big fan of raw oysters, but they really had some beauties that afternoon.

Then there's the beer. CCBH is far from a burger joint, and it's the beer that sets it apart and above many places. The Brewhouse serves three beers on tap regularly: a Pilsner, a red lager called "Red Stallion," and a dark lager called "Black Forest." They've also done limited-run brews from time to time, such as an Oktoberfest. I usually get Red Stallion. It's got a full body and a strong taste. The Pilsner has a good bit more flavor than the average glass of mass-produced swill, but it's still pretty light. I don't mind the Black Forest, but I prefer Blackened Voodoo or a German dark to it as a rule. Red Stallion, however, puts all of its so-called competition (Killian's, Red Dog, etc.) to shame. It's brewed right there in the building, which is an instant leaps-and-bounds advantage. A lot more care goes into this brew, and that care is quite evident from the first swallow.

Yes, it's the beer that makes CCBH more than just a restaurant, but a "place." The entertainment doesn't hurt, either. There's always a house jazz band evenings. On weekends, look for Delefayo Marsalis (younger brother of Wynton and Branford) and his band. Delefayo's a trombone player, and not a bad one at that. If you're cruising around the Quarters looking for jazz on a Friday or Saturday night, pass by the Brewhouse. You may be pleasantly surprised, by both the beer and the tunes.

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