Northstar Brewery

We all went to Northstar Brewery (32nd & Tejon) for dinner on Friday. The front room has pretty tightly packed tables and is often rather busy. However, there is another room a little farther back that we typically have to ourselves on Friday nights. The waitstaff at Northstar was friendly and helpful on Friday as usual. My husband and I both got the pulled pork sandwich. I got mine with fries (which were a wee bit overcooked, but in a good way--pleasantly crispy) and he got his with tater tots, which are pretty good since they are deep fried (way better than the oven cooked version you remember at Grandma's house). The sandwich arrived with a huge mound of pulled pork piled on top of a bun. Atop the pulled pork is some cole slaw. The barbecue sauce on the pork is more of a vinegar-based than ketchup-based variety and it has a nice zingy flavor. The cole slaw is made with red cabbage and is tasty because it is not too mayonaissey (is that a word?). I like it when restaurants serve pulled pork with cole slaw because I like to pile the cole slaw up on the sandwich for a little contrast in texture and flavor (and to give myself the illusion of actually eating something more healthy than a huge pile of meat on a bun--yeah...coleslaw--that makes it healthy!). It is nice when it already comes with the coleslaw because then I don't have to feel like a pig because I'm ordering two side dishes. The sandwich was yummy as usual. Even my 1.5 year old gave it the thumbs up.

My daughter ordered the macaroni and cheese which comes with carrot and celery sticks. The mac-n-cheese, though not as good as the stuff my husband makes, is way better than what you typically get for a kids' meal. The color somewhat resembles actual cheddar cheese, which makes you think that this here mac-n-cheese actually has more dairy than corn oil in it. The texture is just a bit too smooth though, which leads me to believe that there is at least some percentage of "pasturized cheese food product" in it as well. But heck, both my kids gobbled it up and my 4 year old gobbled up the carrot sticks as well, though she turned her nose up at the celery and the "sauce" (ranch dressing).

Overall, I'd give Northstar the thumbs-up as a casual, family friendly dinner destination in the 'hood. It has been near the top of our list lately because in addition to pretty good food, they have a nice beer selection, including both their own brews and some of those from Wynkoop. We enjoyed the Wynkoop IPA the other night. Good stuff. Even though it is essentially a bar, I'd call it family-friendly. It is loud enough that no one is bothered by your kids using their (er...) "outside voices," they have highchairs and boosters, the kids menu has food that is actually made from something other than corn oil deriviatives, and the waitress is super nice and tells you how cute your kids are/big they are getting, etc. Plus they bring you scratch paper and a big old cup of crayons. Finally, good beer for mom & dad. What else could you want?