Las Vegas Roundup

The first thing we did when we got into Vegas at around 11am was go to the Crown & Anchor pub off the strip just west of UNLV. Kevin has told me about amazing crowds here for soccer games as early as 4 in the morning but there was no soccer on while we were there. Instead we had some Cider & Blacks (pic 1) and I followed up with a Pilsner Urquell (pic 2). We hung out for a little over an hour and then headed to our next destination.

The next stop, The Freakin' Frog, was only a street or two away. We didn't initially plan on going here but it was so close so why not? They specialize in beer and whiskey apparently. I've heard about them only for their beer. They advertise having a ton of beers, but their taplist is pretty small... maybe 15-20 on tap, with only about 12 of those being craft. I hear they have a great cellar of bottles that are fairly expensive. Kevin and Xavier had a Stone 08.08.08 (pic 1) and I had a Rogue Charlie (pic 2) which was listed as an American Strong Ale. That it was. 11.5% ABV, it tasted pretty much like a barleywine. Not my favorite style but it was still good enough, I didn't have a problem finishing it. The Freakin' Frog was interesting. They have a small grill right behind the bar where they were cooking burgers. Lots of TV's on the walls for us to watch bowl games as well. It's a very big and empty feeling sorta place, and it was empty when we were in here. We had our 1 beer and left ("this place is dead anyway")

The next quick stop was at the Hofbrauhaus for some food. I've been there a handful of times now, and although I can't say it's my favorite place ever it's not bad for a nice German beer and their portions of food are huge. I ordered up their Dunkel and Xavier got a liter of the Original. I also had a big chicken sandwich and fries which probably were not a good choice when it came to our stops later in the day. Kev made the smart decision and went with a pretzel.

After Hofbrau we headed over to our hotel which was quite a ways off the strip next to our main destination (Rosemary's Restaurant). It was only about 5pm at this point and we didn't have dinner reservations until 8pm, so we headed to Big Dog Brewing Company which I was told I must go to by my friend Brian. He said they do a great job with their hops over there so I was pretty excited. As it turns out, they do a pretty good job with their hops. This place was filled with smoke (which we are not use to in So Cal) so that obviously got in the way of my senses but I was fairly pleased with their beers. My sampler included their dunkelweizen, red ale, pale ale, IPA, and DIPA. I thought all were crafted pretty well, with only minor metallic notes going on in them.

Last but not least we got to Rosemary's Restaurant. I didn't take any pictures here, though I probably could of. It's a pretty classy establishment. Definitely fine dining. I had a prix fixe meal that consisted of a panko crusted crab boulettes which I paired with an awesome glass of Orval (served in an Orval chalice), Ceasar salad, and veal tenderloin which I paired with their recommended Chimay Premiere (red). Although I sadly could not finish my veal, it was one, if not the best plate of meat I've ever had. The Ceasar on the other hand wasn't my favorite, I've had better at Delmonico and even Flemming's. The chef/owner is Kevin's friend and supplied us with some nice amuse bouche's before the meal and then with a assorted dessert plate which contained my favorite, chocolate bourbon balls. Towards the end of the meal we were so stuffed it wasn't funny.

After Rosemary's we were pretty stuffed and it had a been a long day, so we went back to the hotel. We didn't even touch the strip this trip, which I don't have a huge problem with. On the way out of town we stopped and got some pizza at Grimaldi's, which I had never heard of but was filled in real quick that they were one of the best pizza places ever created (the menu proclaims themselves as "the most award winning pizzeria in the US" and their slogan is "The pizza that made the Brooklyn Bridge famous"). Anyway, it was some pretty awesome pizza. Crust was thin as paper and nice and hard from the coal brick-oven. That was pretty much it for the trip, after that it was a painful 6 hour drive home in mostly bumper to bumper traffic.