I came to Oconomowoc, WI to visit U-Brew-U as research for one my stories I’m working on.  The internet told me there was a good beer bar in town so I checked it out after getting settled into my hotel.  The downtown area of Oconomowoc was quite pleasant and scenic, I could easily imagine convincing the wife this was a great place to stroll around.

Inside, the Crafty Cow was fairly large, with a long bar and lots of table seating stretching way back.  They had about 20 different things on tap, all of them Midwest craft beers.  Several of them were Bell’s, so I of course skipped over those to find something interesting that I can’t get back in Michigan.  I quickly found 4 that I was curious about so that rounded out my sampler.  The beers were all good, some more than others.

The Crafty Cow specializes in deep-fried cheese curds.  I thought this sounded cool, so ordered the “cheese curd of the day” which had a Sriracha-sauce breading, and Sriracha-sauce creamy dip.  Holy cow, this was amazing.  I’ve had cheese curds before, and liking cheese, I enjoy their different “rubbery” texture.  But bread them and deep fry them and lookout.  You still got a sense of the curd texture, but it was softened by the heat and they were delicious.  I must’ve eaten about 3/4 pound block of cheese wrapped up in this delectable delivery system.

I had a burger too (so I didn’t just have a dinner of cheese curd), and it was likewise awesome.  Altogether, this place was great.  Great location in a nice downtown area, good-sized place with friendly staff and great beer selection, and yes, the food.

On a recent trip to Chicago with my family, with 2 young boys, I was doing some pre-trip research and looking for a suitable restaurant to take my young picky eaters.  I came across a review of Roots Pizzeria.  Pizza is on the short list of accepted foods of the highly refined palates of my youngsters.  So when I saw this place listed as family friendly- AND it catered to craft beer, I was sold.

The neighborhood seemed like it was on the edge of a slightly dodgy area (bars & metal grates over storefronts, business signs hand-painted on building walls, etc.), but as we went down the street there started to be hidden gems mixed in.  Roots Pizzeria was one of these.  Walking in, you immediately felt relaxed as some funky music floated out and the subdued hub-bub of happy conversations at the tables.

There was a giant oval bar in the center of the floorplan, and there were numerous C-shaped booths along the outside edge of the floor.  The booths were raised up on platforms to give a sort of commanding view over the room, rock-style-like.

The pizza was out of this world.  The crust was amazing.  Supposedly they use some mix of malt in the crust.  I don’t know what it was, but it was decidedly different and delicious.  We ordered half of the pizza with some special goat cheese, which was also phenomennal.  I don’t know what was special about the sauce, but yes, it was great too.

Enough about the pizza, Roots specializes in Great Lakes states beers (MN, WI, IL, IN, OH, MI).  Supposedly over 100 different Midwest beers amongst an impressive draft list, plus bottles and cans.  After fighting my way through ridiculous Chicago traffic, I thoroughly enjoyed working my way through the draft list of Midwest beers not available in Michigan.

As icing on the cake, Roots set up a giant window with a view into the pizza-making kitchen with a small bench for young viewers to stand in and peer in on the process.  And my young one was thoroughly fascinated and stood and studied the process for a long time.

Roots is great for beer, awesome for pizza, great for kids, and an amazing atmosphere overall.

I’d seen Greenbush Brewery taproom in The Michigan Beer Film, and I’ll admit that it lifted the brewery to an elevated state in my mind.  I’ve had their beers, and am a big fan of Dunegras and Star Chicken Shotgun IPAs.  So with a planned family trip to Chicago, a layover in Sawyer, MI in the Southwest corner of the state sounded like a great idea.  With a $50/night Super 8 hotel a stone’s throw from I-94, which in turn is walking distance to Greenbush’s taproom, was a winning combination.

It was a family vacation, so my wife & I were travelling with our 2 young boys.  We got to town for dinner around 7 PM on a Thursday night.  The taproom was smaller than I had anticipated based on The Beer Film portrayal.  But it was still a nice size with a nice open feel with high ceilings and large windows facing the main street.   Right away I could tell it was family-friendly as about 1/2 of the tables had kids of some age at them.  In addition they had a small Lego table set up in the taproom with piles of Lego’s for creative minds.  And the men’s bathroom had the obligatory low-height urinals that fathers of young boys like me appreciate.

The food menu wasn’t extensive, but it had enough.  Honing in on the pulled pork, which is always a BBQ favorite, we also went for the beef brisket.  The Mac ‘n cheese was pretty good, and the pulled pork not that special- but the beef brisket was out of this world amazing.  It was so good, it seemed like they should have been famous for smoked brisket sandwiches, and offered beer on the side.  The beers were good, as in the bottle, and the atmosphere was great.  If the place was 30 minute drive instead of a 3 hour drive from my house, I’d be there all the time.  With my family!