Born to Be Wild

Had we gone outside, we could have caught the last of the sunset from a bar stool while planting our elbows on a wide shelf attached to the wooden fence enclosing the patio, or we could've gone under the roofed portion and settled in at one of the picnic tables. A raised level currently furnished with porch swings and rockers will be converted to a stage for some live music Thursday through Saturday nights, beginning in June. The horseshoe pit alongside the deck is now covered with wooden planks, and a circular bar currently under construction will serve beer. Sounds like a decent trade to me.

Particularly considering the choices. Just like at the Broadway branch, a customer would be hard-pressed to order a beer Brewhouse doesn't carry; there are 24 on tap, and close to 100 in bottles. Sundays are two-for-one from noon to midnight. If your brand comes in a bottle, you might want to consider bringing your own huggie, as policy is to deliver them both at once. We were all draft girls, and when we whined that our second beer might get warm, our very accommodating waitress brought us each tall red cups with ice to hold our back-ups, which kept them cool until we polished off the first.

Broadway Brewhouse has a full bar, including its signature Bush Whacker—with chocolate and coffee liqueurs, coconut and Bacardi 151—the inspiration behind the probing question posed by a large sign on the wall: "Have You Had Your Bush Whacked Lately?"

No amount of alcohol will pry that out of me, but in any case, I think beer is the best beverage to complement Arace's menu, much of which originated in town. His spectacularly popular and irresistibly addictive roasted wings are in the lead-off position, rightfully so. Wings is something of a misnomer; these are actually drumettes taken from a chicken on steroids. The monsters come in four flavors: gringo (mild), chipotle barbecue (medium), Panama (hot) and Mojo (Wow!). The last of these, swathed in habanero sauce and described as sticky/sweet/hot, definitely have a kick, but nothing that a swig of suds won't cure. At the opposite end of the heat spectrum was the cucumber salsa—fresh, cool and infused with plenty of chopped cilantro. It comes with chips, and we scooped the bowl clean.

Chicken and andouille sausage gumbo and bowls of smoky red beans and rice bring a taste of N'awlins to the table, while quesadillas and big fat burritos will make fans of Mexican fare happy. Sandwiches are big and burly, served either on toasted Kaiser buns or crusty French rolls. We couldn't even get our hands, much less our mouths, around the grilled shrimp po'boy or Texas hot beef and cheese (beef brisket topped with Monterey Jack), both served on the rolls, so we ate the contents with fork and knife and enjoyed them just as well. House specialties include Mojo's signature jerk chicken, a juicy roasted half-chicken marinated in island spices; and Santa Fe chicken, seasoned Southwestern style, with big chunks pulled from the bone and served with red beans and rice. The fish of the day was a moist and flaky marlin, which escaped the drying effect grilling over open flame often has on fish. Several daily specials are also listed on a blackboard.

Brewhouse West couldn't be any more welcoming, but it may not be for everybody. If you set boundaries, if you need a lot of personal space, if meeting new people makes you nervous, and conversing with strangers gives you hives, you should probably do us all a favor and go on down the road. As for everybody else, I look forward to meeting you sometime soon at Brewhouse West; I'll bring my own helmet, just in case.