WanderLinger Brewing opened three years ago, pouring hand-crafted beers with clever names and serving a few bites on a limited menu. But the Southside-area beer bar upped the ante on pub fare when it hired a trained chef. Carolyn Foley’s new menu includes a number of farm-to-table dishes and items that go well beyond the average chicken wings and tater skins found in many beer bars.
THE MENU
Here’s what you’ll find among the appetizers: black bean dip; a charcuterie plate; a three-cheese dip with smoked gouda, white cheddar, provolone and fresh rosemary; and, since this is a place for beer, a big Bavarian pretzel with house-made beer-cheese dip and whole-grain mustard with a distinctive bite.
It isn’t a huge array of choices, but what it may lack in numbers, it certainly makes up for in substance. Nothing is from a box pulled from the freezer. Foley gets her pretzels from the bakery at Bluff View, she makes the beer-cheese from scratch and stirs up the black bean dip with lots of tahini, roasted garlic and other flavors.
She offers a different grilled cheese sandwich every month, selecting favorites from the WanderLinger crew, as well as some of her own, such as a grilled cheese with roasted garlic pesto, tomato, bacon and mozzarella and muenster cheeses on flatbread. Or you can create your own from a list of choices, sauces and add-ons.