Rock Bottom Brewery

So, yesterday my boss opted to take us out to work, considering that we only had a skeleton crew in the office and (I think) he forgot to bring his lunch. He was thinking Thai, but ended up deferring to the staff (me), and I ended up deferring to the lone female working yesterday, which resulted in lunch being at Rock Bottom on 4th Avenue by the MAX line.

There are reasons to go to Rock Bottom. Having never done so for lunch, the reasons clearly in my mind involve the imbibibles. If you can't have a brewsky, though, as I couldn't yesterday, the value of the restaurant is called into doubt. But I schlepped on, because it was free, and because I needed to investigate for you, the reader.

When we got to the restaurant (at almost exactly 11:55), there was plenty of room for our party inside and out, which perhaps should have been a sign. We took it as an opportunity, and opted for the outside seating to enjoy the weather. Initial service was prompt, and our drink orders were quickly taken, and quickly delivered as well (short the ice water I requested, but these things happen).

The menu was varied, but not with anything that really called to me. After much hemming and hawing, I ended up settling on the Turkey Bacon Cobb Sandwich with a side of fries.



Our food order was taken at about 12:10. Not bad, not great.

Our food wasn't delivered until 12:40. Given that the place serves a downtown clientele and, thus, is assumed to be aware of the concept of "lunch hour," this wasn't acceptable.

During the wait, one of my cohorts had ordered a bottle of Pellegrino, which was delivered with a glass lacking ice (remember, we were outside, and it was about 90 degrees out). He requested some lime slices for his water. These weren't delivered for about 10 minutes (despite at least one pass our way by the waitress). My Sprite sat empty at one point, with ice melting, for about 15 minutes before being freshened up. That's part of why I ordered the water; I knew it was hot out, and I was thirsty.



Eventually the food arrived. We were all so hungry and so annoyed that we just started eating in earnest so that we could leave. I forgot to snap a pic until I was half-done with my sandwich (and the onion rings as well). The sandwich was alright. Plenty of meat, and it was of good quality. The additional fixin's were also good; avocado, sprouts, tomatoes, and greens. Theoretically there were bleu cheese crumbles there, but I couldn't taste them. The sandwich itself, though, wanted to fall apart and was messy to eat, which for some people isn't a problem, but during a work lunch is embarassing.

The onion rings were so-so. They were over-peppered and ended up tasting a bit funny because of it.

The Sprite was cold. They got that part right.

In the end, the boss left a small tip in recognition of the service, and we left. The food was okay, but not worth the money paid for it, and the service makes this a place I wouldn't recommend (unless you're getting suds, and then you tend not to notice quite so much...)