Review: Scotty's Brewhouse

When you walk into Scotty's Brewhouse you notice that this is a sports bar, and a very popular one. At 12:30 on a Friday afternoon, it was bustling. TV Sets and memorabilia are all over the place but unlike other sports bars I've been to, it seemed upscale and a lot nicer than most. Having no takers on my BurgerQuest invitation that day, I seemed a bit out of place since the most of the other tables were filled. Don't expect a quiet romantic dinner in Scotty's, it's busy, loud, and conveys fun. But today wasn't a fun day, it was work. My obligation to you to give my insight into great burgers is a burden I do not take lightly.

Upon being seated and handed the menu, I noticed two things: one, instead of a napkin, there was a hand towel, and two there was a ledger-sized pad to select your own burger. Scotty calls it Build-Ya-Own Burger. Just as a point of reference, it's also on page 9 of their beautiful nineteen page menu just in case you want to see the pictures.

The selection was incredible: four different cuts including bison, ranging from $9.75 to $6.75 per eight ounce burger, chicken and portabello mushrooms were also on the list. The beef is all locally grown. Practically any kind of cheese and toppings are available, most at extra cost. The menu itself deserves its own review and I'd suggest looking at it online: http://www.scottysbrewhouse.com/menu/ScottysMenu.pdf . With this kind of dedication to burgers alone, I doubted that the quality would be sacrificed for being such a small part of a large menu. The initial impression with the extensive selections on the menu as a whole is “jack of all trades. . . “ , but that's why you try the burger to see if it's strong on its own.

My selection of meat was the cheap one, eight ounce ground round at $6.75 including a side from a nice list, of course I took cole slaw. Ordered medium as usual, with cheddar, diced sauteed red onions with lettuce and tomato and, for a change, toasted sourdough bread, which brought the burger price up to $9.00. The sauteed onions and cheese were extra cost. Had I chosen one of the other meats the total would have been $12.00. I find this to be clearly on the high side for a burger. My other disappointment was with the presentation. The slaw portion was served in a nice bowl that was oversized. The portion was not, though it was certainly sufficient. It just looked like it was skimpy given the bowl size. There was but one piece of iceberg lettuce, if there's only going to be one it should at least be romaine. Like one of my favorite places, the cheese was grated but it didn't seem like it covered the burger well. It did cover what appeared to be a pretty small quantity of grilled onions.

Now for the real test. WOW. This is a great burger! The patty was bursting with a great beefy flavor that was enhanced by the chargrilling. There was a touch of pink and the meat was not juicy but it was moist. I did have to cut it in half since the sign at the door said No Cavemen (kidding, of course). It wasn't world-class sloppy but the bread, toppings and burger moved sufficiently to make it a great burger experience and you could nibble at the beef alone that stuck out beyond the bread. The aroma was very pleasing too. I've found that many burgers will not have a savory aroma, but at Scotty's you knew you had a chunk of beef. The sourdough was a nice change but this burger really deserves the kaiser roll instead. The items I mentioned in the presentation met my expectations for a great burger, even though they appeared to be less than you would see on a quality burger. As a nice touch, the cole slaw had a hint of horseradish for just a little extra tang.

Given the nature of the place, I would expect all of you reading this will have an opportunity to visit one of Scotty's locations in Muncie, Bloomington, West Lafayette, or one of the two Indy locations, 96th Street East of Keystone or Downtown. When you do, you can order a burger knowing you're going to get a great one. I can only imagine how much better the sirloin, or prime beef must be, but I expect to find out.