Gordon Biersch

Downtown near Chinatown, this microbrewery chain was surprisingly enjoyable. We had an office luncheon there, so we were confined to the glass fishbowl of a room, which allowed for an intimate affair without being bothered by the other lookie-loo's. The building, a renovated historic bank, was restored and augmented to emphasize the unique architecture of when it was built, but updated for a sleek brewery feel. Other microbreweries I've been to were sticky-floored burger joints with over-polyurethaned tacky wood furniture. GB is the anti-thesis of tacky. Except for the beer selection, I would have thought I was just in another trendy, big downtown restaurant. I had the ahi tuna salad, which was perfectly seared and sliced and topped with these wonderful spicy crunchy sticks. I tasted my friend's pulled pork BBQ, which had such unique flavor, I think I'll have that next time. As far as breweries go, this one gets an A+... But only a few stars on the grand scheme given that it is a chain. I recommend it for when your steak and potato in-laws come to town and you need to compromise between the fast and the furious of DC and Applebee's.