Naked City Brewery & Taphouse

I like a good brewery as much as the next person, as evidenced by plenty of quality time spent at the Jolly Roger Taproom in Ballard and the Hilltop Ale House on Queen Anne and its brethren around the city. So I was looking forward to trying out Naked City Brewery & Taphouse in Greenwood, after hearing good things about the atmosphere and food.

The atmosphere is pretty standard brewery interior. A distinct beer motif (what else would you expect?), though the huge expanse of wall running the length of the space does provide a nice surface for rotating artist exhibitions. Big, long bar with an impressive array of beers, one of which was the best amber I’ve had in ages. Maybe ever.

Though for a restaurant that proclaims “local, organic, sustainable” on its menu and thus must think quite a bit about the food it serves, the two items we had were oddly lackluster. The Aurorable sliders listed all of these yummy-sounded ingredients (Italian bresaola with beer-braised onions, Beecher’s Select smoked flagship cheese and garlic olive oil infusion) but the bread overwhelmed what might have been an interesting interior. And maybe I have unreasonably gooey expectations for my Reuben, but their version was decidedly dressing-sparse and not particularly flavorful. Even though the grass-fed pastrami, swiss cheese, Skagit Valley sauerkraut and thousand island dressing all sounded so promising when read aloud.

For sure, I’d return to Naked City if I found myself in Greenwood in need of a beer, I just wouldn’t have high expectations for knock-out pub grub. For a fantastic amber? Most definitely.