American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
For those of us who enjoy eating out regularly, the emergence of American craft beer as a fine-dining staple is hardly a surprise. Long gone are the days when you’d be thankful if a restaurant carried a Sam Adams Lager. Hell, back in the day finding a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on a restaurant’s menu was a rare “get.” Fast forward to today and it’s unbelievable how much things have changed – for the better.
Not only are today’s most trendsetting restaurants defined by the beers they serve, but some of the nation’s most exciting establishments, such as Washington, DC’s Birch and Barley, are also serving fine cuisine crafted specifically to go with and highlight their rare and exotic craft beers. Nowadays, an upscale restaurant’s craft beer offerings are an essential part of its makeup. The beers that these establishments choose speak volumes about their instincts and vitality. While craft beer’s place has been established in a large part in today’s fine dining scene, it’s also making inroads into places we never dreamed it would be – America’s fast-casual restaurants.
Fast-casual is a food industry term that references a specific tier in the restaurant industry. The term generally refers to a type of restaurant that does not offer full table service, but promises a higher quality of food and atmosphere than a fast food restaurant. In the U.S., it is still a relatively new and growing dining concept positioned somewhere between fast food and casual dining. A fan of the concept or not, the most important takeaway here is that some of them have begun showcasing craft beer.
“With craft beer sales soaring by 17 percent last year, according to Brewers Association figures, little wonder that operators seek a seat on the better-beer bandwagon,” writes James Scarpa for Restaurant News.
Scarpa details how Smashburger first started introducing its burgers paired with regional craft beers:
For the fast-casual Smashburger chain, it all started last fall with a pilot program in its Denver home market that paired signature items like the Colorado Burger, featuring locally popular ingredients like fresh green chiles, pepper Jack cheese and a spicy chipotle bun, with beers made by New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO. Smashburger Founder and Chief Concept Officer Tom Ryan and the brewers tasted burgers and beers to select the best matches.
That campaign’s success, Scarpa reports, led Smashburger (which has over 200 units) to team up with other brewers to create localized pairings in Brooklyn, Miami, Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix.
And Smashburger’s just one of many fast-casual chains waking up to the public’s interest in American craft beer. Chipotle Mexican Grill started testing the craft beer waters last year. Writing for Time.com, Martha C. White detailed Chipotle’s initiatives in Chicago:
Chipotle has announced it would begin offering craft brews on a test basis in 15 of its Chicago restaurants. Some locations previously sold mass-market beers (Coors Light, Corona), but now selections will include a golden ale and a dark chili-infused ale from craft brewer 5 Rabbit.
So will craft beer establish itself at fast-casual restaurants to the same degree that it has at America’s finest restaurants? That remains to be seen. Even as craft beer surges and mainstream beer’s popularity falters, some industry analysts suggest caution. But we’re not buying the empty words of the naysayers out there – we’re eager to embrace any opportunity to pair a fine craft beer with our burgers and burritos.
