On a recent Saturday morning, Tom and I ate at 101 Beer Kitchen for the first time.  John and Jackie know that we enjoy trying new restaurants so they suggested 101 Beer Kitchen for brunch.

101 Beer Kitchen started in the Columbus area in 2012.  There are currently five locations, three of them in the Columbus area and two in Indiana.  We ate at the original location in Dublin.  When Thad and Jess Kittrell opened this first location, they wanted to take comfort food to the next level.  Each location is unique, but serves seasonal, fresh food.  As befitting the name, they also serve beer and educate their patrons on what beer goes best with what food.  Tom and I don’t drink beer, so that part of it doesn’t matter to us.

What does matter to us is good food served in an inviting atmosphere and 101 Beer Kitchen certainly lives up to that.  The restaurant wasn’t crowded when we were there and our server was attentive without hovering.  We started by sharing an appetizer of “Loaded Housemade Tater Tots.”  These were balls of delicious, lightly fried potato with pork, cheese, onions, and a siracha sauce.

After polishing off the appetizer, our waiter brought us our brunch items.  Jackie and I both ordered the Lemon Ricotta and Blueberry Skillet Pancake.  John got the Breakfast Torta which was a burger with an egg on top.  The description, however, went like this:  “Seared Chorizo, Pimento Cheese, Mojo Mayo, Iceberg Lettuce, Pickled Watermelon, Telera Bread & Watermelon Feta Salad.”  He got fries instead of the watermelon salad.  Tom ordered the Steak and Eggs.  That description mentioned “Grilled 4 oz Filet, Sunny Side Up Egg, Crispy Potatoes, Heirloom Tomatoes, Feta Cheese, Chimichurri & Microgreens.”

I’m not much of a gourmet and I don’t recognize a lot of the new terms you see on menus.  When I was growing up you had cheddar or American or Swiss cheese.  Because I never ate at a Mexican restaurant until I was in college, I am still unfamiliar with many of the words that are common on Mexican menus.  For instance, chorizo is a spicy sausage.  Telera bread is soft inside and the crust is firm but not crunchy.  This may have been one of the reasons I chose the pancake – I understood all the words in the description.  I also really like pancakes.

Although I didn’t understand why you would put ricotta in a pancake.  I asked the waitress about it because I am not a big fan of ricotta cheese.  I don’t like shells stuffed with it or ricotta in lasagna.  The waitress assured me it was mixed into the batter of the pancake and gave it a moist texture instead of a ricotta flavor.  She was right.  The pancake was delicious.  I especially liked the blueberry topping and the crisp bacon was delicious.  I’ve been thinking about it ever since we went there, wondering when I can get another one.

Everyone else enjoyed their meals and agreed the food was excellent.  When I commented on how small Tom’s steak was, he said it was just right with the egg and potatoes.  I was tempted by the mouthwatering desserts.  The “Warm Blueberry Butter Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream” or the “Molten Chocolate Pudding Cake topped with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate, and Caramel Sauces” both sounded fantastic.  But I didn’t even eat all my pancake and I felt well satiated.

If you have a chance to try a 101 Beer Kitchen, you should definitely go for it.  If you enjoy a good beer with your dinner, you might even enjoy it more than I did.  But I doubt it.