Based on feedback from friends, we decided to
end our drive at a restaurant they’d visited in Dayton Tennessee. We had been to Dayton before, but hadn’t
eaten there…
The first
photo shows the logo for the Monkey Town Brewing Company. The company now owns 3 restaurants…and the
logos are all different…except for the monkey in the middle.
Why the
monkey symbol? Why name the brewery The
Monkey Town Brewing Company? The reason
is historical. Dayton Tennessee is the
town where in 1925, the Scopes Trial (Scopes Monkey Trial) was held. It was all about the right to teach
evolution, which was illegal in Tennessee at the time.
Famous journalist H.L. Mencken covered the
trial for the Baltimore Sun newspaper and he recruited Clarence Darrow to lead
the defense team on teacher John T. Scopes’ behalf. Lawyer, politician and 3-time Presidential
candidate William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor. To learn more about this trial, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial.
This is a
large portion of the dining area at The Monkey Town Brewing Company. As befitting a brewery, the room has an
industrial feel to it. We sat in a smaller
area just off to the right in this photo.
It contained a few conventional square tables…my preference when
dining.
Laurie
took this photo of the brewery portion of the building. As you can see, the ‘brew master’ was hard at
work! With 15 Monkey Town beers on tap
during our visit, he needed to be focused and working hard. In addition to this restaurant, he also has to
keep the beer in stock at their 2 other locations, the Euchee Grill Brewhouse
in Ten Mile Tennessee and the Old Capital Public House in Kingston Tennessee.
Since we
were dining in a brewery, we of course had to sample a couple of beers. I had that tall glass of ale. All of the beers have colorful or meaningful
names. My American blonde ale is titled “Little Miss Thang”. ($5.25) Laurie loves
‘hoppy’ beers so she chose “Evolution IPA
#35”. ($5.50) Her beer was brewed with flaked oats and then double
dry-hopped. We both enjoyed our beers!
The names
given Monkey Town’s beers are quite imaginative! Some examples include: Elbows Off the Table; Hey,
Danny Boy, the Pipes are Calling on Line 1; Wanna See a Magic Trick?, and; I
Like My Cookies w/a Little Kareem.
On to the
food… For a starter, we ordered the House-made Beer Cheese. ($6.95) We could
have had it with French fries or the tortilla chips and our choice is obvious
as per the photo. We also could have
asked for pita bread for a $1.00 up-charge.
For Midwesterners who crave beer cheese,
we both agreed that this beer cheese was a little funky…certainly not what we
would have expected. I don’t know how to
describe the flavor but at least for us, it wasn’t all that great. I do believe that it would have been paired
better with the fries or possibly pita bread.
Unfortunately,
I didn’t know what the beer cheese tasted like when I ordered my entrée...and I normally love beer cheese. Guess what I ordered! This was the 8 oz. Beer Cheese Burger.
($11.95) The burger was topped with a slice of fried green tomato and bacon, but
taste-wise I couldn’t get past the beer cheese.
The
homemade potato chips were OK but nothing special. Looking back at the menu, there were many
other choices that I would have preferred.
The next time through, I’ll know what to avoid.
For only
the second time in our 10 years in East Tennessee, we spotted one of our
favorite fish on the menu. Laurie
ordered the New Orleans Barramundi with steamed broccoli. ($16.95) This large fish
filet was blackened and served on a bed of rice, then topped with 2 grilled
shrimp and topped with a Cajun Alfredo sauce.
Laurie even gave me a taste…and it was excellent!
FYI, the
first time we had Barramundi was many years ago in Australia. The species is
widely distributed from Northern Australia to Papua New Guinea and Southeast
Asia. It is also becoming a popular fish
being raised in aquaculture…with a couple of farms even operating in the USA. To learn more about this mild and flaky fish,
you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barramundi.
To
summarize, dinner didn’t work out too well for me but Laurie really enjoyed her
entrée. The beer cheese was a definite
negative but what the heck…different strokes for different folks. The beer was above average and the service was
fine. The next time we dine at one of
Monkey Town’s venues, I’ll simply use my previous experience to order wisely.
Monkey
Town Brewing Company is located at 287 1st Avenue in Dayton
Tennessee. They are open 7 days a week
for lunch and dinner. Phone: 423-775-1800. Website: https://monkeytownbrewing.com/index.html.
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
Seems like it would be hard to make bad beer cheese but sounds like they found a way.
ReplyDeleteOh, how I'd love me some of that sea bass, friend David :) Always, cat.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that the beer cheese didn't quite work out. I hope your next visit goes better.
ReplyDelete