PGH Dining: Church Brew Works

Husband, James and I went to Church Brew Works in late April, on a Sunday for lunch.  You can just imagine the colorful religious jokes that resulted from this. Anyway, we entered the nave {!?} and then the sanctuary {!?}, to be seated in the back.

Church Brew Works 

It's a big place.  CBW is housed in an actual church, converted into a fully-functioning brewery and restaurant. That's another thing I love about Pittsburgh - They don't just do-away-with the old buildings by tearing them down to build a new chain restaurant. Pittsburgh is great about taking what's existing and giving it new life. {More religious jokes here.}

 We were seated in a large booth near the altar...which now houses the actual brewing equipment!

 View directly above our booth:

 Okay, on to the food. We started the meal with a plate of pierogies - As a visitor, James HAD to try these. Buttery and toothsome, these were a decent show.

 We then moved on to soups and salads.  I ordered a house-style salad, of mixed greens. 

 Fresh, but had slightly too much dressing.  Overall, exactly what I was going for.

 Husband ordered the featured soup, which was potato and chive. 

 The soup turned out to be very watery and mostly flat in taste. Husband added a ton of salt and pepper, which made it somewhat better.  We wouldn't order this again.

 James ordered the beer flight, which featured eight of CBW's micro-brewed beers. James, our resident beer-expert, thought they had a macro-brewed taste for most of them.  He enjoyed them all, but not one beer stood out from the crowd.  On the other hand, I LOVE the Celestial Gold, but I am not a beer snob by any stretch of the imagination. 

 For our main dishes, Husband ordered a turkey sandwich, which seems really safe and boring. However, the bread, turkey and chips on the plate were delicious! It was a huge portion, and enough for Husband to have a lunch the next day.

 I ordered the vegetarian option: Crispy Vegetarian Polenta. The dish was beautiful.  

The compilation of blistered red tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini was delicious underneath a sauce of truffled goat cheese. Just to be clear - While it's vegetarian, this cannot be confused with healthy.

The dish went perfectly with the bread they served along with our meal. It didn't come to the table initially, but it was a lifesaver when I was left with a bowl full of cheese sauce. 

Finally, James ordered the Cinco Fromaggio, full of mozzarella, provolone, jack, feta and parmesan cheese,  then topped with basil and pine nuts. It was a masterpiece!

Church Brew Works gets a solid "good" rating from the three of us. Some dishes were different and inventive, but others fell flat. The Beers were a mixed bag, too. I'd take other visitors back for the novelty factor, but not necessarily for the food. 

 Neighborhood: Lola, Lower Lawrenceville

Good For: The scenery

Gems: The Crispy Vegetarian Polenta

Drawbacks: Inconsistency in the quality of their dishes