In our endless pursuit to find a place with good food and beer, we stumbled upon Iron Hill Brewery. Well, to be truthful, it wasn't that hard, since there are three Iron Hill Breweries that call this area home: Media, PA; West Chester, PA and Newark, DE. The premise is to serve up handcrafted brews in a casual dining experience. 

Our journey was to the Media, PA Brewery. This location used to be an A & P Supermarket, so you can image the size of the place. A lot right next door makes parking a breeze. Through the entrance and you're into a wood paneled hall way. To your left is the bar and straight back is the dining area. 

Ironhill has spent a lot of cashola to turn this former supermarket into a rustic bastion of hard wood floors, high ceilings w/exposed rafters, and wood paneling. To modernize the dark wood look, autumn colors of yellow, orange, green & crème are painted on the walls to created a very sophisticated look. All of the dining tables, as well as main bar are a dark cherry wood. Iron light fixtures and copper clad iron chandeliers that look like they're right out of the middle ages complete the "Iron Hill" look.       

As we slid into a black vinyl booth near the kitchen, we were informed that the Sunday Evening special was Prime Rib with a pint of brew for $15. That's really all that needed to be said - it was a foregone conclusion that arteries were getting clogged that night. Not to sound short-sighted, but the menu does includes other epicurean choices like pan seared duck breast, Sautéed Crab Cake,  7 different wood oven pizzas, Babyback Ribs, Jamaican Jerked Pork Porterhouse, and the  Brewski Burger server on a garlic pretzel roll. All dinner choices were affordably priced below $20. To see their entire selection of soups, appetizers and salads, you can check out their full menu on their webpage: www.ironhillbrewery.com.  

But I'm sure there's this one nagging question: "What about the brews, Dog? Have gone all pansy-assed, visited a top shelf brewery and not imbibe the sweet nectar of the taps?"  First off, I told you not to use that tone with me and secondly, calm your ass down! There was a fair amount of "beering" going on. Me and my drunken accomplice, if you recall,  ordered the beef du jour with the side o' beer. We each chose the award winning "Pig Iron Porter." This beer is so dark that the "night" gets scared looking at it. Yeah, it's that dark. It was especially good with the Prime Rib. a good   Their lighter choices include a Raspberry Wheat, Ironbound Ale, Granite Gold, Anvil Ale, and other beers brewed according to the season.  Most beer at Iron Hill, like other microbreweries, contain alcohol contents 7% and up. Brews at your corner speakeasy are draining beer that is about 4% alcohol. You've been warned and we just can't be responsible for you if you French kiss each tap at Iron Hill and wind up taking home the bearded lady. 

After dinner we adjourned to the bar for more brews and after dinner cigars. The main bar is fairly big, it seats about 30. The surrounding high-top tables and bar are composed of a beautiful cherry wood. Behind the bar, is a wine rack built right into the wall - very cool. From the bar, you can look through a wall of windows that overlook the beer vats. This is where all of the on-site brews are made. If you're ever curious about the freshness of the beer or what beer is in the "on-deck" circle, Iron Hill keeps a blackboard with all of the pertinent data: what's brewing, when it will be done, and how long the current tapped beers have been active. 

For entertainment, there are 3 TV's built into the walls high above the bar. In a back room there is a pair of pool tables and more TV's. On rare occasions, Iron Hill clears out a few tables to create room for a live band. For the most part, this place is a restaurant with great brews. As you might guess, the crowd can range from families with kids to sexy 20something singles to baby boomers. 

So if you're traveling down I-95 into Delaware or cruising the Blue Route (God help you if you are), take a pit stop at one of the three Iron Hill Breweries. You won't be disappointed.