One of our favorite comfort food restaurants in the Ozarks: Bricktown Brewery

Every once in a while, you just need some good, old fashioned, comfort food. Or, maybe you are looking for good comfort food with a bit of a unique twist? Of course, a nice cold beer would be great to accompany such food. Maybe you just need a good place to go with friends to shoot the breeze, or maybe you need a good place to take that special significant other on a terrific date.

Well, today, I’m here to tell you to look no further than Springfield, Missouri’s own Bricktown Brewery. Bricktown Brewery is a one-of-a-kind dining experience, located on the southeast side of town, just off of James River Freeway. Bricktown Brewery, as I see it, is among the area’s best in the field of preparing comfort food, and setting a memorable experience, and should definitely be on the list of places for you to eat when visiting Springfield.

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The Scenery

Inside Bricktown Brewery, what many patrons will find is a calm, relaxing atmosphere. The stone floor tiles offer a welcomed contrast from the red brick textured walls, and the non-overwhelming lighting in the restaurant really help with the ambiance of this establishment. The design of the building, the floor layout, and all other aspects of this restaurant really come together to set the scene for a respectable restaurant, where its patrons can come and make some lasting memories.

The decorations speak volumes for the restaurant’s rich history of brewing some of the richest and smoothest beers around. Spread on the walls are various pictures related to this establishment’s status as a brewery; for example, on the wall directly behind us was one such canvas picture, depicting a staff member working with one of the stills used in the production of the establishment’s house beer. Even past the canvas art works and other decorations, which tell the story of Bricktown Brewery, this restaurant proudly displays the multiple brewing awards which they have received over the years.

As for pre-meal entertainment, there are more than a dozen big screen televisions spread across the room, that almost always seem to be airing some form of sporting event, whether it is basketball, baseball, or football. If sports isn’t really your thing, but sitting and visiting isn’t either, there is a shuffleboard table located on the far side of the restaurant, next to the full-sized, large scale “Connect Four” game, which is set between two chairs. I was not able to get a visual of the pool table, however, my wife, Amber, spotted some pool cues mounted to the wall, near the shuffleboard table.

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The Food

For an appetizer, Amber and I ordered the Drop Biscuits Basket; this dish is composed of 6 large homemade “drop-cooked” biscuits, and is served with three different condiments for you to enjoy: maple pepper gravy, blueberry-ginger jam, and cranberry jam. The biscuits, I learned, are made fresh every morning, which ensures that they will always be above normal standards. I sampled all three condiments with my biscuits, and to be quite honest, I can’t fully say which one was my favorite, because all three were just as delicious; Amber, however, loves the maple pepper gravy (which is quite the achievement, as she is, as I stated in my previous article on Dublin’s Pass, a very picky eater, and she typically dislikes gravy).

For my main course, I ordered the Bleu Ribbon Burger, which is a large hamburger that is topped with sweet peppered bacon, frizzled onions, buffalo bleu cheese sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles (I had to opt out from the tomato, as I am highly allergic to raw tomato). The burger was so large, it was quite difficult to take a bite from without cutting it first. The flavor was smooth, and nothing on the burger was overpowering, as many burgers with bleu cheese tend to be.

For my side, I chose to do something that I never do at restaurants: I ordered the macaroni and cheese bowl (I mean, come on… You can make mac n’ cheese at home); however, I have to say, this is absolutely, hands down, the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had. While I can’t be certain as to what ingredients were used in this dish, it most certainly DID NOT come from a box. The noodles seemed to be cooked to the perfect level of tenderness, and then mixed with, what I believed to be, an alfredo sauce mixed with actual melted cheese. I could be very wrong about how this dish was prepared, and it could have been just a very amazing basic cheese sauce, however, the only word I can use to explain the macaroni and cheese at Bricktown Brewery is “amazing”.

For Amber’s main course, she ordered the Bacon Cheddar Burger, which is a single hamburger patty topped with sweet peppered bacon, cheddar cheese, and the restaurant’s house burger sauce. Again, this burger was more than filling, and the burger sauce added an excellent accent to the tapestry of flavor in this burger. Served with the burger was a decent portion of hand cut, lightly salted french fries, which added to the overall fulfillment of the dish.

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The Brews

Since Bricktown Brewery is, well, a brewery, I wouldn’t be doing justice to this article to NOT mention the large option of beers which this establishment offers. On the beer menu set up at our table, I believe I counted 43 different types of beer offered by this restaurant. Of the 43 beers offered on the menu, 25 of them are sold on tap; the remainder are sold in bottles or cans only. Most of the beers on this menu are brewed in Missouri, and include such options as Public House Rod’s Cream Ale, Piney River Black Walnut Wheat, 4 Hands Absence Of Light, and Lost Signal Under The Tower Sour #9.

If beer isn’t really your thing, Bricktown Brewery also serves ciders and mead, with one flavor being served on tap (Urban Chestnut Bushelhead Cider), and four flavors being served in cans or bottles (Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Cider, Ciderboys Strawberry Magic, Mcintyre Cider Blackberry Hard Apple Cider, and Mcintyre Cider Peach Cider).

Listed on the menu is the type of beer, the city and state in which the drink was brewed, and the alcohol content. The great thing about the drinks served at Bricktown Brewery is that they aren’t only promoting their own product; they are promoting the product of other breweries in the state.

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The Prices

The pricing at Bricktown Brewery is very reasonable for the amount and quality of the food you get. The Bleu Ribbon Burger and macaroni and cheese cost only $11.95. The Bacon Cheddar Burger and fries cost only $11.25. The Drop Biscuit Basket only cost $7.25. The drinks added an additional cost, of course, but the full amount of our bill, before the tip, only came to $39.05.

While we did not order any beer during this visit, many of their beers costs from $3.50 (pint) to $8.75 (10 oz). Many of the can or bottle options range from $4.75 to $5.25, which is typical for the cost you may typically pay at a brewery. As for the food, the appetizers range from $6.95 to $14.75, but most definitely come in larger portions, while the main dishes can range in price from $6.25 to $15.75.

The average price one might expect to pay if dining alone will be around $20.

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If you are looking for great food, great service, great scenery, and an amazing dining experience while visiting Springfield, Missouri, you definitely want to try Bricktown Brewery. The atmosphere they provide in their establishment, paired by the great service, is enough to win over even the most stubborn critic. They are definitely my go-to place for beer and comfort food after a long work week, and they should be your go-to place as well, for the obvious reasons stated above.

When visiting Bricktown Brewery, I highly recommend just about everything they have on the menu, from their burgers to their pizzas, as every dish is very well planned out in terms of flavor and appearance. Since I am a bit of a bleu cheese fanatic, I tend to have to pry myself away from the Bleu Ribbon Burger; however, the one item I will order every time I visit this establishment is the macaroni and cheese (once you try it, you will never want to go back to the regular box version). And, of course, don’t forget to sample the beer: they have a flavor for just about everyone.

Bricktown Brewery is located at 2040 E. Independence Street in Springfield, Missouri. They are open 7 days a week, and open at 11:00 AM every day. Check out their Google listing for more details.