Beaver Street Brewery & Whistle Stop Café

By Angele Sionna

11 S. Beaver St, Flagstaff, AZ
menu at: www.beaverstreetbrewery.com

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>= a favorite, can count on it being good every time
The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxxx= you'll love it
Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$$ = $10
Value (what you get for your money)
***= fair -you get what you pay for, not in a bad way

Beaver Street Brewery is the kind of place that everyone in town always ends up. It’s got a friendly, warm, and comfortable atmosphere with possibly the friendliest wait staff in town and something even for the picky eaters on the menu. That means all of our friends and family who come to visit leave their vacation with fond memories from Beaver Street. The menu has upscale bar food with an Arizona twist of flavor, so the choices are anything but ordinary.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Beaver Street's patio/beer garden"][/caption]

Whether you are a tourist or a local, this is a great spot to hang out, especially if the patio is open and it’s a sunny afternoon. They make several types of award-winning, seasonal beers ($3.50 half-pint, $4.50 pint, $5.50 Imperial 20 ounce, $14 pitcher, $15.50 filled to-go growler). My favorite for summer is the Hefe Weizen. And I’m not alone. This bold brew won the gold prize for best "South German Style" out of 60 competitors at the Great American Beer Fest in 2007. In winter, I recommend the Bramble Berry Brew. Both remind me of beers I had while vacationing in Munich, Germany a few years back at some of their most famous beer halls.

But it’s not only all about the beers at Beaver Street. Equal attention is paid to quality food that leaves you wanting to go back for more. All the salad dressings are homemade. The salads themselves are fantastically fresh and crispy. They don’t scrimp on even the side salad, which comes with fresh mushrooms and mixed greens. On a warm, sunny day, I like to grab a side-salad ($3.95) with ranch dressing and Hefe and kick back in the beer garden.

The Arizona Quesadillas ($8.95) are a nice change of pace. They bring some heat without being overpowering and are served with tortilla chips, guac, salsa, and pico. Great for sharing as an appetizer or as an entrée. Honestly, I haven’t had better quesadillas in Flagstaff. They come in chicken, grilled flank steak, smoked salmon, or black beans.



[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="The Beaver Street Burger"][/caption]

For a main course, my husband will get the Beaver Street Burger ($10.95) nine out of ten times. This burger is made with garlic, fresh basil, and sun-dried tomatoes mixed in with the beef before being flame grilled and served with Havarti cheese and a special signature basil pesto mayonnaise sauce. Juicy and flavorful without being over-powering.

One of the most glowing reviews of all our friends and family came from my Aunt Gail when she bit into the Salmon BLT ($9.95) for the first time. She still talks about this sandwich, complete with a unique tangy lemon tarragon mayo, years later as being the best she’s ever had.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Beaver Street's pizza oven"][/caption]

The wood-fired pizzas are one of my favs. They're cooked in a giant stove that you can see right when you walk in the restaurant. The BBQ Chicken Pizza ($10.85) usually calls my name. It's blend of smoked Gouda and mozzarella cheeses, a sweet and tangy sauce and grilled pieces of chicken breast and red onion pack a flavorful punch. My two-year old daughter also thinks it’s a treat to share this and a side salad with me.



[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Beaver Street's Apple-Ginger Stout Cake"][/caption]

Not to be left out, the Apple-Ginger Stout cake ($4.95) makes a nice way to round off your meal. This little gem is made with gingerbread cake, apples, spices, and Beaver Street’s own R&R Oatmeal Stout. It's served warm, drowned in a thin and not overpowering caramel sauce and fresh whip cream. Yum! This could be the most unique twist to gingerbread yet. Good anytime of the year, but especially great on a cold winter day with fresh snow on the ground. Still, that didn't stop me from ordering it today while sitting on the sunny patio.

Overall, this is my favorite joint in Flagstaff. It's the type of brewery that would hold up in any city in the country for their beers, atmosphere, and food. If you were to travel through Flagstaff on your way to the Grand Canyon as many folks do every summer, I would say a stop into Beaver Street is a must to get some local flavor and leave your stomach satisfied.

More Beaver Street photos HERE.