Public House by Evans Brewing
7511 Edinger Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
If there's one trend that has endured through the eight-plus years I've been writing this blog, it's that craft and small-batch beers are still as popular as ever. There used to be a time when it just used to be the big boys, Coors, Budweiser, and if you looked way down at the end of the beer list you might even spy an MGD. Those days are long gone, and almost everyone would say for the better. Now, craft and small-batch beer rule the grocery aisles and the tap handles of almost all the restaurant bars we run across.
I did not know this walking in, but Evans Brewing Company is the oldest brewery in OC. They have quite a colorful history too. Started in 1994 as Orange County Brewing Company, they began brewing beer at the McCormick and Schick's restaurant in Irvine. A quick name change to Bayhawk Ales and they began brewing beer for a number of restaurants, but all under those restaurants names. Evan and Mike Rapport took over the business in 2013 and rebranded as the current Evans Brewing Company. A fire at the brewery in 2014 halted production, but the boys at Evans Brewing Company came back stronger with a reorganization of the brewing process and improved equipment. In 2016 they opened their first tasting room and restaurant in Downtown Fullerton, and now they have opened up their second at the always busy Bella Terra Shopping Complex in Huntington Beach.
We were recently invited by Evans Brewing Company to have our first experience at Public House. I brought along my friend Angel, who is way more into beer than I am. I was very excited to give a good majority of their food menu a try. We lucked out as the freeways were holiday light, so it took no time to make it to Huntington Beach. Public House is located right off of Edinger, right by Corner Bakery, Pei Wei, and sharing a common wall with Luna Grill. This used to be a Spin Pizza, but of course, there are far too many build your own pizza concepts out there, and they decided to focus on their Midwest restaurants.
Back to Public House. They opened in mid-December, and when we arrived on a recent Thursday night at 6 pm they were pretty packed. The restaurant is pretty good-sized, with a good amount of tables, an outdoor patio for when the weather is a bit warmer, and at the center of the space is a u-shaped bar, with excellent views of not only the bartenders in action but of a large bank of TVs, so you won't miss a moment of your favorite teams. I was not here to watch TV though, so let's see what Public House has to offer.
As soon as we sat down we were asked what we wanted to drink. A quick glance at the beer and beer cocktail menu yielded these first of two beverages for Angel and me. Angel gravitated toward their award-winning beer lineup and ended up being very impressed with the Stout At the Devil ($6). Angel thought this was a very substantial Russian imperial stout, and one that he could imagine himself enjoying more than one of, but at ten percent ABV and drive home in an hour or so he decided to be responsible and only have this one. Since I'm not really too much of a beer guy, I veered to the beer cocktail menu, and this Dandy Shandy ($10). This cocktail uses vodka and triple sec as a base, along with lemon juice, simple syrup, blackberries, and the wildly popular Pollen Nation honey blonde ale from Evans Brewing Company. This beverage kind of surprised me. I thought it was going to be a lot sweeter than it was, but the honey ale really came through in spades and mellowed out the sugary aspect of this cocktail. I'd probably get another beer cocktail the next time I'm here, as the rum-based Sail Away With Me has piqued my interest.
Appetizers were first up for us, and we started things out with this Hummus and Dips Board ($13). This was not something I was expecting to have liked as much as I did at Public House. The hummus here was really smooth and good, I liked the tomato jam that came with this, but what made this for me was the warm toasted bread used as a vessel for the dips. It was a nice deviation from the usual pita or hard crostinis that most restaurants would use for this starter. Very nicely done.
I never order ceviche out, and after having this one at Public House I should really change that. This Coastal Ceviche ($18) uses citrus-cured fish along with an interesting gooseberry pico de gallo, cubed avocado, and is then finished up with some cilantro. I'm not sure what kind of fish they use for this, but it was very fresh and the citrus flavor was very pleasing. A little more avocado would have made this even better.
Probably the most photogenic of everything we ate on this night was this Duck Confit Poutine ($12). It got an auditory gasp when it was placed in front of Angel and myself. Herbed fries are topped with some crispy duck, a sage gravy, and some Mahon cheese. Not true poutine of course, but very satisfying. The richness of the duck and cheese burst through, and the fries were nice and crisp. I had wished for a little more gravy on this, and maybe having it layered a bit better, as when we got past the top layer of this we were only left with fries.
I realized that after these Moule's Public ($18) had come to the table, not everyone was as excited to see them as I was. I had a stack of shells on my plate, and everyone else had only one or two. At Public House, they use local black mussels, some very solid Spanish chorizo, dried tomatoes, and Evans Hefeweizen to make this dish. I loved the sauce with this, and the use of the chorizo was wonderful. Sure a few of the mussels were a little gritty, but the combination of everything here made this a winner for me.
Salads snuck their way to our table next. Angel and I had a difference of opinion as to which one of these we liked more. He favored the Kale and Beet Salad ($10). Baby kale, roasted beets, croutons, fennel, citrus slices, candied walnuts, and a chia seed dressing had Angel raving about the freshness of the produce on this and his love for beets. I preferred the Chicory Salad ($10) with its exotic mix of greenery; endive, radicchio, frisee, mustard greens, and the addition of pears, dried cherries, squash, candied pecans, ricotta, and a pear cider vinaigrette. I'm usually not fond of salads that also include fruit, but this one worked. I liked the different textures working together, and the dressing was not too tangy. I definitely could see myself ordering this one on my next visit.
There are four pizzas on the menu at Public House and we got to try two of them. The Pesto Pie ($10) was the better of the two, with some roasted garlic, pepper flakes, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Simple, and not trying to do too much. I felt the Fall Chicken Flatbread ($12) was kind of too busy. A squash puree for the sauce and then topped with caramelized onions, kale, pomegranate seeds, gouda, and parmesan cheese. The pomegranate seeds really overpowered here and were kind of awkward on this pizza. Surprisingly, my archnemesis kale melded in well with this flatbread, but some extra chicken spread out on this would have been appreciated.
Much more to my liking than my beer cocktail was this Son of a Beach Blonde Ale ($6). This is the lightest beer on their menu, and it was still flavorful and went down real smooth. I could see myself ordering a whole bunch of these while sitting out on their patio when the warmer weather rolls around.
As we moved to the entree portion of the menu some more substantial food hit our table, including this Evans Signature Burger ($13). It was cut into fourths for us all to share since we had all slowed down a bit after eating so much this evening. For their patty, they use blended ribeye, brisket, and short rib and it was cooked to a wonderful medium rare. It was a nice tasting burger on its own, but then they topped it with cheddar cheese, coleslaw, caramelized onions, pickles, and thousand island dressing. I would have liked a heavier hand with the condiments on my segment of this burger, but I would have no problem having this, or maybe trying their Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich on my next visit to Public House. Like most of the food community, I'm a sucker for hot chicken all of a sudden.
With an assist from my hand model Angel on this evening, here's a shot of the Grilled Black Angus Flat Iron Steak ($22). This medium rare steak came garnished with a chimichurri sauce, pickled red onions, and some fingerling potatoes. The steak was tender, but the piece I had did not have enough chimichurri sauce on it and was left a little underseasoned. I liked the inclusion of pickled red onion and the tender little potatoes. Don't think about quitting your day job and becoming a hand model Angel. Ain't gonna happen.
Even though we were all getting pretty full by this point, this salmon drew raves. The Skuna Bay Salmon ($24) was a pretty generous piece and came perched on top of Israeli couscous, pickled radish, cucumber, and an unusual spinach soubise. The salmon was flaky and delicious, and the couscous was done right. I liked the spinach soubise but would have liked a little more to be included on the salmon. A nice big plate for lighter eaters.
The last of the entrees and the chef probably brought this one out last as the grand finale because it was visually stunning. The Pollen Nation Braised Pork Shank ($24) was so tender it fell apart before our fork even touched it. Very warming and comforting dish. It had a roast quality to it, which was made even more so with the barley pilaf, pistachios, cranberries, and squash surrounding it. A very nice end to the savory part of our evening.
A trio of desserts would end our time at Public House. The best of the bunch ended up being the Chef's Choice Bread Pudding ($8) which just happened to be a roasted pear version this evening. The bread pudding was neither too mushy or too dry, which I find is very rare when getting bread pudding elsewhere. Both Angel and I loved the ice cream used here, which kind of had a butter pecan feel to it, without the nuts. Angel was quick to box up the rest of the Cheesecake ($8) so his way better half, Rebekah could enjoy it as much as he did. I was more fond of the Chocolate Budino ($6) which reminded me of a richer and more creamy version of the chocolate pudding my mom would make when we were kids. It was a good tradeoff since I'm not much of a cheesecake person.
I was pretty impressed with our visit to Public House, especially when you consider they just opened a couple weeks ago, and it usually takes about two months for new restaurants to really hit their stride. Restaurants that are beer-focused also usually do not put much thought into their food, but I did not find that to be the case here. Yes, they took some risks, some that did misfire a bit, but the effort is apparent and was much appreciated by myself and a good portion of the media in attendance on this evening. The menu is diverse enough to appease all the diners in your party, and the prices are not going to overwhelm you at Public House, as only a couple items are listed over the $20 mark. I was also fond of how the chef tried to incorporate Evans beer into most of the dishes. Speaking of the beers, after having them it's easy to see why craft beer is still as popular today as it was in the early part of this decade, and why craft beer is not a fad that's going away anytime soon.
We'd like to thank everyone at Public House for the wonderful opportunity to see what they are all about. The servers, food runners, and bussers were all very committed to making sure we had our every need met, and did a great job of keeping tabs on all of us. I'd also like to thank Lindsey Mee of Blaze PR for thinking of inviting us to this fantastic event and coordinating the whole thing. It was great seeing you again Lindsey.
For more information about the Public House by Evans Brewing, head to their website here: http://www.evansbrewco.com/pub/#thebrewery-1
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