Gordon Biersch Brewery in the Arena District
Overall GrubGrade B
The Breakdown:
Atmosphere: Grade B-: In a moment of sheer lunacy, we decided to attend the Columbus Auto Show at the Columbus Convention Center in downtown, Columbus. Attending the car show wasn’t lunacy in itself, but attending it on the same day when Nationwide Arena was hosting some of the NCAA first round Men’s Basketball Tournament games. Downtown was a madhouse, and there was nary a parking space near the downtown area. We happened to luck out and find a parking garage that most people didn’t seem to know about, but that was after battling traffic and pedestrians for about a half hour. So once we were done at the car show, we were hungry and decided it would be the most convenient to hit some place downtown. We had stopped by a Gordon Biersch many years ago, and since there was one in the Arena District, we decided “Why not?” On the inside, Gordon Biersch was decorated nicely with almost a minimalistic theme. There wasn’t a ton of wall clutter, and we sat in a fairly empty area of the restaurant (most of the other patrons were gathered in and around the bar area, where the flat screen televisions were mounted). On the negative side, the menus at Gordon Biersch were possible the dirtiest menus we’ve ever had to hold. We mean these things were absolutely scuzzy. We hoped the filthy menus weren’t going to be a reoccurring theme for our visit.
High marks: Tasteful décor and quiet dining area (at least on this visit)
Low marks: No convenient parking, and the menus were GROSS
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Service: Grade B: Our server’s name was Stephanie. There wasn’t too much that was memorable about the service, but in Stephanie’s defense, all the action in the restaurant was located elsewhere. We had minimal wait for our food, and our order was delivered with no mistakes. We did find it a little odd that when I asked for a “to go” box when our entrees came out, I kind of got just a smidge of attitude. Actually, it was more like a weird look, but the size of this entree was enormous, and I am trying to watch my figure for Pete’s sake.
High marks: Solid, mistake free service
Low marks: Nothing spectacular, and some possible offense made by my box request
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Food/Spirits: Grade B: We skipped the appetizer on this occasion. I had just started my diet, and therefore was not willing to partake in the extra calories. I have since become less Nazi-ish in my adherence to my diet, so most of our future posts will include the appetizer. Katina ordered the sangria for her drink. It was good, but nothing too memorable. I ordered one of Gordon Biersch’s in-house specialty brews called a Rauchbier. This beer was unique in that it was smoked, so it had a really nice, hearty smoky flavor that is usually absent from most beers. It was delicious, and it happened to pair nicely with food. I would definitely consider the Rauchbier a “dinner” beer and not one that you’d drink just to have a beer. For her entree, Katina ordered the braised beef tips, and I opted for the Cajun pasta. The beef tips were very flavorful, but a little lite on the beef. Katina felt the dish was too veggie-laden to be a knock-out, but it was still tasty, which is quite the endorsement coming from someone whom I’ve rarely seen eat beef tips. The Cajun pasta was also really good, but I have had better versions of Cajun pasta. Gordon Biersch’s version suffers from the same flaw as many of the other Cajun pasta’s I’ve had – too little andouille sausage. For me, a good Cajun pasta has plentiful sausage, chicken, and shrimp. The less stellar versions are usually 90% chicken, 8% shrimp, and 2% andouille sausage. So, the pasta was tasty, but no flavor-gasm (that’s Katina’s word, not mine).
High marks: Delicious and unique beer
Low marks: Too little beef in the beef tips and too little sausage in the Cajun pasta
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Value: Grade B: I’ve seen reviews on Urbanspoon claiming that Gordon Biersch was overpriced, and we have to disagree. It’s not cheap, but we dropped $52 before tip, and that’s not too out of line with our expectations. Had the quality of the food been a tad bit higher, we might have bumped this score up to an A- or B+. But if you’re in the Arena District and you’re looking to grab a bite to eat, Gordon Biersch Brewery is a pretty solid choice.
High marks: Reasonable prices for food
Low marks: Quality needs to be a little better …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Autism Friendly Score: 3 We can’t really imagine a reason to take someone on the spectrum to Gordon Biersh unless your little one is a rabid sports fan or you just caught a concert at Nationwide. But just in case, you should be aware that the lack of convenient parking, online reservations, and online kids menu doesn’t bode well. There wasn’t much noise or visual stimuli to bother an autistic child, but if the place were packed we imagine it might be an overwhelming environment.
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