Marco Island Brewery

Just stopped in for beers, no food this time. Kala was calling last call, but still set us up with a couple Marco Island Brewery IPAs... delicious.  Great service, cool atmosphere,  clean and good beer selection.

I haven't written a review in a while, well since moving to Marco Island two years ago but I feel obliged to after my recent experience at Marco Island Brewery.  

This is the first time I have eaten here since moving to the island.  I typically don't go to restaurants during season so this was the perfect time to go.  the small crowed seemed in good spirits and I was ready for a good beer and some good food.

First the good:
I sit down at their very expansive bar area in front of the many TVs and am immediately greeted by a friendly bartender who promptly asked what I wanted.  They have a decent selection of beers on tap as well as their own brewed selection.  Normally when I go to a microbrewery I want to taste their wares but this time I noticed that they had 312 on tap and being a Chicago transplant, I had to have it.  it was the first place I have seen on the island that had Goose Island beers.  It was promptly and courtesy server to me at which time I gave my food order.  What could possibly go better than a cold wheat beer than a cheese burger and fries.  I make my order, Cheese burger, medium with cheddar, and a side of fries.  I received the dish within about 10 minutes (albeit delivered to the wrong patron initially).

The bad:
What I received was a well done burger on a stale bun.  The "cheese" was a single, thin square of translucent what I could only imagine was cheddar since I couldn't actually taste it.  The meat itself was of ample size but dry as a bone due to it being WAY overcooked, which was only outdone by the dryness of the toasted bread.  I bit into it and could barely swallow the flavorless, dry, sad little burger.  I took another bite to make sure I wasn't dreaming.  I wasn't.  This was literally the worst burger I have ever eaten, anywhere. And I have eaten some really bad 3AM burgers.  

The fries were the icing on the cake. Served at a temperature that rivals the surface of the sun, I had to wait to eat them.  So there I am, looking at this sad little burger, while my fries cooled feeling sorry for the cow that this was made from.  The fries finally cooled after a couple minutes and immediately I could taste the salt.  Not the salt they were coated in but the salt from what I could only imagine was a week long brine bath they soaked in.  I had two fries, just to make sure, and that was all I could manage.

I can count the number of times on one hand that I have sent food back, and this was one of them.

Back to the good:
The bartender immediately recognized what was going on.  Apologized left and right, offered me several other alternatives which I thanked him and turned down.  I was comped the food, paid for my 312 with tip and left, not hungry anymore and a little sad.

The verdict:
Seems like a good place to hang out with some friends over a few beers.  The staff was courteous and prompt.  Based on my experience, I would avoid the food, at least the burger.

We had to decide quickly where we were eating lunch as the sky was about to pour buckets on us...and the choice was the Marco Island Brewery.  As we pulled up I had no idea what I wanted, but I checked the reviews and decided not to go with anything that wasn't going to be fresh fish (not a big fan of eating bulk farm raised fish that isn't fresh).  Anyway...

We actually had an absolutely great lunch.  My daughter started with an order of steamed clams in a wine and garlic broth-perfectly cooked, lot's of them and delicious!  The broth was so good I wouldn't let the waiter take it away, I used it to dip my my Brewhouse Dip (think French Dip) and tater tots in along with the au jus.  If I could mkae a broth like that to put steamers in I might ONLY eat steamers for the rest of my life.

My wife ordered the Ahi tuna tacos and had a simple one word description...WOW.  Plentiful, fresh, and the toppings and salsa made her want to come back.  My daughter (yes the one who ordered the clams) was starving so she ordered the shrimp basket with fries AND a side Caesar salad...and other than one taste of one shrimp and a couple fries-I got nothing.  She ate the whole thing.  Damn her metabolism!  My son ordered the meatball parm with onion rings.  The rings were delicious (we split the rings and my tater tots) and weren't overly battered.  The sandwich was just ok.  Not bad at all, but coming from Jersey, I mean c'mon, are they going to make a better meatball parm than I can get at home?  No way.  

Since it was a brewhouse, I tried their homemade Red Ale and it was good.  I was hoping for a bolder flavor and something ice cold, but it was just ok.  I'd order it again as I tend to drink local or microbrews over commercial beers if I can get them.  

I'd probably give this place 3.5 stars if Yelp would let us do so, but three is too low so I'll round UP this time and give them the 4th star.  Thank You Marco Island Brewery for the good food and for keeping us dry during the worst thunderstorm I've been in in years...even if it was only a short-lived one.