[Southsider2k12]

Well for me it was very close to a Rave, but a couple of things took away from it. First of all, as a microbrewery, the beer was very good. They have a sampler platter of their brews, which is pretty standard, and they arrange them from light to dark for you to sample. Those were very good, as was the waitstaff at recommending a beer, based on your favorite drink. My problem came with the menu, which was very limited. I am a big fan of getting nice steak and a beer, but they only choices that they really had were lamb chops or a fillet. Both were actually good (my wife got the fillet, I got the chops) but I would have killed for a real steak. I would like to see SSB, if they are going to stay with a limited menu, get rid of the fancy stuff and go to a burgers and wings type menu, or expand the offerings if they are going to stay as a high end place. It was a little pricey, but the quality was worth it, if you could find what you wanted to eat.

[Southsider2k12]

So the wife and I went back to Shoreline, and it is nice to see the place maturing. They now have bands once a month on Sat nites. They also have expanded the menu nicely. I still am a big fan of the beer. I got the Dim Wit, which is a Belgian Ale, and loved it. Its still steeply priced, but worth it on occasion.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I enjoy this place. My usual is the fish and chips, but I get the vegetable chips instead of the flaccid fries. Beers are good, but I have had problems with growlers going flat.

[Michelle]

Beers are good, but I have had problems with growlers going flat.

Drink faster IMO.

The beer seems fairly priced, but the food is a little pricey. Fancy pants food isn't really my thing, however. I've only been to Shoreline twice, but I'd rate it a solid 3.5 or 4 out of 5 for overall experience.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I will try that!

[jb9152]

Relatively new to the area, but I love the place already. The pub burger is excellent, as are the fish and chips. Mind you, I'm no food snob, so I may not know what I'm talking about. But for me, great food and good beer.

[Roger Kaputnik]

You sound like your tastebuds are doing a great job!

[Southsider2k12]

Relatively new to the area, but I love the place already. The pub burger is excellent, as are the fish and chips. Mind you, I'm no food snob, so I may not know what I'm talking about. But for me, great food and good beer.

The wife and I went tried getting into Galveston on NYE and the line was out the door at about 8pm, so we went over to Shoreline instead. It ended being an excellent move because it was nearly deserted. I had the pub burger and you are right, it is spectacular. I also had the Region Rad Red beer, which was very good as well.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=32098.19

Everything's coming up roses
Brewery’s strong customer service garners awards.

Joseph Malan
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Good customer service has turned into a sort of competition at Shoreline Brewery during the last several weeks.

That sort of competition seems to be good for the restaurant, 208 Wabash St., as employees have won the last three R.O.S.E. awards given by the La Porte County Convention & Visitors Bureau for outstanding customer service.

Katie Schaefer, 26, a Shoreline waitress, now has won the award two months in a row for December and January.

"It's all about giving people a really enjoyable experience and taking care of customers," Schaefer said. "It's awesome that we have such a great staff."

Before Schaefer won her two awards, Nikki Schultz took home the honor for November. Last month, half of the restaurant's eight-person staff alone were nominated for a R.O.S.E. award. Schaefer said the restaurant has brought in five of the awards since the tradition was started by the LCC&VB back in May 1999.

Only recently, Schaefer said, did the restaurant's employees and staff begin emphasizing the importance of handing out R.O.S.E. cards, which is where the comments are written.

The person who fills out the card can mail it to the LCC&VB, where a panel of judges vote on the most outstanding act of customer service during that month. The judges do not know the name of the business until the winner of the voting is revealed. The winner receives a rose corsage and a $100 bill.

Sam Strupeck, co-owner of Shoreline Brewery along with his father, Dave, said Friday if a member of his staff wins a R.O.S.E. award, he adds an additional $100 to the bureau's award.

"The fact that they can win (an extra) $100 doesn't hurt," Strupeck said, crediting his staff with being self-motivated and competitive to become monthly players in the award.

"A good staff attracts itself," he said. "They all have fun as well. We want to get the customers to keep coming back."

Strupeck added one of the reasons he thinks his staff is excellent is because many can give directions to local tourist attractions. Since a good portion of Shoreline's customers tend to be from out-of-state, he said it's a good thing many of his employees are familiar with the city.

"We have well-rounded, good people working here," he said.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.post-trib.com/lifestyles/food/1...lor0710.article

y Mark Taylor, Post-Tribune correspondent

I* my continuing quest to find good food worthy of locally brewed beer I ventured to the Land Beyond the Dunes, to the city so cool they named a lake and a state after it.

We headed to the Shoreline Brewery and Restaurant in Michigan City, a brewery that won a silver medal in the World Brew Cup in 2006.

What: Shoreline Brewery and Restaurant

Rating: HHH

Where: 208 Wabash, Michigan City

Phone: 879-4677

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Price range: $-$$ Worth noting: Reservations aren't required, but are accepted.
Michigan City, with its German heritage, has a long history of breweries. Shoreline is the newest, one in a handful popping up to slake our thirst for fine crafted beers. Luckily, the food
stands up well to the beers.

It was a beautiful summer evening coming back from the beach and eating and drinking freshly-made food and beer sounded as luxurious as saying the word "spa" with a mouthful of chocolate. Try it sometime.

While the exterior of this old brewery could use a new coat of paint, the food, beer and ambience was just what we needed: good pub food cheerily served and accompanied by award-winning cold beers. Michigan City, with its German heritage, has a long history of breweries. Shoreline is the newest, one in a handful popping up to slake our thirst for fine crafted beers.

Luckily, the food stands up well to the beers.

The interior of this brewery pub features high ceilings and bare wood paneling. On one side customers can view the tall beer vats through tall windows behind the bar. The interior seats more than 150. And while it was a comfortable room with a welcoming staff, we ate al fresco in a simple outdoor dining area that seats 30 because it was summer and these days never last long enough.

We started with a dish called thistle sticks, which look nothing like thistle or sticks, but include a piquant cheese stuffed in wonton skins and deep-fried and served with roasted red peppers and the Greek-inspired tzatziki, a cucumber yogurt dip. If you order them, be careful to cut them first and allow them to cool or risk sacrificing your taste buds biting into the scalding hot, gooey cheese that bubbles out like lava. The combination was imaginative, but the wonton skins were a little tough and not particularly memorable.

Better yet were the buffalo calamari, another example of the once noble grazer of the Great Plains having his identity absconded by restaurants meaning to imply that a dish is spicy. The deep-fried calamari were tender and tasty and the Tabasco-inspired hot sauce complemented them beautifully. One day some clever entrepreneur will serve buffalo buffalo, really spicy bison bits that blow the lids of your traps and will collect big royalties.

Our entrees included the choice of soup or salad, and with the sun setting and the wind off the lake blowing cooler, soup sounded better than a sandy blanket. My wife selected the French onion, a gutsy choice considering many restaurants have ruined the reputation of this fine dish. But Shoreline's version was more than respectable, well topped with still crunchy croutons, golden-brown Gruyere cheese and plenty of rich stock and sliced onions.

My tomato-based lentil soup was hearty and flavorful, infused with cumin and pepper, a lovely cockle warmer.

My wife chose comfort food, the mushroom ravioli entrée, which were stuffed with minced mushrooms and served in a sauce that included slices of sun-dried tomatoes and shitake mushrooms in a pesto cream sauce. The sauce was sublime, but the ravioli tasted commercially prepared and a little tough. In spite of that, I'd still recommend the dish.

From a menu that included fish and chips, lamb shank braised in oatmeal stout beer, barbecue ribs and sesame chicken, I was feeling alertly alliterative and selected the seared sea scallops. To my delight these creamy tasting morsels lightly seared were served in saffron garlic butter with basil, roast red peppers and grape tomatoes. Instead of mashed or oven-roasted potatoes, I opted for the vegetable risotto, a wonderful, brightly colored companion worthy of stardom in its own right.

From a dessert menu of house-made delights that changes daily, we chose the peanut butter chocolate pie and the chocolate strawberry cheesecake. My wife and I disagreed on the peanut butter chocolate pie. She objected, although not too strenuously, that the layer of chocolate atop the peanut butter filling was too thick. My belief -- and I'm as orthodox as they come on this question of dogma -- is that you can never have too much chocolate on anything. We did agree that the chocolate strawberry cheesecake was really inspired, a tasty blend of chocolate and strawberry in a cool cheesecake filling.

Prices at the Shoreline Brewery seemed a little higher than I'd expected, but the quality was commensurate with the costs. Appetizers cost from $5 for "a tower of golden fried onion rings" to $6 for our thistle sticks, $8 for our buffalo calamari and $10 for a plate of toasted pita, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and roasted red pepper hummus. Interesting entrée-size salads included the grilled vegetables and couscous ($9); grilled apple and asparagus ($11); Mediterranean shrimp ($13) and calamari and scallops $14).

A full slab of barbecue ribs is $21 and the lamb shank $22, the same price as my sea scallops. Ribeye and filet mignon steaks cost $24. Pasta dishes range from $13 for eggplant parmesan to $14 for my wife's mushroom ravioli up to $22 for mahi mahi risotto.

Most of the 12 beers Shoreline brews cost between $4 and $6. The brewery produces around 500 barrels annually.

Shoreline, which opened four years ago, is owned by Sam Strupeck and his father, Dave. They used to work at the former Aberdeen Brewery and Pub in Valparaiso, along with executive chef Josh Landrum.

"We wanted a menu that would serve something a little different from most other local restaurants using fresh ingredients and matching beers with the food," Sam Strupeck explained.

Let Mark Taylor know what you think and name your choices for restaurants to be reviewed. E-mail him at markic46321@yahoo.com. dining out in michigan city

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thepncvoice.com/entertainment/r...ewery-1.2451211

Restaurant Review: Shoreline Brewery
Shoreline Brewery Delivers Tasty Food, Welcoming Atmosphere, and Incredible Beers

By Dave Hunt - Staff Writer

I have finally experienced the legendary Shoreline Brewery in Michigan City, IN. I have heard it's praises sung by many people whose judgments I trust. I just had never made the trip out there because of well, you know, life. My Shoreline initiation is now complete, and I am more than satisfied.

The atmosphere inside is quite nice. It has a large dining room with comfortable chairs, something that is often missing in bars. Sitting on a bar stool for extended periods is not my idea of comfort. Even when most of the tables suddenly filled, the tall ceilings helped accommodate most of the noise so that my companions and I could have a conversation without screaming at each other.

Our tables first round of drinks consisted of the Rillo Rye Imperial Rye Ale, Beltaine Scottish Ale, Singing Sands Oatmeal Stout, and the Lost Sailor Imperial Stout. The rye ale was certainly the most unique and interesting of the bunch. It had a huge, citrusy hops presence, almost to the level of a strong pale ale, but the body was very thick and heavy; not what one would expect from such a hoppy bite. It was definitely a beer to be sipped and relished.

The Beltaine Scottish Ale, simply said, was smooth and delicious without being overpowering.

Between the two stouts at the table, we all agreed that the oatmeal stout was superior, but I did very much enjoy the imperial stout. The Lost Sailor concentrated more on sweetness and the chocolatey coffee flavors were definitely prominent. The Singing Sands was damn near the perfect oatmeal stout: creamy, thick, and more bitter than its Lost Sailor competitor.

Due to an ordering mishap, I also got to try to the Region Rat Red Ale. It was light but flavorful and reminded me of a Newcastle Brown Ale, albeit a bit less complex. The interesting part was the aftertaste, or rather its total lack of one. Almost as soon as the beer moves from the mouth, the flavor is gone. This beer is a winner for those who dislike the bitter aftertaste of many beers.

Bring on the food! I ordered a Scotch Egg for myself; something I've wanted to try for quite some time. For those unfamiliar, this tasty number is a hardboiled egg wrapped in a thick layer of sausage, which is then breaded and fried. It was crispy and flavorful. The only problem was the sausage was raw in a couple places closest to the egg.

I also ordered the mushroom ravioli. This great dish was tossed with sundried tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, and shallots. The menu said it came with a pesto cream sauce. My sauce was a reddish-orange and tasted more like a cheese based sauce than pesto. Regardless, it was delicious, just not what I had expected.

My other favorite entree at the table was the pulled pork wrap. Generous amounts of tender pulled pork, smothered in a fantastic BBQ sauce and wrapped up with caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, and coleslaw. The wrap was well balanced and disappeared quickly.

Overall I was extremely satisfied with my Shoreline experience. The prices are fair. Four dollars for an impressive craft beer? Yes, please. The menu offers a little bit of everything; a few pastas, many sandwiches, some grilled meat options, several seafood dishes, and even some tasty sounding salads. You never know what you will be in the mood for after a few great beers, but whatever it is, Shoreline will leave you satisfied.

[Tim]

”Bring on the food! I ordered a Scotch Egg for myself; something I've wanted to try for quite some time. For those unfamiliar, this tasty number is a hardboiled egg wrapped in a thick layer of sausage, which is then breaded and fried. It was crispy and flavorful. The only problem was the sausage was raw in a couple places closest to the egg.”