Ann Marie Hart
One of the happy trends in dining is fewer things are coming out of freezer bags and cans and more things are prepared with fresh ingredients. It’s far better to eat fresh than pre-prepared foods, and the bonus is it’s tastier too.
This trend is even reaching corner bars these days. Like the Brewer’s Hill Pub, which used to be a burger, beer-and-shot joint and now offers all the old comfy pub standards—burgers, hot turkey sandwich, pizza, steamed shrimp—plus some fresh, inventive sandwiches and salads, all well-prepared and tasty.
First off, though, you have to find the place. Brewers Hill Pub is at the corner of Eaton and Fleet streets, a corner bar dwarfed by the new Baltimore Medical Systems clinic. If you are walking east on Fleet, you will not be able to see it till you are practically past it. BHP is well worth the search though.
All of the pub-grub favorites are there, but you can also order some tempting salads, some inventive sandwiches and seafood platters. Heck, even the leftovers are good—there were tasty Sloppy Joes on the menu when we visited, with a very nice sweet and sharp tomato sauce. Manwich it wasn’t.
Take a good look at the specials menu. That is where I found the ahi tuna BLT ($9.95), which was cooked medium rare as ordered, served on a Kaiser roll and absolutely delicious. Similarly, the blackened ahi wrap ($9.95) was well-seared but rare on the inside, exactly as ordered.
You can get your burger cooked medium-rare at Brewer’s Hill Pub—which is a rarity these days, pardon the pun. If you dislike the pasty grey things that pass for burgers these days, head for the corner of Fleet and Eaton.
The Greek salad ($7.95) is enough for two—in fact all the portions are generous, and the tab is low.
There’s Guinness on tap, and Longboard, Three Philosophers, Blue Moon and Magic Hat #9 in bottles, along with all the standard domestic and imports. And you could go to Brewer’s Hill just to marvel at the performance of bartender Ann Marie Hart, who keeps glasses filled at the bar and the dining room fed and happy and never misses a dish. And she remembers how you want your burger or sandwich cooked should you visit a week or two later. And she never seems hurried, and she is always friendly. It really is quite a show.
