Friday, 08 March, 2002
Southend Brewery
Stuck in Raleigh again tonight because getting a flight home was absurdly expensive. Something like $500 to fly on Friday night, but only $125 to fly Saturday morning. So we walked down the street to the Southend Brewery & Smokehouse for dinner. The food was nothing to write home about, but their beer was good. They served an excellent oatmeal stout at room temperature—something hardly anybody does these days. I like lighter ales cold but stouts always taste better at room temperature, although I'm hard pressed to say exactly why. Their Railroad Red was okay, I guess, but not really my thing. Reds are "iffy". I've had a few excellent reds (my friend John Taylor's being the best), but for the most part they leave me indifferent.
Southend is a small chain in the southeast, and worth checking out if you get the chance. A number of people told me that the food is excellent, so I'm willing to believe that I just ordered the wrong thing.