Market Garden Brewery

Being that this past Saturday was a perfect day for a bike ride and I had 2 hours to kill, I threw a spaceman looking helmet on my toddler, loaded him in the bike carrier and off we went for a ride around the Tremont neighborhood. After sharing (read: I got one bite) a broccoli croissant at Civilization, we continued back to Ohio City, using a different route than the one previously taken.

Well, they say you should try the road less traveled and I agree. Were it not for our detour, I would not have known that Market Garden Brewery had been open for a full 36 hours, way too long in my book to not enjoy a cold brew during our less than stable Cleveland summer.

After perusing the menu, I rode back to the house, anxiously awaited the new babysitter, pawned off my child, and my husband and I trekked it on foot back to the brewery. I will be the first one to admit, I am a sucker for al fresco, and Market Garden, in my opinion, has one of best patios I've seen as of late. Though the view is mainly the alley behind the west side market, the design and people watching more than makes up for this.

Long communal tables made of re-purposed wood line the left and right hand side of the courtyard, with delicate trees growing right through the middle. The crowd mostly made up of 30-somethings with a passion for beer, was abuzz with chatter, all with a knowing look that they are one of the first at this brewery. Andy Tveekrem, of Dogfish Head Brewery fame, and Akron native, is now the brewmaster at Market Garden. That alone is tempting.


On this particular night, Kirk and I got the last 2 seats available and settled in for a couple handcrafted brews and an appetizer of homemade fries with aioli and a side of fresh pickled vegetables. My wheat beer was refreshing, and complimented the salty, thin, crisped up fries perfectly. Kirk had an IPA, and honestly I lost track after that. We both thought the pickled vegetables, while a great idea and normally one of our favorite things to order as a side where available, were truly lackluster.I was expecting something interesting when it said seasonal house made pickled veggies, but instead we were given a few pickle slices and few slices of green tomatoes. We already had plans to eat dinner at Momocho later that evening, so we did not get to indulge in further noshing, but we will certainly return.