Birch's on the Lake Brewhouse

I had read a brief article on Heavy Table about the beer offerings at Birch's on the Lake and when I visited the website I noticed they also served food in a formal dining room and a more casual brewpub. This sounded like an interesting option, so we planned to visit Friday night for dinner, but other plans came up, so we went for brunch on Sunday instead.

When we arrived we noticed there were not many cars in the parking lot, and it was around 11am. This is never a great sign. The upstairs restaurant was closed and a sign directed us to the brewpub downstairs. We were greeted by the bartender and seated ourselves. The dining area had quite a few tables filled actually, but it was not packed.

They don't do tasting flights, but you can order small 2 oz pours for just $1 each, so I tried the pumpkin ale, witbier and coffee chocolate golden ale. I forgot to take a photo, but it was a nice amount to sample the beers. The pumpkin ale was quite good, not overly sweet and witbier was a decent lighter beer and the chocolate ale was unusual in that it was a lighter beer with coffee and chocolate notes. Not sure I would get get the coffee chocolate golden ale again.

John tried the sorachi ace IPA.

The server was helpful, friendly and checked on us as needed. She was able to tell us a bit about the beers and kept our water glasses filled.

I had the prime rib Benedict, which was a cheddar biscuit topped with thinly sliced prime rib, tow poached eggs and horseradish hollandaise with a side of hash browns. I did not detect any horseradish flavor in the hollandaise and the prime rib was very well done and quite tough. If the prime rib had been rare, this could have been a good dish, as it was, it was just OK. The hash browns were quite good though. they were very crispy and had some onions added to them to give them additional flavor.

John had the Long Lake breakfast with two eggs, two strips of bacon, Kramarzuk's Ukrainian sausage, hash browns and he ordered sourdough toast, but was given a biscuit. A runner brought out the plates and he was told about the toast and he quickly brought a piece of toast out. It was supposed to be sourdough, but it was either very bland or white toast. It was also cold, so John told the server and she brought new toast out.

I don't think I was impressed or dazzled by the food or beer, everything was acceptable, and we found the brewpub to be a nice atmosphere with a great view of the lake. There is a patio deck, so that will likely be popular in the warmer months. I think we will have to come back and try the supper club, located upstairs and maybe keep checking back to see what other options they add to the beer menu. It has lots of potential in a beautiful building with great views.


Birch's on the Lake Brewhouse
1310 Wayzata Blvd,
Long Lake, MN 55356
(952) 473-7373
http://www.birchsonthelake.com