“Friendly staff. Nice beer selection. Filling food. And just down the road from home.”

That was my micro review last night on my first visit to the Crooked Pint Ale House that just opened near my home.  Rochester is the third location for this small chain restaurant which also has Apple Valley and Minneapolis locations. The place opened many weeks ago, but on previous attempts to try it out, the parking lot was overflowing and adjoining streets filled with cars, so we patiently waited until some of the novelty of the new restaurant-in-town wore off.

We were happy with the variety of beer choices which mostly come from nearby craft breweries. We could get beer on tap from favorite places like Fulton and Lift Bridge and Surly, just to name a few. I love dark winter beers, and that has made it difficult to find any favorite warm weather beers. I should mention that I don’t like anything too “hoppy.” Though the waiter joked that maybe I should just drink gin and tonics in the summer, in my quest to try to find a summer beer that I like, I tried the Farmer’s Daughter by Lucette Brewing Company in Menomonie, Wisconsin.  I wasn’t very impressed with the first sip, but from the second through the end of the glass I did enjoy this spiced blonde ale. It helped to lighten things up and get me through almost half of the decadent “Beer Cheese Lucy” that I ordered from the burger menu. I don’t know that I’ll go out and buy any Farmer’s Daughter, but I will add it to my list of acceptable.