Crafty Pints: The Brunch Hour

Craft Pints is a deceitfully charming place, with the outside looking like a run-down tap room, you would never guess that the inside would be tastefully decorated with rustic pieces centered around the almighty bourbon. I'd like to point out that if you go on Sunday, make sure you are looking at the Brunch menu (which may not be up to mobile standards, as we thought we were going to be eating the regular lunch/dinner menu), but it wasn't such a disaster. With less options, it was slightly disappointing, only until I tried one of the items on the menu that washed down all of the regret I had felt earlier.

I think for most people around central Ohio, it is worth the drive if you enjoy venturing out of the norm and trying new things (food in particular). We went a little crazy on ordering appetizers, as we came mainly for the small plates that they unfortunately don't have for brunch on Sunday's, so we tried their Honey Bourbon Wings (two thumbs-up by the way), Pork Pot Skins (which we will pass on next time), and the hand rolled pretzel braids. The wings were simply delicious, the sauce was the perfect amount of sweetness although they could have been cooked for less time to leave some of the natural juices in them, but really there were no complaints from either my boyfriend or myself. The pork pot skins were rather bland, came cold, and were just not that great all around- it could be that it was too much potato for me and it overwhelmed the dish. Now, the hand rolled pretzel braids were fabulous, especially with the beer cheese. Rarely do we ever take home bread to eat later, but this was truly an exception to our unwritten rule.

As you know by now, we like to enjoy our meals out with a beer or mixed drink as it takes our level of exploration to the next level since we get a well-rounded experience of all of their services they have to offer. The draft menu had countless options and seemed like it would have an option for each and every different type of beer drinker, from IPA's to Amber's to Stout's, and more. Jake enjoyed his beer, but couldn't help himself and just HAD to have some of their bourbon (thanks to the subliminal messages hanging from every wall ;)) Crazy enough, they didn't have a list of their bourbons and the waitress had to write them down for him (which was awfully kind). He was thrilled with his alcohol choices, but mine on the other hand were a shade away from me asking for another drink, at least the Bloody Mary was- the Mimosa was not top notch but it went well with my meal, but it could do without the ice... The bloody mary had little taste and I found myself needing to add a good deal of pepper to it (I wouldn't have cared if the bar tender had gotten carried away with the tobasco either since mine seemed to be lacking any sense of spiciness). No pickle either, which is a complete fail to me!

Our meals were phenomenal, I even caught myself saying that it was the best breakfast I have ever been served! The Mimosa French Toast was absolutely to die for and had me savoring every single bite. Sweet orange bread topped with champagne whipped cream, my oh my my tastebuds were in Heaven! (For anyone who has ever had the joy of tasting Orange Crunch cake from The Bubble Room- or elsewhere- this is exactly what it tasted like!) I MUST find this recipe, or else we will be making a trip every Sunday for these little delights. I seriously could rave about these all day, you simply have to try these if you even have the slightest sweet tooth. Waffle time. Jake got the waffle that had red velvet doughnut glaze drizzled on it and it was nothing short of fantastic, granted the waffle could have used some butter to soften it up but once he added some syrup, it was end of story. He wasn't as starry eyed as I was, but his belly was surely satisfied. We will definitely be bringing our out of town guests here for an excellent brunch in the future!

Readers: my goal in writing restaurant reviews is to help you avoid the mistakes in ordering that we made, since the cost can be quite expensive especially when you find out you would have rather spent it on another item, and to give you 100% real feedback about the quality of the food and service so that you can (hopefully) have the same experience that I had, or neglect going to the places that may not deserve your stomach-space!