Sweetwaters Review

      Given my unbelievable skills at organization, we found ourselves with tickets to consecutive nights at the Flynn. Looking for a quick but rather inexpensive bite to eat, we settled on Sweetwaters.Located in a former bank building, Sweetwaters is a very impressive space, the main bar area has 20 ft high ceilings with a large mural at the back of the room. Lots of little nooks and crannies abound for those looking for a darker more romantic space. Also available are tables right on Church Street, (covered and heated, this time of the year).

      Sweetwaters seems to go through many up and down cycles, sometimes we have had really good food, sometimes really bad. Since we couldn't remember the last time we went, we decide to give it a try. You won't find innovative gastro pub food here, (see Bluebird review), but you also won't find $30+ entrees either. We started with drinks, (shocking I know), and they do have some creative drinks here. Wife started with a mix of Stella's beer and Woodchuck cider called a snakebite, ( a better one was a mix of woodchuck cider and blueberry beer called a Chuck Berry, HA). And I went with a new brew from Long trail to help the hurricane victims called Irene. Both were very good, with the wife's tasting alot like an apple beer, you decide if that is good or not,

     For supper we went rather simple, wife with a chicken and pear salad and me with the Bleu burger. The burger was HUGE and came with blue cheese and bacon on it, along with a very large helping of hand cut fries. The wife's salad was well done, crisp lettuces and nicely grilled chicken, though she wasn't a big fan of the poached pears that came with it. All in all a very satisfying meal with no big breakthroughs but also no big disappointments. And sometimes that is all you can ask for. I do have to comment on the service a bit, we ate at the bar, which is our usual and we got very spotty service. When the bartender was there, she was very friendly but she would disappear for large chunks of time. Seems the soda machine was broken and nobody else there could fix it?

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                 Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,   Based on selection and pricing

Service,              Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.5  Dependable and tasty classics.
Beer and Wine,    3.0  OK beer and wine selections, like the food, nothing really unusual.
Service,                 3.5  Great when she was there, not really her fault the soda machine broke, more of a management problem.

Ambiance,             4.0  Nice, old building with lots of areas for dining or socializing.
Price,                     3.5  Consistent with the food, fairly reasonable for downtown.

Overall                  3.5  Nothing jumps out at me as being really sensational but then again nothing jumps out as being really bad. And sometimes this is exactly what you need before a show or a concert. Just good dependable food and drinks.