Brewster’s Fine Foods & Spirits of Three Rivers
601 W. Hoffman StreetIt’s been four years since I’ve had a Saturday off that I haven’t used a vacation day for. That always made it really hard for my family to get together. My mom would use vacation days on Monday to come up for a Sunday-Monday visit or I would have to use vacation days on Friday and/or Saturday so we could head to their house. Now that I have Saturday’s off like a normal person, it makes traveling better for everyone.
My parents came up this past Saturday morning for a visit with their granddaughter. It just so happened that my dad’s cousin with the lake house in Three Rivers was also in Michigan this week. We spent the morning at the Farmers’ Market and ate lunch at University Roadhouse before heading home to play with Play-Doh and take a nap.
When nap time was over, we all loaded in to my parents van (which L looooooves because she can watch Frozen on their DVD player), and headed south towards Three Rivers to meet my dad’s cousin and part of her family for dinner.
I suggested we meet at Brewster’s. I have eaten at the Paw Paw and Kalamazoo locations with good luck and J had actually been to the Three Rivers location once with her parents while I was at work.
We timed it out pretty well and we both pulled in to the parking lot around 6. The restaurant is a little deceiving when you look at it from the outside. The parking lot entrance is off Hoffman Street and the building is visible from the US-131 Business Route. It sort of backs up to the large factory and is kind of hidden in some brush. What you don’t realize until you get in is that the restaurant has a pretty great view overlooking the Rocky River. There is a great patio on the banks of the river and most of the dining room looks over the landscape via large windows.
Our group of nine was taken to the back corner of the dining room where the host and waitress pushed a couple of tables together for us. I happened to glance at the tap list as we were walking in, so I knew I was in the market for a Sam Adams Oktoberfest. J took the Beer of the Month which was an Angry Orchard. The rest of the table was split between water, pop, and Iced Tea.
Once the waitress figured out how the check was being split up, she started taking orders on our side of the table.
J went first ordering the Sun Dried Cherry Chicken Salad minus the chicken. The salad comes with sliced almonds, tomatoes, sun dried cherries, and feta cheese. The large salad was more than enough for a meal and delicious enough to satisfy her.
I had a burger for lunch, so I went a different route. I ordered the Applewood Smoked Wings. The ten smoked chicken wings are smoked in the Brewster’s BBQ pit. They have a really crispy, super flavorful skin that hides the tender, juicy, smoky meat inside. The plate came with a side of Bleu Cheese dressing which I used sparingly because the wings were good enough on their own not to need it. The meal didn’t come with any sort of side which was the only downside. Ten wings really isn’t enough for me to make a meal out of and since I had just ordered my second beer (Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale), I didn’t want to spend more of my parent’s money on a side.
For L, we let her pick and she chose the Mac ‘n Cheese. The plate came with what looked to be Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese which L gobbled up. She only left a little bit in the side of the bowl for me. We ordered her fruit as a side because at lunch, we got her fries and she didn’t touch them. Of course, at dinner, she wanted fries and no one had any to give to her.
Both my dad and his cousin ordered the Steak and Rings. This dinner entree is a 6 oz. sizzler steak topped with thick cut onion rings. Both seemed to enjoy it and both passed on the steak sauce (a rarity for my dad) so it must have been tasty.
My mom and my dad’s cousin’s husband ordered the BLT Flatbread. We explained several times to him what a flat bread was and when he got he explained, “It’s a pizza!” We had told him that many, many times before ordering yet he still seemed to surprised. Both of them liked it and he was even shocked by how much he liked it.
Dad’s cousin also had one of her boys and his wife in town this weekend. They were at the other end of the table, so I didn’t really see what they got. I know there was a burger in front of one of them. I’m not really sure what the other got.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a good idea on what the meal cost because I never saw the bill. It was split three ways with my parents picking up the tab for J, L, and I.
We have drove by Brewster’s many times on various trips to and through Three Rivers. J has said all along that her family liked it when they met friends there and it worked out to be a great meeting place for our large group to get together for dinner.
Sam Adams Oktoberfest
Sun Dried Cherry Chicken Salad (minus the chicken)
Applewood Smoked Wings w/Bleu Cheese Dressing
Kid’s Mac ‘n Cheese
Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale
SW Michigan Dining 