Unabashed Gluttony-Road Edition I

Off to Kansas City this past weekend-I had never been past St. Peters, MO on Int 70 so this was my first trip across MO and I waited with baited breath. Driving across Missouri on 70 is like driving from my parents' house to Des Moines including a poor emulation of Iowa-80 truck stop known as the Oak Grove 70.

Night #1 brought us to Columbia, MO, home of Mizzou, UM, UMC, whatever it's trying to be called. I was interested in seeing the campus and the college town that goes along with having a University. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to compare every college town to Madison, which is not really fair. Columbia is a step up from Champaign, but not by much. After rolling into town after experiencing what seemed like a landlocked hurricane, we set off amid crazy street flooding to find something to eat. We received two recommendations to try the Flat Branch Pub and Brewery and after having shitty directions from Google Maps-again- we found the place. We step inside to find the rest of Columbia inside. Seemingly, no one left during the Monsoon we were having and therefore, no new people could get a seat. Thankfully, the storm was clearing (temporarily) and we sat after about 15 minutes.

Tim had some sandwich that was recommended: it was kind of bland and not too exciting. I had a burger topped with artichoke dip (Tim knows CPR I think) and we split some pretzels. The burger was a great idea; I was only able to eat half, but the pretzels were no Gus's or Sage's spin on Gus's with some beer cheese.

Flat Branch had 10 beers on tap ranging from a pilsner to a stout. We each started with an ale, which I thought were decent and then I switched to the porter and Tim to the stout, which were mistakes. Not only does it not make sense to drink these beers in August, they simply weren't good. My porter, and I like my porter's smoky, tasted like making out with a frat boy who had chain smoked all night. The stout didn't have the head on it that we've grown accustomed to seeing on a Guinness.

It was good to experience a new town and a locally owned place, but unless we have a kid many years down the road going to Mizzou, we will not be back.

http://www.flatbranch.com/home.asp