Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

For the past decade, there’s been almost constant development on the Wilmington riverfront. What was once a dull cluster of old warehouses and industrial lots is now home to high-rise condominium buildings, dozens of town homes, brand new office buildings, outlet shops, a minor league baseball stadium, a farmer’s market, and of course, several restaurants. Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant appeared on the scene in 2003, in a 9,000 square foot building which includes a small bar area, a downstairs dining room, an outdoor dining area, and a second level with an additional bar and banquet room. What really makes this building special is the on-site brewery, where guests can watch the brewing process. In addition to the Wilmington location, Iron Hill has seven locations in the Delaware Valley area.

For starters, the fajita-spiced chicken nachos were almost perfect. So many things can go wrong with nachos, and at most places, they do. It all starts with the tortilla chips—you can tell when they’re out of a bag, but at Iron Hill, they were fresh, crispy, and clearly homemade. Many other restaurants also overload their nachos with fillers like shredded lettuce and chopped olives. Not so at Iron Hill—the toppings include diced tomatoes, black beans, green onion, jalapenos, and Monterey jack and cheddar cheeses—with just the right amount of each.

The cheesesteak egg rolls were also excellent, without being too greasy. Sliced steak, along with chopped onion and melted American cheese, wrapped up in an egg roll and deep fried. A nice spin on a Philly favorite.

Jeff’s Take:
Overall, Iron Hill has some creative pizza options, and their pizza crusts are thin, light, and chewy. I ordered the Shrimp LeJon Pizza, a generously sized personal pizza with shrimp, bacon, chopped scallions and parsley, mozzarella cheese, and a horseradish sauce. The horseradish sauce on the LeJon was a bit overstated, though—a classic white pizza sauce with a subtler horseradish flavor would’ve been better.

Iron Hill’s beer sampler is also the way to go for brew lovers, and it’s a great deal, too (10 samples for $7). Being served was a presentation in itself, as our knowledgeable waiter explained in detail the flavors and brewing process of each beer in the sampler. Highlights included the Abbey Dubbel, a Belgian-style that was rich and fruity without being too sweet, the Russian Imperial Stout, which had a nice smooth, malty flavor, and the Irish Red Ale, which, as our waiter said, “puts Killian’s to shame.” All the beers are brewed on site, and the freshness really showed.



Mike's Take:
Let me start off by saying that I have been to Iron Hill quite a few times and it is a very consistent brewery with excellent appetizers and beers. While we had the excellent steak egg rolls and nachos on this visit, I would also highly recommend the hand-cut sweet potato fries and tex-mex spring rolls. The Wilmington location offers the best atmosphere (of the Iron Hill's I've been to) and has a great dining area, outdoor deck, and 2 great bar areas.

The real stand-out for me on this Iron Hill visit was the Irish Red Ale with Nitrogen. This beer was spectacular. In fact, I haven't had a beer this good since I was out in Washington State at the Red Hook Brewery. Beer this good on a Nitrogen tap just can't be beat. Normally, I go for the beer sampler at Iron Hill, but the Irish Red was just too good to pass up. For dinner, I had a Pesto Chicken and Artichoke pizza. The wood fired pizzas are always good here and the lighter pesto sauce was really what I was looking for after our heavy appetizers. Iron Hill is a great brewery and offers dining guests a much more upscale dinner and atmosphere than most pubs out there. The prices are spot on too and the restaurant as a whole is a great value.



Guest Review - Max’s Take:
I have been obsessing over barbecue lately, my haunt of choice being LJ’s BBQ in Providence, RI (definitely worth a visit if you're in the area). It was only natural, therefore, that the House Smoked Pork sandwich would tempt me away from even considering other items on Iron Hill's menu. I found the sandwich to be somewhat puzzling. The meat itself was moist and flavorful, and tender despite its leanness. The smoky flavor of the meat was also quite nice, but a little weak. Therein lay the problem: the sandwich was just meat and bread. No sauce, no toppings. With some barbecue sauce, or something to moisten the sandwich and offset the uninspired roll, the sandwich itself might have been perfect—after all, one doesn't need an inspired roll as a medium for perfect barbecue. As it was presented to me, though, the sandwich was average at best. The overdressed salad that accompanied the sandwich only compounded the problem--absent the heavily vinegared greens, I might have considered moistening my sandwich with the tub of vinegar provided as a side. Overall, the sandwich earns 2.5 steaks for the meat on the sandwich, but the lackluster quality of the dish as a whole prevents a higher rating.

As a final aside, the Bourbon Oatmeal Stout that accompanied my sandwich was rich and complex, and the bourbon flavor would have been a perfect counterpart to a well-crafted barbecue sauce. Alas, 'twas not to be.



Guest Review - Adam’s Take:
It had been over a year since last taking a savory bite of the succulent, flavorful turkey burger by Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant. I admit that it has been 12 months too long. The meat was cooked perfectly—medium rare—and was ripe with flavor, which exuded through the rest of the ingredients, but surprisingly did not create a greasy mess. The guacamole sauce in the sandwich was a nice addition and made a nice, unique pairing. Without it, the sandwich could have been simply forgettable. Meanwhile, a pair of crispy bacon pieces lounged on top of melted cheddar cheese and were the missing pieces to what was a very delicious puzzle. The only issue with the sandwich was the bread, which was too thick, too heavy and not flavorful. And every meat country connoisseur fully understands just how important the bread is to a sandwich. It can make or break it. In this case, had the bread been slightly thinner or lightly toasted -- this burger may have made my Hall of Flame. The side salad that came with the sandwich was pretty deplorable. The mixed bagged lettuce was dry and boring. And the highly acidic vinaigrette dressing could have knocked out a small animal. Maybe it's best to use the dressing as a substitute for smelling salt. A couple of kitchen upgrades to this dish and the Iron Hill Turkey Burger may land as a Food Country favorite.



710 South Madison Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19801
(302) 472-2739
http://www.ironhillbrewery.com/