Last year there was a wave of beer gardens opening, and though the classic variety bases its definition on picnic tables shaded by generous trees, the modern iteration stays open year-round.
BrickHaus is a sparse space, across the street from its sister restaurant Twisted Vines, both in the thick of Columbia Pike’s restaurant scene. The German kitsch is kept to a minimum, with only a little mustached statue in lederhosen greeting customers at the host stand, holding a sign: “Kiss me for luck.”
A lot of the food lends itself to bites between beers: heavy, carby apps like slicked, doughy pretzels, more akin to the glossy Auntie Anne’s variety than the crusty Bavarian prototype, but good (especially with a dip in the beer cheese sauce) nonetheless. Tots replace tortilla chips under a fog of sour cream, plus bacon, scallions and a drizzle of the same beer cheese offered with the pretzels. There’s also more deliberate German food like curry wurst: a bratwurst plated with a heap of crispy, salty fries and a splattering of curry-spiked ketchup.
A veal schnitzel didn’t receive nearly enough pounding in the kitchen, arriving too thick for this specific dish. But altogether, with the roasted Brussels sprouts and creamy, smooth mushroom gravy, it’s a plate hardy enough for a backdrop of crisp German pints.
Notes:
Brickhaus
2900 Columbia Pike, Arlington
