Bring Back the Magic

As you may have heard, tragedy struck outside one of our very favorite beer bars the other night. Eric the Magician, who performs magic tricks for children at Waldo Pizza, was shot in his car after his weekly shift. There doesn't seem to be a known reason for the act of violence, but the three teenagers involved in the crime were all apprehended. One of them, 17, has been charged with assault & armed criminal action.

Thankfully, the gunshot was non-fatal and appeared to incur no permanent brain damage. Eric's still in the hospital, but word is he is doing well. Waldo Pizza has made a couple of updates to their Facebook site, and the latest provides information about a fund set up to help Eric.

We have established a fund for Eric called the Eric Price Help at Hand Fund. You can bring (or mail) your much appreciated donations to either Waldo Pizza location or to the UMB Bank at 8442 Wornall KC, MO 64114. Thank you very much. Please keep Eric in your thoughts!

You can read more on KMBC's site or The Pitch. And please continue to support Waldo Pizza and other Waldo businesses.

Summer's Here

There are a few things I love about summer:

• Sitting/eating/drinking outside
• Fresh summer beer that's light and refreshing

OK, maybe "a few" is an exaggeration.

A couple of weekends ago, we hiked on over to 75th Street Brewery and checked out their brand-spanking-new beer garden. It's in the old Kennedy's space; they ripped the roof right off and slightly redesigned the layout into a great partially-covered beer garden. Some hop bines are growing up one wall and over the top; they should provide some shade this summer and for years to come. There's a bar out there, too. I snapped a couple of pictures with my (new!!) cell phone (that has a camera on it!!):

As a side note, they had a ginger mango wheat on tap for American Craft Beer Week; I ended up drinking an entire pint of it and wanted more. It was lightly fruity and refreshing; the ginger gave the beer a little sweet spiciness, and the mango wasn't overpowering or too sweet. Great for summer, and if you see it there I recommend ordering a pint. My only complaint about it was that I would have liked a bit more carbonated. It was, however, quite enjoyable.

Last night we walked down to Swagger, then back up to Waldo Pizza, for a Friday night on the town. My first pint at Swagger was a $3 Czechvar (known as "Budvar" outside the US & Canada; the Czechvar name is thanks to labeling and trademark laws). I'd never had it on tap before, and it sounded perfect after a 1.5 mile walk in 90-degree heat. I'm always up for a non-skunked Czech Pils, and this one did not disappoint. Cold, grainy/malty, and a wonderful dry bitter finish. I heard one of the bartenders say they ran out, but I'm not sure if she was referring to keg or bottle form. In any case, if you do see Czechvar on tap and don't have an aversion to beers that finish dry & lightly bitter, order up a pint. It's perfect for a hot & humid Kansas City evening.

On our Waldo Pizza stop, I ordered a Goose Island Summertime- their version of a German Kölsch. It immediately imparts a lemony-citrus aroma and follows through with that in the flavor. Body's nice and light and, like the Bohemian Pils, well-carbonated.

We enjoyed our own version of our Waldo-Crawldo, but you can be a part of the official pub crawl in what I think is KC's best beer neighborhood next weekend for $5 (in advance).

Ringing in the New Year

Happy New Year, beer lovers! It's not really a big event with the Wort Hog household, but we do like to go out even if we don't stay up until midnight. We decided to end 2009 with a meal and drinks at Swagger; for dinner I had Beef on Weck, which was fantastic. The au jus was beefy and properly salted (why on earth does most au jus taste like a marinade for a salt lick?), but my fries were kind of soft instead of crispy. I said goodbye to 2009 with a Leffe, a Manhattan cocktail (with Anchor's Old Potrero), and a Goose Island Matilda. The Manhattan was served on the rocks rather than up, but I quite liked it that way - and it was very well done. Mr Wort Hog had the Waldo Trucker sandwich with mouth-wateringly awesome onion rings, Lagunitas IPA, Bully! Porter, and Avery Salvation (if memory serves me correctly). 

While we enjoyed our meals & beers, someone at a booth ordered a Dead Texan - a burger with bacon, egg, jalapeño, lettuce, onion, tomato, and grilled cheese sandwiches instead of a burger bun. The description just doesn't do its impressive stature justice; I've GOT to get this some time (or maybe I've just been watching too much Man vs Food lately...).

When we figured out we weren't going to make it to midnight, we decided to stop off at Mike's Wine & Spirits in the same building to check out the beer selection. We were pleased to find a great beer store that's much closer to our Waldo home than Royal Liquor. While Royal has a better selection, Mike's does really well at providing a good selection of several craft beers. I picked up a couple from Samuel Smith's - Strawberry Ale & Winter Welcome; John grabbed a sixer of Dixie Blackened Lager and a bottle of Hop Stoopid (it still amazes me that this fantastic IIPA is only $3.99 for 22oz).

Though we got home loaded up with beer, we ended the night drinking the bottle of B. Nektar Margarita I brought back from Michigan last week. Made with honey, agave nectar, lime juice, and lime & orange zest, it is reminiscent of - yes - a Margarita. It's not cheap, but was one of the best meads I've ever had. Though we don't get B Nektar here, if you're ever in Michigan pick up a bottle of their mead. I got mine at Whole Foods.

So there you have it - New Year's Eve, Wort Hog style. It reminded me of how much I love Waldo and that this really is a great area in Kansas City for craft beer. Waldo Pizza, 75th Street Brewery, Swagger, Mike's, and even The Well to some extent (thanks Drunk Monkey for the info!). If you haven't been to this area in a while, it's worth a visit. Cheers!

I Went in with a Swagger and Left with a Magic Hat

Back in August, I caught Kansas City Lunch Spot's review of a bar in Waldo I'd never heard of. While there are plenty of bars in Waldo I don't pay much attention to (I mean, there are a LOT of bars in Waldo), what stood out about this one was its noteworthy beer selection. 42 beers on tap? Several more in bottles? I had to check this place out.

After two months of merely talking about going, we finally made it on Thursday night. We walked in and I immediately thought, "this dive bar sells good beer??". I wondered if maybe those 42 taps were domestic & import light lagers. One look at all the tap handles at the bar, though, confirmed what I'd read. There were maybe 6-8 people in the entire place, so we had no trouble finding somewhere to sit. We settled in at a booth and the bartender came over almost immediately. With menus in hand, we marveled over the extensive and thoughtful beer selection & made our choices: Saison-Brett and Sixth Glass. Alas, John's ability to order a beer that's out of stock shone through again, so he chose a draft Maredsous 10 instead. The Smokestack bottles there are the cheapest I've seen at a bar - $10 each, except for Saison-Brett which is a whopping $11. And they pour it in Boulevard chalices.

We also ordered a basket of onion rings; I'd read about their magnificence on KC Lunch Spots and wanted to experience their glory. They did not disappoint! Crisp, hot batter coated rather thick rings of onion and embodied everything onion rings should be. We followed that healthy starter with a (giant!) plate of nachos; our friend Rachel ordered a veggie burger which she said was quite good. Next time we go, though, I am ordering the pork sandwich with wasabi slaw. My mouth is watering already.

The night went on and we entertained ourselves by playing a couple (very sloppy) games of pool, figuring out how the electronic dart board worked, and selecting songs off the internet jukebox. Get a couple of beers in us and you get a playlist including David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Eminem, Pearl Jam, and Outkast. The very drunk old guy at the bar didn't seem to mind, though; he even sang along to a couple of our choices.

At one point, Mr Wort Hog overheard the bartender talking to someone about Magic Hat; turns out they got a keg of #9 that day and plan to get other varieties in (in bottles, if I remember correctly). Welcome to Missouri, Magic Hat! I have only had #9 and Lucky Kat and wasn't overwhelmingly impressed, but I've heard their seasonal offerings are quite good. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for their stuff. The bartender at Swagger let us take home a promo poster (pictured) which I thought glowed in the dark - much to my disappointment, it does not.

I love this bar. It's everything I want in a local neighborhood pub, with only two minor annoyances: it was about 75 degrees inside and it smelled like stale cigarettes. It's easy to look beyond those, though, when the beer list is fantastic and affordable, they use some proper glassware (not always, but at least there's some effort), the food is compelling and higher quality than standard pub grub, the staff is friendly, and there's pool & darts. Oh, and did I mention they do breakfast on Saturdays that includes bacon pancakes?

I'll see you there.