Evil Czech Brewery

We visited Evil Czech Brewery for dinner on our way home from Minnesota. It's located just outside of South Bend, Indiana. Our original plan was to arrive in South Bend in time to catch the 5 p.m. vigil Mass at Notre Dame's basilica, but we didn't count on crossing the time zone border in the wrong direction! So we went to our hotel, relaxed a bit, and then went to dinner.

The brewery is fairly unassuming with a fun logo. I do find the half-helmet a little weird.

Evil Czech Brewery

Not someone to meet in a dark alley

We are fans of fresh-made pretzels, so we ordered that as our appetizer. Given the evil bent of the venue, this pretzel was particularly untwisted.

Amazed children

Even as a sort of micro-loaf, we enjoyed the pretzel a lot. It came with the standard mustard (that was too spicy for our mild tastes) and beer cheese sauce (that was just right by our reckoning).

I had the "Cali B" burrito for dinner that was very yummy and not too large. We definitely did not want to take leftovers home to the hotel. The fries were an unusual side for a burrito but they tasted great too.

"Cali B"

My son was happy because the menu had his favorite, mac and cheese, in several varieties.

A happy patron

Of course, I ordered beer. The waiter explained that they've had some CO2 problem with their brewing equipment and many of the beers were not available. We sat right by the brewing area (the big silver vats you see all the time at breweries and brew pubs). Since it was Saturday, I just assumed the brewers were not working the weekend. Anyway, I wanted to order the Voodoo Vanilla Rye Porter but it was not on tap. I opted for the Just My Luck Pale Ale, since it was just my luck that the beer I wanted wasn't available. Maybe they are too good at being evil here?

Just My Luck Pale Ale-American

Just My Luck is 6% alcohol by volume and a fairly standard drinking ale. I liked it but wasn't wowed. The waiter did wow me, however, when he came back later with my second beer. They had Voodoo Vanilla Rye Porter in cans and they poured me one!

Voodoo Vanilla Rye Porter

I was very happy with the extra effort. Beer snobs would say that cans aren't as good as fresh-pulled drafts. I'm not so fussy and was delighted with both the beer and the waiter's perseverance. The porter is 5.2% alcohol by volume and quite flavorful and easy to drink. I should have bought some cans to bring home!

They do have a funny tag line--"At Evil Czech Brewery, we believe life is too short to drink bad beer, but there's always time for Evil Beer!"

They offer great dinners and we'd probably go again if we were in the area.