happy

Good lord it's been hot...So what better way to cool off than with a nice brew? I have been in Irvine for the summer, so I have been going around and trying some places out.

On campus lies the Anthill Pub and Grille. What comes to your mind when you hear the word "pub" ? I think dirty grungy place where it's going down....filled with shady characters, happy drunks, and plenty of good cheer. But the APG is quite the opposite of what what I imagined. This is a pretty nice and swanky place. A friend and fellow UCSD alumni upon coming here said that this place has nothing on UCSD's Porter's Pub. I agree, but that won't stop me from coming here because they have an interesting selection of brews and it's Happy Hour 4-7 every damn day! $3 pints on ALL beers, $8 pitchers (which is 3 pints). You won't find any Bud Lite here, as they proudly advertise that the place is a "swill-free zone." No pictures of the beer, but so far I've been able to try a few. Full list of the beer can be seen here.

And as their latter half of their name suggests, they also offer some food at fair prices. The place is open until midnight Mon-Fri for the summer, but their kitchen closes at 7 PM.

Sorry for some of the pictures. I took them with my cell phone in a dimly lit area...didn't have the camera with me.


Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce $4. The only other time I've had sweet potato fries were at Boiling Crab, and I though those were better than here, but still, you get a good amount, and they're pretty good with the sauce.


Fire Ants - buffalo popcorn chicken w/ Louisiana hot sauce, served w/ celery sticks and blue cheese dipping sauce $5.50. A little too crispy for my liking.


French Fries $2.50. Long shoe string fries, not bad. I don't know if they normally do this, but they gave us a whole crapload of fries. This picture was taken when we had gone through about a 1/3 of the basket. Needless to say, we were sick of fries by the time we were done with this and the potato fries...


Veggie/Dip: baby carrots, celery, cucumber, and broccoli served w/ ranch dipping sauce $3.50. I was raised on a lot of vegetables, cooked or raw, so I always like some kind of veggies with my meals. I really could have used this when we had all those fries. There was no celery given even though it said so on the menu.


Hummus w/ warmed pita wedges and celery sticks $3.00. A pretty good price I think for the amount you get. Hummus was good and the pita did come out warm. Just wish they gave more celery. Those sticks were puny.

Service is friendly and helpful. The place seems to attract an older crowd, but it is summer session right now, so I'm not sure how it is during the regular year. The only thing that sucks about this place is that it's CASH ONLY. However there are ATMs that can be found next to the pub.

Anthill Pub and Grille
UC Irvine, C215 Student Center
4200 Campus Dr Irvine, CA 92614

Across from campus in the same plaza as Lee's and In N Out is the Steelhead Micro Brewery.


Nachos for under 5 bucks. A modest portion for 4 people to share as an appetizer. The cheese was still warm when it came out. +1 star. Pico de gallo, plenty of black beans, and a scoop of guac and sour cream. Jalapenos and salsa requested on the side. I thought these were pretty dang good.


What we ordered: Some kind of brown ale, Hairy Weasel Hefeweizen, Some Cider, Oompa Loompa Chocolate Porter...or was it stout? All made there I believe. I have to start writing these things down. . I believe pints are $3.25 for happy hour. I got the Oompa loompa...it was just okay...I thought it was kind of watery.

Our server was nice, but he didn't tell us about the $1 dollar taco specials they had going on that night (Mondays). This special, which also includes $4 margaritas, starts at 6 PM to closing. It was cool though because we went to eat Korean BBQ afterwards. I ate so much I thought I was gonna die. But not before I got Yogurtland! They also have $5 individual pizzas and Happy Hour priced pints on their brews from 6 PM to closing on Tuesday nights.

An even older crowd here, but I think i might come by again to check out their tacos or pizza...so much to explore, but so little time!

Steelhead Microbrewery
4175 Campus Dr
Irvine, CA 92612

And the week begins once again...