11:30AM, 7/3/2022
https://www.newglorybeer.com/eatery/
Happy Independence Day! On Sunday I headed out to New Glory Eatery & Taproom, located way down Douglas towards the lake in an isolated little commercial development called Quarry Ponds Town Center. I’ve been to this center a few times before, notably for Sparkles Ice Cream (which looks to be closed now). I first became aware of New Glory when my trivia team and I checked out King Trivia at the South Sacramento location, which is strictly a brewery/taproom with no food served. The beer was solid and despite how out-of-the-way it was we went back a few times until they suddenly stopped hosting trivia.
Today I arrived a few minutes before opening and took the time to snap some drone shots, remembering when I flew out over the pond in back that the entire back end of this center has a patio. As I landed and packed up I could hear them open up and someone welcoming a small handful of people waiting out front. With that I headed in. The space is large and bright, with windows letting in lots of light from 3 sides. When you step in you are greeted by a bar to the right, which wraps around the corner into an area with more bar seating. To the left is the main dining room, flanked by the front end of the kitchen that runs all the way to the back where the patio doors are. I was greeted right away and opted to sit in the dining room (on my previous visit I sat at the bar).
I was hooked up with a few menus (food, specials, beer) and a water and quickly greeted by my server. I took some time going over both sides of the tap list, thinking a flight was sounding good. One thing I appreciated about New Glory in my brewery visits was not only that the beers were good, but that they had a nice variety of styles available. Most breweries tend to favor a style or two and that’s 90% of the menu. Here they have lagers, pale ales, IPAs (NE and WC), sours, stouts and porters.
I ended up going with a flight of the following:
- DDH Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em – Northeastern DIPA 8.1% ABV – American Double IPA brewed with double the amount of a special blend of Pacific Northwest Hops and fermented with our expressive ale yeast for a huge blast of pineapple, mango, and sweet mandarin. (5oz, $3)
- This is a solid NE IPA all around.
- Holy Spumoni – Stout – Imperial / Double 13.3% ABV – This creamy, spumoni inspired beer is all about the layers. It was barrel-aged in bourbon barrels for 24 months to give it that extra bit of complexity. Layers of decadent chocolate and vanilla start the flavor journey, followed by nutty pistachio, and then finally, subtle sweet cherry. Saluti! (5oz, $4.50)
- Wow, this is like dessert in a glass. It starts off strong that quickly gives way to sweetness that lingers long after the initial sip.
- Yasss Cream (Extreme) – Imperial Creamsicle Sour 8.5% ABV – To put it quite frankly, we slayed this beer! It’s extreme for a reason. We packed our tanks to the brim with Cara Cara orange purée, milk sugar, and a whole-lotta vanilla. Yasss! This beer’s got that smooth creaminess and that juicy sour citrus punch. What’s not to love? It’s fabulous! (5oz, $3.25)
- A sour that’s only mildly sour, instead leaning hard into that unmistakable creamy orange flavor. Very nice.
- Mystery Chords – West Coast IPA 7% ABV – This beer’s got that classic New Glory flare. It’s like a riff you keep returning to: distinct, melodic, and catchy. Do you enjoy flavors of tropical fruit with a mild dank finish? Yep, this westy’s got all that thanks to Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops! It’s our jam! Coming in at 7% ABV. (5oz, $2.75)
- A nice, mild and crisp IPA with light floral and tropical notes.
On to the food. Last time I was here I tried the Bacon & Brie burger (pictured just above), which was incredible. Today I gravitated towards the small plates and appetizers. When my server came back to see if I was ready to order food, I had a couple questions. 1. What was the current Tots creation (looks like it rotates each month). She pointed me to the little specials menu which listed the Sloppy Tots (sloppy Joe mix, bacon, cheddar cheese, crème fraîche, green onions)[$15]. And 2. Did she recommend the Fried Avocado Tacos (three soft corn tacos, beer battered avocados, citrus slaw, ubahdank-pickled jalapeños, chipotle crema, side of house-made tortilla chips and roasted salsa)[$17] or the Grilled Shrimp Tacos (three soft corn tacos, cajun shrimp, citrus slaw, avocado crema, chipotle crema, side of house-made tortilla chips and roasted salsa)[$17]. She thought for a moment and then suggested the shrimp. I went ahead and ordered both the tots and the shrimp tacos.
The tots arrived in a hot cast iron skillet, piled high with sloppy joe mix and plenty of melty cheese, which I found as far down as the first layer of tots. This was delicious. The tots were perfectly crisp. This was a gigantic portion, best to be shared but I did my best and put away about half of it. The skillet kept this nice and hot all the way to the end, including a break where I focused on the tacos until those were gone.
The tacos each consisted of two large shrimp over top the light slaw and topped with the vivid green avocado crema. The house-made chips with roasted salsa were awesome, thick and super crunchy. If I could easily get chips like this at the supermarket I’d be a much larger person. I got a bit of that cajun spice but the crema really smoothed out that flavor far into the background.
I’ll probably need to come back and try those avocado tacos sometime. They’ve caught my attention on both visits so far. I wonder if they are anything like the amazing avocado tacos from Austin’s Torchy’s. I spent the last part of my visit here picking at the tots and sipping on Holy Spumoni for dessert. I’m a fan, both of the brewery and of this excellent restaurant.
Eating Through Roseville 