The Hillside Spot

While my parents are in town, we decided to take advantage of essentially having a live-in babysitter and enjoy some time alone for a change.  So I met The Husband after work for a quick and dirty mountain bike ride at South Mountain.  We rode until we ran out of daylight (or for me, out of gas) and then treated ourselves to a belated Valentine's Day celebration.  Neither of us are Valentine's Day people but in this case, it was a good excuse for a belated dinner out without our children.

Cheers to Arizona local brews.  The more the merrier.

Also, I didn't realize until later but this also coincided with the first time we met a whopping 7 years ago for a mutual friend's birthday celebration at the Owl's Nest (which, the last time I checked a year or so ago, was now some sort of cheezy bar decorated entirely by Ikea complete with tons of mirrors on the walls and paper globe light fixtures) in Tempe.  After telling the piano player at the Big Bang it was my birthday and forcing ME to stand up on stage and be completely embarrassed while they serenaded me, escorting me to the men's restroom (the toilets in the women's room were literally overflowing - and I mean OVER flowing onto the floor like a disgusting bathroom waterfall feature complete with soggy globs of toilet paper all over the floor) like a complete gentleman and then helping me retrieve my purse from a thief, I thought you were a super stud that night ... although at the time, I never thought I'd end up marrying you.  That said, I couldn't be happier that I did.  And it's good to know that in a pinch, you'll escort me to the restroom and help me get my purse back from a thief (if needed - I tend to think I've learned my lesson and will not leave my purse unattended on the floor in the corner of a bar so that I can go sing and dance like a fool on the dance floor with the super stud I just met only a few hours earlier).

We visited The Hillside Spot Cafe and Market in Ahwatukee just a few minutes from the trailhead where we rode for a quick and relaxing bite to eat and a beer.  This place has a super cute atmosphere and a small, but very solid menu.  After we sat down at the bar I was pleasantly surprised to find such a large variety of local beers on tap (Four Peaks, Phoenix Ale Brewery, Oak Creek, Lumberyard and even Nimbus).  The food was delicious, the wait staff friendly and chatty, and the crowd was local.  Our only complaint?  The constant Dave Matthews on the stereo in the background.  Hopefully Dave will be absent on our next visit.

Anyway, let's get to what matters: I ordered the a beer from the Oak Creek Brewery in Sedona, Arizona based only on me seeing the tap handle.  I expected to get a glass full of their Nut Brown Ale, which is by far, one of their best and most common beers.  However, I was instead greeted with the Oak Creek Hefeweizen (5.4% ABV).  The color was a bit more dark and orange/copper toned than most Hefe's which are typically very blonde (at least the mainstream ones).  Oak Creek makes a solid beer - this was refreshing and good (i.e. the banana flavor was not overpowering, which I tend to hate).  Light and crisp but not watery and bland. I would absolutely order it again.