Proof Brewing Company, 1320 S. Monroe St., Tallahassee, Fla.
Hours: 4-10 p.m. Monday; 4 p.m.-midnight Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.
Menu: http://www.properbrewpub.com/menu/
Suitable for: Beer lovers, vegetarians, vegans, omnivores of all stripes.
For this week’s edition of the Vegetarian Travel Guide, we visit my homeland in Tallahassee, Fla., and pull up a stool at one of the best breweries in the state (if not the country): Proof Brewing Co.
Now, Proof has cultivated a laundry list of awards and accolades over the years, and rightly so. Their beers are at once accessible but creative, innovative and comfortable. From their flagship 850 ale to their La La Land IPA, their wares are now well-known throughout the state. And they keep bringing new brews to the table – the Coffee Coconut Ghost Totem, for instance, was on tap the last time I was in town, and it was a small-batch release that is sure to be gone by the next time I’m there.
For years, Proof took up residence in the trendy artists’ community of Railroad Square, but a year ago, it moved to the old Coca-Coca bottling facility on South Monroe Street, allowing the company to expand both its tasting room and its production facility. Also? It now has a kitchen, called Proper, serving up all sorts of higher-end pub fare for hungry beer drinkers and their allies.
The beers would be reason enough to visit – it is a brewery, after all. But the food is definitely worth a second look! And then, after you look a second time, it’s worth an order. Vegetarians and vegans are definitely catered to in a few major ways – most notably the Gardein chik’n tenders, slathered with wing sauce, and the Beyond burger, complete with vegan pub sauce.
I chose the latter for a lunch (and, OK, a couple of beers if we’re being honest) with my dad the last time I was in town. And, to my great surprise and delight, he chose the Beyond burger too! We decided to split one side order of fries and it turned out to be the perfect amount. And the burger itself was succulent. It was perfectly cooked, leaving a bit of spring along with the chew, and was festooned with lettuce, tomato, pub sauce and all the fixins. It paired beautifully with the battered pub fries, which we mowed down with great gusto!
Next time around, we’ll definitely try the Gardein wings. But for this time, we happily mowed down our burgers, toasted to a wonderful lunch together, and left completely satisfied!
:)