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While we’ll never turn down a good pint (or two), we also relish our brews in fried form. No, entombing our dinner in thick batter is not the healthiest of decisions, but it’s sometimes hard to resist that siren call for the crispiest of food groups—especially when the recipe calls for a splash of ale. From crunchy pickles to classic fish and chips, here are 10 beer-battered foods we’d gladly devour alongside our lager.
Pickles
Right where Philadelphia’s Port Richmond neighborhood bleeds into Fishtown is where you’ll discover Memphis Taproom. Grab a seat at one of the picnic tables in the brick-walled garden of this craft-beer hangout and sidle up to the truck parked there for one of the adventurous hot dog creations. But first things first: an order of the kosher dill pickle spears, enshrouded in beer batter and eager to be plunked into the accompanying horseradish-buttermilk dip.
Onion Rings
Hefty, ground-in-house burgers are the main draw at Los Angeles-based mini chain Stout Burgers & Beers. Washing one down with a microbrew is another must at this upscale pub, but there’s no better companion than a mess of the malty, bronzed, beer-spiked onion rings.
Fries
At retro Mama’s Café, a gluttonous comfort-food-meets-Tex-Mex staple in San Antonio, the only greens you’ll be eating are beer-battered slices of zucchini. Dip them into marinara while waiting for the meatloaf and fajitas to make their way to the table.
Fish and Chips
In Boston’s hip restaurant-cluttered South End, J.J. Foley’s Café stands out for its friendly neighborhood vibe and spot-on fish n’ chips. Grab a seat at the ambient old bar in this circa-1909 family-owned pub and savor your beer-battered haddock and house-cut fries with coleslaw and tartar sauce.
Green Beans
Sticking around for brick-pressed chicken or trout schnitzel at one of the three outposts of casual New York restaurant The Smith is a good thing. So is sating the slightest of hunger cravings at the bar by dunking beer-battered string beans—yes, it still qualifies as a vegetable—into ranch dressing.
Tacos
What started out as a food truck has now morphed into an airy-industrial Costa Mesa restaurant. Seabirds Kitchen is vegan, but you’d never know it with satisfying grub like the beer-battered avocado taco packed with cabbage, red onion and lime.
Chicken Tenders
Throughout the country’s Fox and Hound Bar & Grill locations, watching UFC is a popular pastime, as is ordering the Drunken Chicken Tenders—complete with a mound of fries and BBQ sauce, honey mustard or ranch.
Bacon
Pigs and brews unite in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood at Paddy Long’s Beer and Bacon Pub. In addition to those $4-beer of the month specials to look forward to, there are strips of cracked pepper and Applewood-smoked bacon smothered in a blanket of beer batter.
Fish Fry
On Sunday afternoons, Williamsburg, Brooklyn hangout Extra Fancy hosts a weekly fish fry. Yankee-style beer-battered Pollock is the main attraction, but the fries and seasonal sides like garlicky green beans and mac and cheese aren’t too shabby either.
Cheese Curds
Wisconsin’s famous Gibbsville cheese curds are a highlight at Horse & Plow, at the American Club Resort in Kohler, Wisconsin. Here, the local specialty is amplified with a beer batter coating and a wallop of country buttermilk ranch dressing.
