KOTBR #74: Tacos and Chelada at Adobo Grill

How do $1.00 tacos and $2.50 pints of beer sound to you? Yeah, me too -- they've sounded pretty good, oh, basically every Monday since I discovered the convergence of Adobo Grill's (110 E. Washington St., 317-882-9990, non-smoking) $1.00 happy hour taco special (M-F 4-6pm) and their Monday $2.50 draft special. It only made sense to drag along my fellow Knights for a trek to Adobo Grill on a recent Monday afternoon.


The classy, brightly-colored bar at Adobo Grill.
Attentive and classy bartender--check.
Guacamole and tortilla chips--check.
A crisp, refreshing pilsner--check.
A weird lime juice/tomato juice/hot sauce/beer cocktail--check.

This was the recipe for our roundtable at Adobo Grill. The bartender, whose name I did not catch, was attentive to our every need. The guacamole, which is made fresh and by-the-batch for each customer who orders it, was fantastic. It was the perfect blend of avocado, onion, lime juice, cilantro, tomato, and all the other goodies that go into a second-to-none guacamole. The pilsner was Upland's Preservation Pilsner, which this lager aficionado quite liked, and which paired quite well with the guacamole. Preservation Pilsner had the classic golden lager hue, biscuity nose, and sweet and grassy finish. It carried a nice hop bite as well, which lent it a good heft that kept it from coming across as watery. All in all, an impressive pilsner, and one that I wouldn't hesitate to stock my fridge with for hot summer days. 3.80 Mugs.

The weird beer cocktail was a Michelada, which I chose to cap off my visit. Because the KOTBR groove on beer/tomato juice cocktails, Jason and I decided to try Adobo Grill's contribution to the beer cocktail world. Jason chose Sol for his beer mixer; I chose Pacifico. The result for me was a bizarre, fizzy drink that was kind of like tonic water hopped up on hot sauce and lime juice. Not my bag, but I'd encourage adventurous souls to give it a try. Maybe you'll like it better than I.


Michelada Pacifico
I love sitting at a bar. Sitting at a bar is a communal exercise. You are rarely alone at a bar, even if you arrived by yourself. You always have the bartender to talk to. And even if you choose not to talk to the other bar patrons, you always have great people watching fodder. Sitting at a bar is a great experience.

When sitting at a bar at a nice restaurant, the experience is even greater. You get all the ambiance but often at a cheaper price. $2.50 pints on Mondays. $1.00 tacos from 4pm to 6pm weekdays. That makes for a cheap meal!

I will recommend splurging on the guacamole (but not the Michelada…more on that later).

There are several taps at Adobo. Three of them had craft beer: Bell’s Two Hearted, Bell’s Oberon, and Upland’s Preservation Pilsner. We opted to review the pilsner.

It is a clear, golden beer with a foamy, white head. The lacing really sticks to the side of the glass. The mouthfeel is crisp and it has a subtle lemon flavor to it. The beer is refreshing; it really pops. This is a beer that would help macro drinkers cross over, yet it is so well crafted that most craft beer drinkers should really enjoy this. And it matches well with the battered fish tacos. I happily give this beer 3.70 mugs. It is a simple beer done really well.

Now the Michelada, that’s another story.

Sol plus sangrita (tomato, grapefruit, orange, and lime juices) plus seasonings (worchestire, ancho peppers, purple onions, and other stuff).

It is beyond the Chelada that Brugge’s Ted Miller frequently makes. The tomato doesn’t take the lead with this; the citrus juices, peppers, and onions pop out. It’s like a drinkable fruity salsa. Refreshing up front, but burns in the back. This isn’t bad, but a big 16 ounce glass is too much. Buy one and share it with four friends. That would be about right.

The evening's featured beer, Upland's Preservation Pilsner, nicely complemented the food at Adobo's Happy Hour. The beer's lightly citrus aroma led to a bready flavor and finished crisp and dry. This is a fine beer worth revisiting again, preferably outside when it's hot...maybe with some barbecue. 3.75 Mugs

The michelada? Um, it came in a cool glass.

Upland Preservation Pilsner

Count me among those who generally aren't too keen on beers made with lager yeast. I'll admit that's a broad stroke, but I find the wide range of flavors produced by ale yeasts much more interesting. Given my prejudice, Upland Preservation Pilsner had a hill to climb. I have to say, though, this is one mighty fine pilsner. Crystal clear, bready and crisp with a dose of grassy hops, this is a beer that can really quench your thirst -- perfect for spicy cuisine such as Mexican. Nothing fancy, just a great lawnmower beer. 3.60 Mugs.

Upland Preservation Pilsner
Jim 3.8 mugs Jason 3.7 mugs Gina 3.75 mugs Chris 3.6 mugs
KOTBR Score - 3.71 Mugs

KOTBR #39 - You say Cheleda, I say Chelada.

If you spend enough time in liquor stores, you're bound to come across plenty of misguided attempts at capturing a market. Budweiser is notorious for taking a trend and selling their own version of it. Are you a Red Bull/Vodka drinker? Try Bud Extra (formerly B to the E). Do you like to combine tomato juice and light beer? (Who the hell does this?) Try Bud Light Chelada!

While it's easy for any beer geek to write off these products, sometimes you've just got try it yourself. Beer review sites can get things wrong. And when you're dealing with A/B products, reviews tend to be downright deceitful. (I've had the Mule Kick and it's really quite tasty.)

With that in mind, as part of our anti-superbowl party yesterday (we watched Fulham beat Aston Villa), we sampled the full-flavored Budweiser version of Chelada.

Gina -

The color of this was like nothing I've ever seen. It could have come out of the can as bright green ooze and it would have been less disturbing. The beer taste that came through on the back end made the tomato juice taste rotten. The last thing I said before I poured the rest in the sink was "This ain't right". Beer and tomato juice go together like the Bill Belichick and sportsmanship. 0 mugs

Mike -

I wish I had a better explanation for why we did this. It goes like this: We had leftover sampling cups for Big Car. We had some cans of Chelada. We each tried to finish a shot. Some of us didn't get that far. A fizzy pink body, nose of celery, a peppery taste that's sort of like if you stuck a bouillon cube in your mouth. But that makes it sound almost appealing. It isn't. At least it was sort of interesting. 0.15 mugs.

Matt -

I may have to rethink my grocery store shopping strategy after this one. I love trying new products; omelet-in-a-box, novelty breakfast cereals, meals that cook themselves when you add water, etc. In short, I love a gimmick. This product jumped out at me while perusing a local chain grocery store, and I fell for it. I figured, "Hey, it's a Budweiser product. The worst case scenario is that it doesn't taste like anything." I was wrong. It tasted like a hangover. It was a sour tomato soupy mess that made me want to reseal the can and bury it at the center of the earth to put it beyond the reach of likewise curious folks. This abomination receives a John Blutarsky rating from me. Zero point zero. If you're a glutton for punishment, or your curiosity must be satisfied at all cost, I still have two cans taking up space in my fridge.

Jason -

Chili.
Tacos.
Burritos.
Tequila.
Enchiladas.
Jalapenos.
Nachos.
Chile Rellenos.
Margaritas.
Tortillas.
Salsa.
Fajitas.

Just a short list of the thousands of wonderful Mexican and Latino contributions to our American culinary culture. In fact, they had been batting pretty well so far.

Then comes Beer and Clamato. Swing and a miss.

I can't imagine someone purposely mixing this drink. It had to have been created by accident. And it's not just tomato juice you are putting in there; Clamato is tomato juice AND dried clam broth.

I give it 0.25 mugs, simply because beer and tomato juice are two components of my chili recipe and if for some strange reason a store is out of regular beer and tomato juice, but has Chelada, it would probably work in a pinch.

Now let us never speak of this again.