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Getcho ale on at Broadway Brewery!

The new restaurant is on Broadway between Eighth and Ninth streets.

Published Nov. 13, 2009

Using locally-grown products and handcrafted beer, Broadway Brewery owners Walker Claridge, Paul Dickerson and brothers Kenny and Jim Duzan have brought some fresh flavor to downtown Columbia.

Its imaginative idea for a pub serving regional selections came from Claridge, a co-owner of the Root Cellar grocery store, which also sells only locally-grown products. Dickerson said Claridge had been talking about starting up the restaurant for about two years and as of last September, the brewery finally opened.

The brewery is strategically located between Eighth and Ninth streets on Broadway under the American Shoe Company where Uprise Bakery used to be. Although the brewery faces some stiff competition with local favorite Flat Branch Pub and Brewing just down the road, Broadway Brewery has quite a few differences from other local restaurants.

"The food here is much different from the typical brew fry," Dickerson said. "Nothing here is deep-fried and the majority of the ingredients used in the kitchen are regionally grown."

In addition, Broadway Brewery is growing the majority of its seasonal produce at three of its proprietary farms. The Terra Bella and Root Cellar farms, located in Hatton and Millersburg, contribute organic fruits and vegetables, eggs, lamb, specialty heirloom tomatoes and a variety of organic mixed field greens.

The owners have taken these fresh ingredients and put its own spin on the usual burger and pizza spread of a pub menu with foods, such as the butternut bacon pizza, a pizza with pureed butternut squash, crumbled bacon, caramelized onions and cheddar cheese.

The brewery also has a respectable selection of beer brewed by Dickerson, the brew master, using a technique they call "infusion mash." Dickerson personally assembled and outfitted the brew system and has received praise for his American Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, Wheat, Porter and Stout.

The interior of the place complements the menu selection with its warm, modern decor, including local artwork scattered throughout the walls and a huge, glass enclosed brew room right behind the bar so customers can see all the brewing equipment.

Because of how new Broadway Brewery is, there are still a few improvements to be made by the owners regarding service and other kinks.

"We are still chasing down all the little fires a new business has to chase down," Dickerson said. "There are just so many little things that we hadn't thought about."

Still, Dickerson said as far traffic goes, the restaurant is holding up just fine.

"We still need to work on drawing a bigger lunch crowd, but the weekends have been pretty busy," Dickerson said.

As for its target demographic, the brewery attracts anyone from the college crowd to families with a plethora of foods, liquors and even a flat screen television hanging on the wall.

The one con is the food is not exactly cheap. A 12-inch pepperoni pizza costs $10.75.

Only a couple of months old, Broadway Brewery seems to have found its niche with locally-grown menu selection and could be just what downtown Columbia was missing.