There is no way to pack so much excitement into a single beer purchase as with a brewery sampler pack. Featuring four to six different beers, usually spanning the entire spectrum from light to dark, a 12-pack of beer and a handful of friends can quickly become your very own beer-tasting party.
Drew: Find yourself hungry on the weekend? Then stay the hell away from Mac’s Drive Thru, ‘cause it ain’t open. These two critics learned that the hard way, but that’s one of the few flaws of this classic Gainesville eatery.
We hate to burst your fried-chicken-eating bubble, but Spring Break is a little less than three weeks away, and it is taking no prisoners. It will soon be time to show your friends from home that your college’s football team is not only better than theirs is, but your body is also way more bangin’.
Usually, there is nothing more annoying than public broadcasting stations trying to raise money. Instead of Car Talk kicking off your Saturday morning, you have the pledge drive.
The hipster couple: The Top. The kitschy design and eclectic menu shine at this downtown staple with options from pest gnocchi to deep-fried corn nuggets. 352-337-1188
Go ahead and buy the oysters and strawberries at a grocery store, but when it comes to buying the booze, go to a real wine shop. You will find better selection and lower prices. Gracey Castine, of Dorn’s Liquors, had plenty of advice to offer on the subject this Valentine’s Day.
With Spring Break five weeks away, it’s time to hit the gym if you want that perfect bathing-suit body.
Last summer, you never would have heard me telling you to drink local, because you couldn’t. Thankfully, that all started to change in April, when Swamp Head Brewery brewed its first batch of beer. Founder Luke Kemper returned home from his undergraduate work in beer-soaked Boulder, Colo., and saw Gainesville to be lacking. In his own words, “I realized how great it would be to have a local beer in Gainesville.” Last Friday, I had the chance to sit down with Kemper and Swamp Head master brewer Craig Birkmaier to sample the beer and talk shop, and let me assure you, it is great to have a local beer in Gainesville.
Drew: Tagged down behind enemy lines, you might not expect to find a delicious plate of crispy egg noodles. But that’s exactly what you’ll encounter at regionally famous Saigon Legend, located on 1228 W. University Ave. This unassuming Vietnamese eatery doesn’t plaster its rooms with glow-in-the-dark tables and new-age bullshit; instead it brings a nice medley of pork, chicken and Asian vegetables that will delight the senses and set your taste buds ablaze.
Deciding where to eat on your next late-night food run just got harder. You now have more to add to your repertoire of fast-food options.
While you were out having a good time Friday night, we blindly sampled a list of light beer so you wouldn’t have to. Two dozen beers later, we are weary but wiser. What should you drink? What shouldn’t you drink? What helps you stay slim? What if you don’t like beer at all? We have everything you need to know to get started.
Like many micro breweries, Sierra Nevada releases four seasonal beers every year. Its offering for the winter is Celebration Ale, a perfect pairing with the chilly weather.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has planted its newest target on college students. No worries, there won't be activists on Turlington Plaza splashing buckets of red paint on our coats. Instead, the group has made becoming vegan easier than ever by tailoring to students' fast-paced, budget-bearing lifestyles through a new cookbook, "PETA's Vegan College Cookbook: 275 Easy, Cheap, and Delicious Recipes to Keep You Vegan at School." The book meets every college student's needs, so excuses for not becoming vegan are as non-existent as the meat in veggie burgers.
You don't have to dig deep to see that Gainesville's soil is ripe with growth.
I recently had the opportunity to visit FoCo, and one of my main activities during my three-day stay was drinking beer. Chastise me all you want, but I'm no lush. Fort Collins has a population only slightly larger than that of Gainesville, but it hosts an astounding five craft breweries. Each has an impressive selection of both standards and seasonals, but only Fort Collins Brewery distributes to Gainesville (as far as I know). I spent a whole day biking from brewery to brewery; for considerably less expense, you can have a taste without leaving the city limits.
A slight aroma of garlic and lime reaches your nostrils as the oil in the deep fryer begins to bubble and pop. You plunge the grouper fillet into a bowl of egg yolks. Picking it up, it drips like slime for only a few seconds before you dunk it into a mixture of breadcrumbs and cracker meal.
Midtown's newest restaurant by day and bar by night will ensure that no UF student needs travel to Tijuana in search of satisfying Mexican cuisine or top-shelf tequila. The recently opened 101 Cantina, a kind of "Southwestern sibling" to 101 Management Group's 101 Downtown, is situated at a premier University Avenue location right alongside The Swamp and Ben & Jerry's.
Solutions by The State News
