50 East Washington Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
(707) 765-9694
Parking: in shopping center
http://www.dempseys.com/
Last Visited: August 2, 2006
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
Dempsey’s isn’t much to look at from the outside. In fact, if you’re still in the parking lot, you might think it’s a store, not a restaurant. The entrance is on the side facing the Petaluma River. There is outside patio dining available. Inside, it’s fairly dark. It is a brewery after all. The bar has a television, and inside there is ample seating.
It’s been a while between the actual visit and the review, so the details of the dishes are going to be a bit vague, but the overall impression is still here.
- Cheese Burger – It was a good burger, but a bit pricey considering what you get. You’re paying restaurant hamburger prices for sure, and the portions are average.
- Pizza of the Day – I was a bit disappointed by this pizza. The size and presentation were nice, but the flavor wasn’t unique. This pizza was topped with sausage that had a special sauce, but it wasn’t to our tastes. The crust was thin, so that was nicely done, but as a whole, the pizza wasn’t all that good.
- Root beer – This is their special brew of root beer. It was nice and smooth. Not unlike other brewery root beers. Good, but not exciting.
- Beer – The overall review on the beer is that it wasn’t outstanding, but maybe we just didn’t care for the ones that we chose.
During my 2006 visit (as opposed to my last visit three years ago), Dempsey’s seems to have changed its menu to have a more seasonal flare.
- Flat Bread Sandwich - Today’s flat bread sandwich contained smoked salmon, chive spread, red onions, and tomatoes. It’s served with a side green salad of spring mix. The sandwich is basically homemade pita bread – thin and crispy and well seasoned. In fact, it was a bit salty for my taste – the bread would have been good alone, but the encrusted cheese on it coupled with the spread and the smoked salmon just piles on the salt so that by the third bite, you’re looking for something to cleanse your palate which is where the salad comes in. If you like your sandwiches on the salty side, you’ll love this. The combination of ingredients was nice, but one of the halves of my sandwich contained salmon that was tough and had some sort of thing about it that prevented the meat from being pulled apart. The green salad was fresh and seemed to be a good accompaniment. $9.95
- Pork Chop – The dish was described as a Dempsey’s classic. It’s marinated with hoisin and served with mashed potatoes and sautéed seasonal vegetables. Although I didn’t eat the sides, I tried a bite of the pork chop when it was served and found it to be fairly juicy. I’m not sure if it maintained the same juiciness as the meal went forward. It didn’t taste marinated with hoisin sauce to me, but it did have a light sweetness about it. $14.95
- Side of Homemade Fries – The fries are cut and deep fried until golden. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, they had good flavor and there was certainly an ample quantity. My only suggestion is to get a larger potato cutter. These pieces were about the size of my pinky finger or shorter. Great flavor, but longer fries would be better. $4
My overall impression wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad either. I thought brewery food here was better than others I have tried. The problem was that there was too much hype. I had heard all these wonderful and outstanding things about Dempsey’s that maybe I had set my expectations too high. So you’ll have to decide for yourself. Nothing screams at me to try it again, but I’m not avoiding it either.
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