AL. Ringling Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Baraboo

I happened to be in Baraboo and I was hungry, so I decided to eat lunch at the Al Ringling Brewery.

Once there I couldn't help but notice that the building had a really nice older feel to it. The building was large, made of brick, and had kind of a "grand" feel to it. The inside was nice and seemed very historical as you could just tell that there was history there. Orders were taken up front at the counter, but then you were free to sit where ever you wanted.

Originally I was unsure what to order, as all of the food on the menu sounded good. Fortunately my server was a very nice older lady named Mary Anne and she had a few recommendations for me as to what some of her favorites were. Thanks to her I decided on an order of Asadito Pork Skewers and three different flavored Empanadas.

All of the food was amazing! I did not have a single thing that I did not enjoy. The pork skewers were seasoned with lemon, garlic, and cumin. They were grilled on a skewer with onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers. The skewers also came with a special green dipping sauce known as Chimichurri sauce. Now I am not sure exactly what was in this Chimichurri sauce, but it had a wonderful sweet and tangy flavor that was hard to describe. This sauce accented the skewers perfectly and made for a wonderful flavor pallette. The dish was also served with fried Yuca which taste just like potatoes. There was also a side of Chipaguasu, which is something I have never had before. The Chipaguasu was basically made from corn but had a taste and texture very similar to sweet potatoes. Finally there was a side of their traditional cabbage salad, which was basically a different take on coleslaw. (The coleslaw as I will call it) was very tangy and vinegary. It was a slightly different take from the run of the mill sweet coleslaw that you usually run into in these parts. That being said, I enjoyed it very much.

As for the three empanadas, I ordered a Garlic Shrimp Empanada. An Argentinian Beef empanada, and a Portabella empanada. I enjoyed all three of the empanadas and found myself hard pressed to choose a favorite. Each empanada came with it's own dipping sauce. The Portabella came with a cream of mushroom dipping sauce. The Argentinian Beef had Chimichurri sauce, and finally the Garlic Shrimp had a unique Mango Jalapeno Salsa dipping sauce. The mix of flavors I ran into while eating here was great and just added to the experience.

Finally to finish off my meal, I washed it all down with a delicious Peanut Butter Milk Stout on tap.

When all was said and done, I was completely stuffed and thoroughly satisfied! The price was not bad at all either, running me only around $43 after tax. Especially considering that I essentially ordered the equivalent of two separate meals and a tap beer.

The Al. Ringling Brewery definitely gets my recommendation and I plan on returning here again sometime in the future. I am curious to try some of their other food, and maybe next time I will try one of their...

Stopped in yesterday, Wednesday...to an empty tap room...just what I prefer so I can chat up the beertender.... and boy did I ever! Beertender Ashley absolutely radiated w kindness. I forget what she said it was but the big organ is not a Wurlitzer; the building used to be the local Elks and where the tap room is used to be the Elks ballroom. There was a bowling alley in the basement which the floorboards of it now make up the tap room tables! So the tap room just oozes originality and history! You really have to sit down and slowly spin around the room to take it all in! Like the little wire type globe w the motorcycles circling in it! Also pay attention when you're walking up to the building... you don't want to miss the fun little mustache hand stamps in the concrete! Then once you enter the building the Ringling history begins!!Build a flight...if not for the chance to try several beers at once... the Ringling trademark mustache makes an appearance again...as the flight paddle! I opted for a flight of #2 Elephant Walk - Belgian Tripel, #7 Barabooberry fruit beer made w the seasonal beer, #8 Hot Summer Night black currant sour & #14 Flying Squadron Maple 10% Russian Imperial Stout. All the beers were delicious but the Flying Squadron Maple and Hot Summer Night walked away my winners! As I told beertender Ashley: the sour had what I look for in a sour.. the tart that makes the back of my neck hair stand up, like wasabi. Then... you just can't go wrong w a RIS on a cold day. I noticed the Pie Car sign on the wall above a food window. I didn't see anyone in it and didn't ask Ashley but I had read on yelp that that is where you can order Peruvian food. Thanks Al Ringling Brewing for exceeding my expectations for what I was expecting from a small town, to me, brewery. I loved how you worked so much fun circus history in to the brewery tap room. Ashley and I laughed when I asked: what time do the lions and tigers come out for petting...and the elephants for rides? ...

We arrived at 5:30 because we wanted to watch a poka band. I loved the way it was decorated, very unique. They were probably at half capacity. We ordered a giant pretzel with frosting which they were out of. The pretzel took over an hour to prepare. Next I ordered the breaded chicken, they were out. Then I ordered a pork skewer, they were out. I was also informed the they were out of most of the empanadas. That was about 90% of the menu they were out of. I settled on fish, even though I'm not fond of fish with a baked potato, but guess what, they were out of potatoes. Then I asked for ranch and no one brought it to me. I took 3 hours to be served a pretzel and fish. The band was excellent. My daughter who is 3, was playing with 3 little girls including the owners daughter. The owner's wife was celebrating a birthday that night. They had cake and decided to share cake with 2 little girls my daughter was playing with, literally handed cake to kids sitting with my daughter, but not my daughter. Whoa, this blew my mind. The parents of the other children cut up there cake to share with her, because of the tears in her eyes. After they shared the cake with their staff, there was still some left over so they didn't need to be rude to my kid. We asked about the long wait, he said they were really busy, but they weren't. They only person who can be blamed for this disaster of a place is management. You already walk up to the counter to order your own drinks and food. It is completely self serve. There is one cook who cannot keep up with customer's orders and 4 girls who deliver food to the table's when its finished, not sure why the need 4 people doing that only 2 plates are served...