Obed & Isaac's Microbrewery — Restaurant in Springfield

Review Date: July 1st, 2015

Microbrewery, majorflavor.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Springfield without visiting something that is inspired or paying an homage to the history of the Capital. You can’t throw a rock in Springfield without hitting something that is referencing Abraham Lincoln or this history of the state.

Obed and Isaac’s is a reference not to Abraham directly but to those he was around. I will avoid the history lesson as I don’t fully know who Obed and Isaac were but you can click here if you want a light history lesson of Obed and Isaac’s and what the building was and how it relates to Lincoln.

Truth be told, I am not sure how the three of us stumbled upon this place for lunch. I know we headed down to explore Springfield for the afternoon and needed somewhere to eat. Luckily, the weather was in our favor and we stumbled upon Obed and Isaac’s. They offered outdoor seating that we happily okay with. As we were talking to the person who ended up seating us outside, they offered us a glimpse of the microbrewing process. Due to insurance liabilities, we weren’t able to go in the building they were brewing but we got a quick 2 minute tour and history lesson while looking in from the outside. After that, we were lead to our table and given the menus to look at.

It is not often that I will order a beer while out traveling since I am driving, but since my girlfriend was with us, she offered to drive if Matt and I wanted to grab some beers. I took her up on that offer and looked at both menus as I formulated what I wanted to order. I settled on a Dirty Blonde Ale for my drink and a Pub Burger for my main meal with a side of mashed potatoes instead of french fries. I’ve never had mashed potatoes with a burger up until this point in my life and now I can mark that off my ‘odd sides to have with a burger’ list. My girlfriend got the same Pub Burger while Matt went with a flatbread pizza.

Once our food came out, I could see why they charged a bit over $10 for a burger. This thing looked gourment and top of the line. I had serious doubts that my girlfriend nor myself would be able to open our mouths enough to get proper bites. This thing was ginormous. It was tall enough to qualify for some of the rides at amusement parks! Not only did it look delicious but it smelled even better. But, none of that matters. We aren’t eating looks or getting full on smells. It was time to unhinge our jaws and get to eating.

Each bite was pure heaven. I’ve had a lot of burgers in my life and this one easily tops my Top 5 list. It just didn’t look good. It just didn’t taste good. It was phenomenal. Love was there at first bite. I really think the inclusion of the pretzel bun is what made this burger perfect. It mixed well with the bacon and BBQ sauce. The beer came out before the burger and it was instrumental in helping me wash down this behemoth of a burger. It’s a good thing I was savoring it instead of chugging. I’m not partial to ales in particular but something about this Dirty Blonde screamed at me from the menu and I was glad it did. It was super tasty. Not a beer I could’ve bought a 6-pack of but one that accompanied a meal perfectly.

I did steal a few of my girlfriends french fries and those were instantly food envy-inducing. They had the perfect level of crisp and seasoning to them. Not to be outdone, my mashed potatoes were equally delicious. Matt seemed to be equally enjoying his flatbread pizza. Overall, this was the best meal we could’ve asked for and by-far the best meal I’ve ever had in Springfield.

Since this visit, they did open a Peoria location. That one is closer to home for me but due to work schedules and some live changes, I haven’t had the time to check it out. Which may be a good thing as I’ve heard mixed things about it. But, that won’t deter me from trying it out at least once.

I need another Pub Burger in my...

An absolutely miserable experience. Long wait early in the evening on a Wednesday. Unusual, I would think, but not a problem since they told us up front and stayed in contact. The problems came after that. To make a very long and sad story short we had three major issues: (1) Our appetizers arrived and the sauce (which we originally thought was a mayo sauce) had lumps. My concern was that I have a life-threatening cheese allergy, so needed to make sure it did not contain a cheese I was allergic to. The person serving our appetizers (not our server, but someone helping her) said he was new and didn't know. He would check and get back to us. AN HOUR later he had never done that. Making the appetizer useless to me. (2) We proceeded to wait over an hour for our food, after it was ordered. After a half hour or so our server said it would be the next order out. Nope. At least 4 or 5 tables completely "turned" while we waited. (3) Our server, who was obviously upset over our continued inability to receive a simple burger and sandwich, asked the on-duty manager to step in. The manager was completely useless and did nothing but offer a few platitudes and excuses, such as a new kitchen manager, a large party, etc. None of this explained why many customers came in, ordered, ate their dinners, and left, while we continued to wait for our one sandwich and burger. Frankly, my immediate family has a combined 50+ years in the food industry, from fine dining to quick-serve. We are the first to understand the challenges inherent in providing good food and good service. There was simply no excuse. The fact that my appetizer was inedible, and I ran the risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction, didn't even make the manager slow down with an apology in the midst of his excuses. Was this all? Not by a long shot. Those were the highlights. And the final straw? We were presented with a bill for the entire meal, including the appetizer ... and a 3% credit card surcharge. Incredible - incredibly awful. (2 stars you say? I have to say that after a combined 2 hours of waiting, endless excuses, and horrible management, the food was decent,...

Absolutely fantastic experience altogether. The restaurant itself is in an absolutely gorgeous renovated historical home and located in the heart of downtown Springfield right around the corner from Lincoln's home & national park. We had lunch and ate on the patio, completely slammed with customers inside & out, but that didn't affect our service, food, or experience one bit. They immediately gave us water from an interesting little glass Obed & Isaac's water bottle for the table and we just sat & perused the menu a bit, people watching & enjoying the sunshine while we decided what to eat & what else we wanted to see in Springfield while we were visiting. We started with the pretzels and beer cheese which was phenomenal and a perfect starter for our meal. I normally go for the thing that makes a local place special for my first visit which would've been the horseshoe sandwich here (open faced sandwich with meat & special sauce) but it seemed a lot like the hot brown back in Louisville, and I saw a ridiculous looking burger being brought to another customer's table, so I went with the beer & whiskey burger & Allen went with the stinger. I don't typically eat a lot of ground beef, but this was a delicious freaken burger. If you're a burger person, this place would not disappoint. If you're not a burger person, this place would still not disappoint. We also tried a flight of the small craft beers they had on tap. I'm not a beer person either so I'm sure this would've been a total gem if anyone was surreptitiously recording my face while trying these beers, lol but I was there for the experience, so I did it anyway (I know I know. It's an acquired taste...well I haven't acquired it yet, ok!!) Allen liked the Long 9 IPA the best and the orange creme seltzer was the most tolerable for me. But I still had to wash it down with my lemonade. I was only disappointed they didn't have a sweet tea offering, but this is the Midwest, not the south and sometimes I just have to adjust my expectations ;) overall great experience. We'd definitely go back again & recommend for friends visiting...