I agree, though there are some places with a decent draft/bottle list to compliment your fine dining options. However, Jack's Bistro and Brewer's Art are exceptions to the standard that is found at all the restaurants in the area.

good call. couldn't agree more.

then again i am not usually one to frequent fancy steakhouses....but maybe i would be more likely to if they had good beer.

Yesssss!!!

That's the ultimate dream Sam.

Sure there are plenty of great downtown bars with a wide variety of quality beer to choose from. But restaurants? Completely different story. And like you said, THAT needs to change. The sooner, the better please :)

Um, Outback has plenty of fine brews. Get your facts straight, reporter. This is why the Sun is failing...slipshod nonsense!

Those places are definitely few and far between.

One concept I liked, haven't visited yet but sounds great is like the District Chophouse (I think thats the name) in D.C.

Brews their own beer, mostly standards but they have an experimental tap as well, at a fancy steak joint.

I think it would be wise for places like Pazo etc. to hop on the high end beer train, purchase a beer fridge or two and stock some fancy Belgians, or run nothing but Trappist beers, or just run the gamut from IPAs to Stouts, perhaps have a local theme, or just stock big beers that have similar alcoholic weight to wine (all the imperial beers out nowadays) or even just the boozy after-dinner, wine-like beers like quads and barleywines.

Outback is upscale? Nah I don't think so. It's nice, but not upscale.

baltimore beer guy, I've been to the Chophouse. It's great! Solid beer selection, as well as excellent onion rings. Our server bet my friend a pint that he couldn't drink the beer sampler and eat his dinner and the onion rings. My friend enjoyed his free pint.

Rayray, JTK was joking. You can't take him seriously. Not no way, not no how.

I'll be enjoying a fine Miller Lite with my Bloomin' Onion why you guys figure this out.

Sam, couldn't agree more. My boyfriend's birthday is on Sunday and we wanted to go to a place with great steaks and good craft brews. Shouldn't be this hard to find.

I agree Sam, but it's definitely better than it was 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. Now you can pretty much assume that when you go out to a restaurant they'll have at least one decent (non-swill) beer. That certainly hasn't always been the case, and it used to really tick me off.

Oh, and to all beer-friendly restaurant owners who might be reading this: please stop overdoing it with the Belgians already! One or two on the menu will suffice. There are so many great regionally produced aperitif and desert beers out there, I just don't get the fascination with sticking 10 different Belgians on the beer list and neglecting everything else.

The District Chophouse Bourbon Stout is awesome, and is a perfect desert beer!

"You're at a fancy downtown steakhouse. One of those chain joints."

one of many good reasons not to go to one of those upscale chains. get a better steak, more creative food, and better beer at places like Jack's, Annabel Lee, Miss Irene's, etc.

Zink!

Dave, I don't know about that, man. I've had some pretty good steaks downtown.

Who needs fancy smachy or corporate chain atmosphere? Steak night (Tuesday) at Mahaffey's is all you need. They got a couple of beers on the menu that will go with their NY strip.

Man, the Bourbon Stout at District Chophouse is one of the best beers I've ever tasted. Grab one before a hockey game or concert at the arena down there. Mmmmm!

The Saranac bar at the Albany airport suggested in the menu which Saranac beers went best with your food. I totally loved that. There was something great about knowing that my (delicious) personal cheese and personal pepperoni pizzas deserved different beers.