Brewpub Review: Otto's Pub & Brewery

On Friday night I experienced Otto's Pub & Brewery on North Atherton St. in State College. Otto's is definitely someplace I would recommend for a great tasting beer.

Let's start with the first impression. Parking is a major issue at Otto's, depending on when you go... Friday night, yep, parking is limited. The good news is that you can park across Atherton at Jersey Shore Bank. The bad news is that playing Frogger across Atherton on a Friday night just isn't a good idea. And if you park at Tire Town, next door to Otto's, apparently you run the risk of being towed. A better idea: take the bus.

Otto's has a nice but fairly small outdoor patio, which would be nice in the summer. The atmosphere inside is busy and quite boisterous. If you're looking for a place to have an intimate conversation, this is not it, but it's a fun brewpub atmosphere: bright, loud, and good for groups. There were even several families with children when we first arrived (around 7pm). We didn't have to wait long at all for a table, maybe 10 minutes, which was surprising given how busy the place seemed to be.

Service was good and reasonably attentive, meeting expectations but not exceeding them nor failing them. The important thing when visiting a brewpub is that the servers are knowledgable about the beer, and our server seemed to meet this test. Unfortunately, they had run out of the featured "firkin" beer but we made alternative choices.

I had the Dark Roast Stout, which I rate extremely highly. It had a sublime creamy texture with strong coffee notes complemented by the offsetting mild, chocolatey sweetness that every great stout balances so well. I also tried Georganne's Spruce Creek Lager, which impressed me as a flavorful but widely likeable lager that Georganne said "is like Bud Light, with taste."

The food at Otto's was in line with most brewpubs: strong flavors, fairly simple, made for beer. I ordered "stouties" (thin strips of beer-battered fried onion) for my side dish and was unimpressed with them, but the crab cake sandwich I had was really quite good. One of our friends had Shepherd's Pie and it looked like the best choice out of our group.

Some other interesting things to experience at Otto's are firkin Fridays, a brewery tour, Pub Club, and beer to go. Check out Otto's for great beer in a fun brewpub atmosphere. The Dark Roast Stout alone is worth the trip.