I was in town for work, staying at an Airbnb in a residential neighborhood right off Lewis avenue, a main drag. In search of dinner and cold beer, I fell into what looked like a brand new brew pub but also looked like it may have been closed for the evening...
Rachel the brewtender was so friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. What I learned was that I arrived 15 minutes after the early crowd disappeared and that, even on a Friday night, the pub closes before 11:00 when the bars get busy.
Renaissance has a great little thing going here -- the owner is a meisterbrewer trained in Germany! I can tell you from tasting four different beers, his craft is top-notch!
I enjoyed a maibock and a light stout (just north of being a porter) which Rachel described as being a mix between an English and an Irish stout, I think. I might be wrong.
To be sure, this is not a bar, as I was explained. They don't offer anything else but beer and of course not alcoholic drinks.
For dinner, I had a brisket panini. I should note, that's all they offer is paninis. Nothing else. In one sense, that's totally cool because it allows them to be great at one thing and not less than average at a lot of things. However, my brisket panini tasted good but was sorely lacking on volume. Perhaps in Oklahoma they just don't give the volume of meat like they do in Texas or Chicago or Kansas City or elsewhere. With that being said, it tasted great and came with enough extras on the side to satisfy.
The dining room and bar area are absolutely clean, welcoming, energetic... Even as I was the only customer there until a second gentleman showed up. It was nice to see Rachel engage with this gentleman who was a regular customer. It was clear that she treated everyone equally, with as much friendliness and helpfulness.
There was definitely enough parking around the neighborhood. read more