I have been trying to write this piece for a few weeks now.  The problem is that generally I try to be more positive than negative and my Triple 7 Restaurant and Brewery experience was more of the latter and less of the former.  I have also decided that July may, in fact, be “Month of the Bitch”.  Maybe it’s because it is very hot, maybe I am just cranky, but I think I will set aside my good girl side for this month and tell it like it really is.  Here you go…

I met the head brewer, Kenjiro Tomita, at the Brews & Blues event at the Springs Preserve at the end of May.  He had one of the most interesting locally produced beers there.  It was a Sour IPA – so take everything you love about sours and hop it up to an IPA and there you have it (it was everything that John loves and everything I love in one beer).  After talking with him and telling him what I do, I was invited to come and sample some food & bev for a piece for LVFB (Moment of Truth – I couldn’t write this piece for LVFB because I didn’t have enough nice things to say). He assured me that the upper management and PR knew and approved the visit – neither management staff nor PR came to speak with me.

Ken sat with us, made suggestions on what to try from the menu and told us a great deal about himself, the set-up, the beer and the resto.  I wanted to talk about how the beer has changed and how the chef is incorporating the brews into the menu.  FYI the chef isn’t working with the brewer to do anything special on the menu.  Only the batter for the fish & chips and one of the BBQ sauces feature any beer at all and it’s only mentioned on the fish. What I have to say about Triple 7 is this – don’t bother eating there.  The food isn’t that good.  The beer is clearly the star of the show. The main problem could be that there is too much corporate interference from the hotel/casino to make this a real contender in the Brewery Resto world of Las Vegas.

We had the Korean Short Ribs (inedible – greasy, and less meat than fat and gristle) and the Smothered Potato Chips to start.  DO get the Chips – they were actually pretty good.  In house made chips dressed up like potato skins and the last one was as crispy and crunchy as the first one.  Then we had a burger and the fish & chips.  The burger was “meh” but the fish of the fish & chips was pretty good as well.  It’s not the best I have ever had, but certainly not the worst (I really need to write a piece on just that dish…it’s one of my faves).

Korean Short RIbs

Smothered Potato Chips

Fish & Chips

I would suggest going there for happy hour because the beer is really cheap!  At $2.50 per pint for the house made brews, it’s a steal.  No great bargains on the food, just $1 off the regular menu pricing, but that means you can get those smothered potato chips and save a buck. If you are thinking about getting a growler to go, know this: you have to buy the growler itself in the GIFT SHOP near the registration desk of the hotel and then bring it BACK to the bar to be filled and pay the tap fee there.  A major pain in the ass, and unless you are really motivated, it’s a damper on the sale. The other important thing to know about Triple 7 in my eyes is that they have a “Variable IPA” tap.  I am a hop head of the nth degree.  IPA’s are my favorite style, so this appeals to me.  Their IPA tap changes all the time and you never know what’s going to be on tap.  The lovely Sour IPA is just one of the variants that Ken makes.

If you are downtown, go, eat the potato chips, have a beer and leave.  That’s the best I can tell you.