Cannon Brew Pub

A few bars and restaurants incubated the creation of the many choices and diversity that are found downtown today. We often seem to forget when moaning about wanting more that not too many years ago there was nothing to do downtown. Then came a few pioneers that are still around today—Hayley’s being the anchor to spur other bars with personality and some without.

The refurbishment of the building now housing Mr. Jim’s Cannon Brewpub was the first significant investment of money and thought that spurred excitement and interest by a wider audience.

Upon first opening, the original occupant was packed. The menu was progressive for the time. The beer was good at first and the concept was intriguing. Broad expanses of glass brought in generous amounts of natural light and framed the emerging rehab of other buildings around. But soon the food and service got sloppy and lazy and the beer quality dropped off significantly. Everything fell apart and the freshly painted anchor gathered rust.

Recently the people behind the Brewpub slowly began to breathe life into the old Brewery building and project. They have cleaned the place up and refreshed the building. They have brought back the original brew master. After glancing inside several times, it appeared to me that I needed to give them some time. After two months, I have ventured in three times in the last two weeks.

Other than fraying carpet, the building still has its charm and scenery. The windows are clean but provide a better view than before due to an almost complete renovation and occupation of other bars, stores and restaurants. Each time I found the service to be adequate with no major mishaps.

The menu is a little too comprehensive. It is everything to all people. This is usually a sign to me that not much creative cooking is going on and that the food is meant to be just something to be eaten. My meals were all adequate as well. They were not knock-your-socks-off, but they were not bad.

I do want them to succeed. They are definitely trying hard, and in my opinion if they whittle the menu down a bit and provide some focus and flair, this will go a long way. Someone described it to me as Ruby Tuesday’s with beer. The building alone commands more respect as does the beer. It is a great place to go after work or on the weekend for lunch outside.

I went for lunch twice and then after work with some co-workers to drink beer. The first lunch my friend and I both ordered the Caesar salad. We both found it to be bland and the dressing seemed to have an abundance of mayonnaise maybe? In addition, we ordered chicken wings and a grilled chicken sandwich that can be prepared several ways. Our server recommended the jerk seasoning. The sandwich also came with varied sides to choose from, mostly the usual suspects. The waitress suggested the one variant—sweet potato chips.

The wings were good. These are broiled and not fried. They were hot enough to still taste the meat and would go great with their beer. The sandwich was also good. The jerk was not spicy, but more toward the cinnamon side. The sweet potato chips were great—crisp and full of subtle flavor. We got out of there for around $25 with tip with is about average for a downtown lunch for two.

Next visit. This was with another person who wanted to split a quick lunch. We choose the spinach artichoke dip and a vegetarian pizza. The dip was creamy and had a nice amount of Parmesan. Like everything else, it was good but not stellar. I suspect it may not have been made in house, but I could be wrong. The pizza was another story. The pizza may be the thing to order at the pub. The crust was crunchy and of medium thickness. Plenty of veggies were spread across the dough—mushrooms, peppers, onions and the like.

Mr. Jim’s serves five different in-house brewed beers. As with the previous establishment, they do have a sampling of each, which gives you enough to obtain an opinion of one to explore further. Generally it was agreed that the beers ALL tasted better than the offerings at the old Port City Brewery.

Each had its own distinct taste and had little unwelcome aftertaste, which was one of our complaints about the former brew. The bartender informed us the carbonation is controlled, which makes for a better tasting and eliminates much of the full, gas feeling you get with excess. There is a beer here for everyone and they each were worthy of an afternoon or evening of drafts. What was most appealing was that these beers tasted similar to their bottled counterparts. We found this to be a compliment. Rather than drone on and on about each one, I will summarize the findings:

Iron Clad Stout - dark in texture, not as heavy as Guinness - a somewhat lighter version and not as overpowering.

Special Ops Pale Ale—deep, golden with a lot of taste, much like Sierra Nevada not as thick, but rich with the typical aftertaste from such a beer.

Red Jacket Ale—an amber ale, medium with flavor that is a step up from the taste of say a Budweiser and but not as rich as described.

Bienville Pale Lager—brewed from pilsner malt and is supposed to be similar to Bud. It is like Bud in heaviness but the taste was not my favorite.

Middle Bay Light - it is hard to mess up a light beer - this is Miller Lite Draft in taste.

My recommendation - support the business - eat some well-made pizza and drink some Mobile-brewed beer.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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