The Witch's Brew

Hi, my name is Big Brother and I went along with Jon, Liz, Tom, and Jen to visit Salem, Massachusetts and check out some of the tourist traps and soak up some of the local flavor. I was not intending on writing a review, but I took some nice photos while having an unplanned lunch with the crew and figured I might as well.

After taking a look at the Friendship of Salem, this beautiful old ship permanently docked next to the hotels in Salem, we started talking about getting a light meal to tide us over until our reservation at Finz which wasn’t for a few hours.  There’s this restaurant called In a Pig’s Eye which sounded like it would be perfect for a Connoisseur’s review, but after taking a look at their specials consisting of a BLT or Sloppy Joe, I realized I would rather have a different kind of food. Liz is not gluten tolerant, so she wouldn’t have had much fun there anyway so that cinched it and we looked across the street to a place called The Witch’s Brew Cafe.

Now keep in mind nearly everything in Salem is playing on the fantasy Halloween theme, including witches and witchcraft, Harry Potter, and Vampire the Masquerade just to give you an idea. There are half a dozen different places to have someone tell you your future or photograph your aura, and plenty of shady locals who don’t mind long, awkward conversations as long as they think you might buy something. It’s almost like the shop owners despise the tourists just as much as they depend on them for business.

The Witch’s Brew has a bar and some television screens, then a partition and some tables in a decent sized dining room. There is a hearth and a couch in the dining room, a brass metal ceiling, hardwood floors and tables, and plenty of windows so it’s easy to watch the amusing outfits and hairstyles of the young and old eccentrics that frequent the area strolling by blissfully at peace in their natural environment.

The waiter was an older man, who didn’t mince too many words or waste any time at all. He took our orders which were mostly salads and chowder. Tom broke the trend and ordered a burger. They only had two beers on tap: Bass and Guinness…. But seriously what else do you need? Liz had Lemonade and Jen had water, Jon and I had Bass and Tom had Guinness.

Liz had a garden salad, I had an antipasto salad, Jon liked the sound of that and also ordered one along with chowder, Jen also had chowder, and Tom had a delicious looking burger, served open faced and loaded. The beer seemed iffy, what I would refer to as “the wet dog smell” crept into the taste, but I’ve had worse beer from a tap.

The antipasto salad was superb, delivered by the waiter with mysterious sage advice. “Take a good look,” was all he said as he set down the two beautiful antipasto salads. There were certainly no complaints from the rest of the table as we left not a scrap of food remaining. The atmosphere at the bar was very animated, very entertaining as the regulars and the bartender yelled loudly at each other in the cruel but loving way that only years of regular acquaintance can foster. In all we had a great time, and the prices were right too.

I’d definitely go here for lunch again and again, but I’d probably avoid the tap next time at the Witch’s Brew.