On Sunday, I ate lunch at the new Broadway Brewery located on Broadway between Eighth Street and Ninth Street downtown. Most people in Columbia think of Flat Branch when they want to go to a brewery, but this new restaurant is only a couple blocks away. The Brewery opened this year, and it is a good way to beat the crowds. It’s off the beaten path, tucked away in a downstairs location just down the street from the Peace Nook.

The Brewery has a really neat, cozy atmosphere. Paintings by local artists adorn the walls and are available for purchase. The bar reminded me of an Irish pub, but the dining area is more like a contemporary coffee house. While enjoying your meal, you can look out the window at the fountain in the courtyard.

Not only is the restaurant eclectic, but the menu is too. The Brewery uses locally grown fruits and vegetables from three Missouri farms. This allows the Brewery to develop new and exciting dishes, such as the soup of the day. You can definitely tell the ingredients in the dishes are fresh.

The soup on Sunday was acorn butternut squash with garlic. I could have eaten a whole pot of that soup. The buttery consistency of the soup warmed me all the way to my toes. The soup was sweet, too, something you wouldn’t expect. I would highly suggest putting your taste buds in the hands of the chefs and trying the daily soup.

Along with the soup, I had the potato pizza. Now, if you’re like me, you like the traditional cheese pizza, maybe with sausage or Canadian bacon and pineapple. But the Brewery’s take on pizza is something else entirely. The potato pizza was topped with cheese, onions, pesto, chopped pistachios and potatoes. Now, if potato on your pizza doesn’t exactly float your boat, the Brewery offers a number of other interesting toppings, such as trout, hummus or butternut squash.

Because I was writing a review, I felt it was my obligation to try one of the Brewery’s tasty desserts. If you love chocolate (who doesn’t?) the triple layer chocolate cake with Bailey’s cream cheese icing and ice cream is for you. It was amazing! I’ve tasted some desserts better than this cake, but not many.

As you can probably tell from the name, the Broadway Brewery has its own brewery. Now, I’m not 21, so I couldn’t try their homemade brew. But if you are 21, you should definitely try some, because nothing is better than a nice cold one fresh from the brewery.