JT Schmids Restaurant & Brewery

JT Schmids Resaurant and Brewery
www.jtscmids.com
2415 Park Avenue
Tustin, CA 92782
(714) 258-0333

Sunday Dinner

I joined some college friends for dinner on Sunday at this new dining establishment in Tustin, located at a new shopping center called The District at Tustin Legacy (http://www.thedistricttl.com/). For those who have been to the location across the street from The Honda Center (formerly the Anaheim Pond), you will be delightlfully surprised when you see the decor at this new establishment. With dim lighting, dark wood, and artistic accent piece and lights dangling from the cieling, this restaurant would is nice for get-togethers, watching the game (especially at the bar), or a first date. As many of you know, I am always looking the the perfect restaurant for the perfect occasion.

Naturally, since this is a brewery, there were a healthy amount of beers available. Being a cider drinker, I was happy to see that a glass of Lindeman’s Framboise was only $6, as it it often costs $8 to $10 at other local restaurants. The menu has a reasonable selection, with quite a few asian-themed dishes. The steaks were all in the $24-$40 range (the $40 was for the 2 lb steak), but the other entrees ranged from $10 for a sandwich to $15 for a larger entree. I had the Slackened Chicken Sandwich ($10.95), which I found quite disappointing as compared to the sandwich by the same name from The Cheese Cake Factory. I was happy that I was able to switch my fries to sweet potato fries (or coleslaw), as that is not a common dish. For my starter I had the Cheese and Ale Soup. The waitress advised me that it was a bit “ale-flavored”, so she let me have a sample. I was delightfully surprised to find that it tasted quite a bit like the fondue that I had on my recent trip to France. It was definitely worth the $5 for a bowl.

As for the atmosphere, considering that Irvine (this location is right on the Irvine/Tustin border) has few if any local bars, I think that this would be a great place to get together with friends for a drink. Sports fans will be please with the flat panel TVs on the wall. The District shopping center is pitched as a new hot spot for the area. Personally, I am disappointed to see another shopping center with a Target, Pei Wei, Costco, and Lowes. I love all of those stores, but how many do we need is such a small radius. I will review The District itself in a future post.

For now, I will say, welcome JT Schmid’s.

Dine on…