Come Wednesday, there will be a new kid in town—downtown Huntsville that is! Below the Radar Brewhouse opens their doors at 5:00pm on August 29th and promises to be an instant hit. I was fortunate enough to attend the soft opening Saturday night and was thoroughly impressed.

BtR is Huntsville’s first restaurant AND brewery, offering 32 beers on tap, 27 by the bottle and coming later this fall, they will be cranking out their own craft beers for the masses. They also have a full bar and an extensive wine list for the non-beer lovers out there.

Good Eats

The food that we sampled was nothing short of fantastic! If the menu has some familiar looking items on the menu, it may be because BtR has hired one of Huntsville’s finest chefs, Chef Bill Harden, formerly of 801 Franklin. His creativity is shining through and many of the dishes feature a spin on different beers, such as the IPA braised leg of lamb, the ale brined pork chop, and the red ale braised short rib tacos.

Desserts even get in on the fun with a chocolate stout ice cream sandwich. We tried the surprisingly wonderful maple bacon blondies—the perfect mix of sweet and salty! Other tasty treats we noshed on were the addictive grilled cheese sandwiches with fontina and bacon chutney served on house made bread, bacon wrapped peppers stuffed with local goat cheese, the always wonderful Chef Bill crab cakes and orange and chili spiked olives. Everything was consistently delicious.

wings at below the radar huntsville al — Chef Bill’s Sesame-Ginger Chicken Wings

Downtown Feel

Below the Radar is located on the first floor of the historic Huntsville Times Building and has a wall of windows open to the street, letting in plenty of natural light. The atmosphere is up-scale pub style with a decidedly comfortable feel. There were familiar faces behind the bar as well, which further guarantees great service and fabulous drinks!

They will be open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner and offer a special “Chef Bill” brunch each Sunday. BtR is a non-smoking establishment, which means you can bring the kids, too. In addition to the bar area, there is a separate dining area for quieter dinners and yet another room available for private parties. There are numerous televisions positioned on the walls throughout the restaurant for optimal football viewing. It IS that time of year, after all!

This weekend is the perfect time to give Below the Radar a try! Support your local businesses, cheer on you favorite team, have a great meal and a tasty brew! Check out their website for the full menu and all the details here.