Meander north from Magnolia Boulevard on Lankershim, and you’ll run into a weird one — a haunted patch where strangeness is the norm. There’s a coffee shop called Horror Vibes, dominated by cartoons of things out of Hollywood nightmares, where the drinks have names like Reaper’s Mercy, Frankenstein’s Latte, Demons Love Apples, Nightmare on Maple, and Call of Cthulhu. (An impressive, and terrifying, HP Lovecraft reference to a … thing.)
Next to Horror Vibes is a beer house called Shadow Grove Brewing, with a bar within called Where the Creatures Sleep — the logo for which is what appears to be a zombie rabbit surrounded by dead branches. And where the fearfulness at Horror Vibes continues onto the menu, the house beers at Where the Creatures Sleep (3 stars; 5249 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; 818-210-0055; www.shadowgrovebrewing.com) also trudge along with colorful monikers. There’s a Kolsch-style ale called Scarecrow Bones. A Midwest Pale Ale named Lost Mitten. The IPA is The Broken Wand. Another IPA is That Which Hides in the Haze. The hard seltzer is Biting Pixie Devil.
But when it comes to the chow — and very good it is, too! — the Halloween names are put aside, kept far from the pleasures of the ground-in-house mixed brisket and chuck steak burger. Curiously, it’s served on a “vegan brioche bun.” (Pardon the obvious, but if you’re digging into a brisket and chuck steak burger, a double patty with mayo, and if you want added cheddar and provolone, or a sunnyside-up egg, or even double cream brie … why would you care if your bun was vegan? How would you even notice under all that tasty stuff?)
The burger of choice here is the California, which also has avocado spread, lettuce, tomato and grilled white onions. It’s a fine creation that can be further jazzed up with spicy gochujang mayo — mayo mixed with fermented chili paste. Or, if you want to continue the curious notion of mixing vegan with beef, there’s a vegan Calabrian chili mayo, a vegan Dijon mayo, a vegan ranch dressing, a vegan cheddar. And, of course, gluten-free bread.
I like to keep my life simple. And that means ketchup, mustard, mayo, malt vinegar, salt, pepper and Tapatio sauce at no extra charge. It also means the starter of crispy chickpeas, a newly found addiction of garbanzos heavily powdered with cumin, salt and ground sumac berries, roasted till they’re like marble-sized potato chips. They’re better hot than cold. But then, finding some in the fridge the next morning, I ate them cold anyway. I do not refer to them as an addiction lightly. And I do love to gorge in the light of the refrigerator. It’s a guy thing.
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Before you get to the sandwich and the burgers — salads too, though salads with beer are less appealing than fried stuff — the starters are a distraction to chew on as you enjoy going out in your best well-worn Levis. There are ultra crunchy fries, of course. And that crunch carries over to the fried oyster mushrooms (with chili mayo), and the cauliflower fritto (with Calabrian chiles).
The pickled vegetables aren’t deep-fried. But pickled food and beer is a combo born in a heaven where baseball rules. (Football, too!) The blue cheese tahini is a fine sauce for dipping. The avocado toast is an odd man out. But worth gobbling anyway.
The fried oyster mushrooms continue onto one of the sandwiches, given extra crackle with pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber and more Calabrian chili mayo. (They must use their sundry mayos by the barrelful here!) There’s also a sliced roast pork sandwich, a BLTA (with sundried tomato jam!), a pickled brined grilled chicken with pimento cheese. But, like I said, aside from chickpeas and fries with my Czech-style lager, or my Belgian-style Witbier, there ain’t nothing that beats a burger.
Beyond the double-patty California — which is, for a change, not “smashed” or “mashed” or “driven over with a Jeep”! — the American has American cheese. The Classic is classic because it’s doused with Heinz ketchup and French’s yellow mustard. There’s a bacon and cheese burger, a kimchi burger (with a sunny-side up egg and gochujang mayo) … and a vegan burger just because.
And there are big screens everywhere. With lotsa sports on them. And besides sports, there are “nights” — Magic Night, Music Video Night, King Trivia Night, Darts Tournament Nights … and, on Mondays, Hospitably Industry Workers Get Happy Hour All Day. Which means the crispy chickpeas go for $2 rather than $4. Draft beer is $2 off. And those sleepy creatures are wide awake for “Monday Night Football.”
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
Where the Creatures Sleep/Shadow Grove Brewing
- Rating: 3 stars
- Address: 5249 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood (also: 1116 Second St., San Fernando)
- Information: 818-210-0055; www.shadowgrovebrewing.com
- Cuisine: A rollicking, joyous, nearly perfect pub inside a brewery (with guest beers on tap), with seating inside and out, a madcap staff, and an app of crispy chickpeas that I’d be happy to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner … and in-between snacks.
- When: Lunch and dinner, every day
- Details: Beer and more beer. Also beer. No reservations.
- Cost: About $25 per person
- On the menu: 7 Starters ($4-$14), 3 Salads ($6-$8; $15-$16 “for the table”), 5 Sandwiches ($12-$17), 6 Burgers ($13-$17), 18 “Addition/Substitutions” (Free-$5)
- Credit cards: MC, V
- What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.)