out and about: slaters 50/50 vampire time

We recently hit up one of our fav spots in liberty station for a dinner, drinks, and a padres/dodger situation.

You can’t go wrong with slaters 50/50 for any of those things… and right now, they are playing into all things spooky season by offering their signature vampire dip on everything. And I do mean everything.

And if you haven’t had the ooey gooey yumminess that is all things artichoke, cheese and garlic (the reason for it’s apt. name) then you are missing out. And I am sorry.

fall lets go! ipa

tickle your pickle martini: classic dirty martini with cutwater gin, pickle juice, and dry vermouth

Fall is quickly becoming one of our new favorite brewers in town. Both the let’s go and the goo goo muck murky are high on the list. So this was a definite bonus finding it on tap.

And y’all know my obsession with a dirty martini… and pickles. So trying this variation was right up my alley. And I enjoyed it ever so much more than I thought I would. But would give it a definite go again, and even go so far to make one at home.

vampire veggie flatbread: famous vampire dip piled with artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, mushrooms and red onions

I mean… hello vampire dip. We had to kinda go for this one. And we were both so glad we did.

The flat bread itself was perfect. Not to thick, but not overly crispy either and perfectly cooked through. No gummy dough here.

The vampire dip was excellent as the base - in fact, I would suggest ordering extra for dipping purposes. Because seriously? This, is the dip. Of course I’m also obsessed with all things cheese, artichoke and garlic, so there is also that.

crispy brussels: tossed with mustard vinaigrette, bacon, shaved parmesan, and fried sage - add chicken

Pro tip: add the chicken.

Also… who would have thought to add fried sage? But it completely works. And, also chicken? But yes.

Always a huge fan of brussels and just loved this original take.

And speaking of, lets take a moment to talk about the brussels themselves. They weren’t mushy, they weren’t over cooked, they were just the perfect amount of crispy. Exactly what you want in a brussel.

empress: the traditional gimlet with blackberry sweetness, basil, and empress gin

So, let’s get this out of the way. They were out of blackberry the day we went. Which I didn’t know until they brought me the drink and let me know they had subbed out strawberry instead. And you’re girl is all about the blackberry drinks. So that was a bit of a bummer.

However, all that being said, the strawberry version was lovely. I really like the basil addition. So y’all know I’m gonna work this one into a drink somehow…

cheese burger bowl: black canyon angus beef topped with caramelized onions, fried pickled onions, cheddar cheese and bacon jam over mixed greens with roasted red peppers, charred corn, scallions, fried crispy onions with garlic aioli served on the side

So I loved every single bite of this burger bowl. This was such a great combo. And you’re girl is a huge fan of the lettuce wrapped burger. But this was somehow… even better?

Everything about this, from the bacon jam, to the different types of onions, to the full burger (no ground beef like so many other burger salads have), just worked.

And I loved how they incorporated corn - which is our favorite burger side, always.

burger of the month: western bacon cheese burger with mushrooms, swiss and shallots

All of the slaters bold burgers come with fries and bacon jam. You could also sub out the fries for a salad, tots, onion rings, or sweet potato fries.

While our normal go-to is onion rings, but in this case we decided to keep the fries as is, because, hello? Vampire dip.

We got that dip slathered all over our fries… and man… think clam chowder fries, without the clams, and all the artichokes and garlic a girl could want.

This is the move.

sparkling wine

Perfect way to round out the night. I mean, other than the padres loss that is.