When an establishment’s name is Ploughshare Brewing Company, it is logical to assume that beer will be involved in some manner. However, at Ploughshare, certain benefits go along with the beer.
Those benefits translate to a respectable place where people can have conversations, enjoy comfortable seating, experience a mixture of cultures and lifestyles … and get something tasty to consume, all in addition to quality microbrews.
Manager/owner Matt Stinchfield explains that Ploughshare – which after opening in July 2014 was named best new restaurant in 2014 by the Lincoln Journal Star – is first and foremost a tap room, with some eatables. “In the traditional Belgium/German beer and food style,†he says.
Ploughshare’s warm and relaxing atmosphere features dark wood planks along the walls, with the conviviality mirrored in its booths and tables. Seating is also available at the bar or window seats looking onto P Street.
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“We wanted to honor the British/Belgium/German beer house tradition,†Stinchfield says. “Service and ordering at the bar, social bonding and sharing … the way things used to be done.â€
While menu items – like beer choices – are ordered at the bar, customer food choices are delivered to them.
“Our beer and food are compatible with each other. The food offerings are seasonal and made from scratch, sourced from local producers, and appropriate to our beers and our homey atmosphere,†he continues.
The Ploughshare menu is small – approximately 12-15 items – and it changes frequently. Stinchfield says that every couple of weeks, one of the hot sandwich choices is changed.
The current menu includes a soup of the day (seasonal and vegetarian 60 percent of the time) at $4.79, and Ploughshare’s soft pretzels – made from scratch with Ploughshare beer as an ingredient – at $2.97.
Pretzel choices include original salted, cheddar topped or the bonfire (spicy, smoky, daring), with dips available in mustard aioli, spicy brown mustard or Szechuan peppercorn ranch.
The pretzels are the customer favorites, according to Stinchfield, who says that they are understandable choices – “they are inexpensive and substantial.â€
Made locally with Ploughshare’s Tailgate Red beer, there are three brat choices – Bavarian (sauerkraut/spicy brown mustard, $9.83), Philly Cheese (bell peppers/onion/jalapenos/melted provolone, $9.83) and The Works (sauerkraut, Philly mix, provolone/spicy brown mustard, $11.20).
The brats are a whopping 5 ounces and made from locally sourced pork. Stinchfield says that the original recipe came from a friend in Munich, Germany. He adds that a German customer who comes into Ploughshare says that the Bavarian brat is better than anything he had in Germany.
The current available sandwiches are the Bueno Vista (a Cubano), the vegetarian Room with a Brew (beer-braised Portobello/gouda/caramelized onion/pepper relish) and the Sloppy Jose (chicken fajitas/spicy pepper mix/salsa verde/jack cheese) each for $11.65. The Big Squeezy costs $11.20 and includes cotto salami, pepperoni, smoked ham, provolone, olive tapenade and spicy giardiniera relish.
A standard is Ploughshare’s platters – Hunter (cured meats/asiago cheese/ginger mango chutney, $9.37 single/$16.91 shareable), Gatherer 4X4 (four cheeses with accoutrement, $16.91/with flight of four brews, $20.57) and Wanderer (smoked salmon/cheddar/olive/pickles/herbed olive oil-balsamic mix, $12.34 single/$22.85 shareable).
With a demographic that runs from 24 to 65 and includes college faculty, graduate students, tech professionals and people who live in the downtown district, Stinchfield credits his staff’s respectful treatment of its customers as a reason for Ploughshare’s success.
“We offer traditional, scratch-made, tasty food options, a venue that is filled with conversation and friendly people, whether staff or customer. Breaking bread together resonates with everyone,†he says.