Prime 16

New Haven, CT
Menu | Taps [rotating]
www.prime16.com

As Kyle, myself, and our dear companions stood inside the New England Brewing Company in Woodbridge, debating aloud our options for lunch, we heard a voice:
“Go to Prime 16.”

No, it was not God, whose Holiness was surely busy answering a slew of Easter Weekend prayers. It was just some dude.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Why would you listen to just some dude?” Well, it’s because he showed up at the brewery to fill three empty growlers with Imperial IPA. And you know that age-old adage: Always take lunch recommendations from the random guy at the brewery filling 3 growlers with Imperial IPA.

So, with that, we headed to downtown New Haven for the beer & burger frenzy that is Prime 16. With 20 rare and continuously rotating beers on tap and 16 burgers on the menu (the reason it’s called Prime 16, perhaps?), the combinations of awesomeness are endless (well, not endless, but this isn’t a blog about math, so I ain’t doin’ it.)

Not only that, but we had just stumbled into the Saturday 2-4 Happy Hour, which featured 50% off draft beer and wings. Hominahominahomina.

If you don't like what's on tap, wait a couple minutes for a keg to kick. Better yet, kill yourself.

Faster than you can say “why the hell isn’t this place in Stamford,” I ordered a Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon Belgian IPA, and a warmup round of crispy, tangy wings (half buffalo, half Jack Daniels’ Bourbon). The wings were great, but the burger was a monster.

The only thing cooler than triangular plates are tasty wings. Also, beer.

After grabbing another brew, Brooklyn’s Main Engine Start, it was time for the Cowboy Burger – at least a half-pound of juicy beef, topped with smoked Canadian bacon, a fried egg, cheddar cheese, lettuce and salsa. In a word - awesome. The beef was delicious and perfectly cooked, the bacon was salty and crunchy, that delicious egg goo dripping all over the place…I had a burgasm. Let’s just leave it at that.

You just had a burgasm, too.

As if that wasn’t enough, I upgraded my regular fries to fries with truffle oil and Parmesan cheese, because, why the hell not. I’m telling you, these are hall-of-fame level fries. Garlicky, cheesy, salty…you must go for the upgrade. Just do it.

All in all, this place helped to turn a terrible rainy Saturday in mid-April into an epic journey. Great food, great beer. It sounds simple, but it’s so rare to find both in the same place. Prime 16 has it.

And if the growler guy from New England Brewing Company is reading this, we salute you. You’re in the nonexistent Food Plus Beer Hall of Fame, right next to the fries I just anointed.

Buurrrp,

-Ryan