On our first night in Fort Collins earlier this year, we had hoped to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant near our hotel. When we pulled up to the place around 8:30 p.m., we discovered that they closed at 7 p.m. on Sundays. There were a number of restaurants in the immediate area, but most were national chains with full menus or fast casual places that didn't really appeal to us. I remembered driving past a brewpub down the road on our way into Fort Collins to our hotel on the south side of town. We drove down East Harmony Road and pulled into the parking lot of DC Oakes Brewhouse and Eatery. (see map)
Daniel Chesseman Oakes was born in Maine in 1825 and grew up in Iowa before heading west in the late 1850's. Oakes was one of the first people to see opportunity in Colorado, panning for gold around the Pikes Peak area south of Denver - he wrote a book detailing what a person would need to survive for six months in the mountains of Colorado looking for gold. Oakes later built the first sawmill in Denver and his mill provided the lumber for many of the first buildings built in the city. Even though he built a fort to protect new settlers in the region from possible attacks from Native Americans living in the area, Oakes became a government intermediary who helped keep peace between the local tribes and the settlers. Oakes later became a member of the first Denver city council and was named the first postmaster of Douglas County, just south of Denver.
It was because of Oakes' penchant for taking pioneer spirit risks in difficult times which turned out to be successful, it became the name of the brewpub/eatery that five friends who had worked together in the restaurant industry had planned to start in Fort Collins. Steve Boothe and Gerard Boyle recruited friends and former co-workers to round out their team at their planned brewpub. TJ Compton actually got his start as a chef at C.B. and Potts, a brewpub and restaurant in Fort Collins, before he caught the brewing bug. Compton eventually left C.B. and Potts to become the head brewer at Lost Highway Brewery in Denver. With 17 years of brewing experience under his belt, Compton joined Boothe, Boyle, chef Tony Gray, and Henry Fang - the numbers guy of the group - to open D.C. Oakes in May of 2017, the 20th brewery in Fort Collins and the first one on the southeast side of the city.
It wasn't too busy at DC Oakes when we pulled into the parking lot of a new-ish strip mall just off E. Harmony Road. There was a small crowd in the restaurant that featured sort of a mix between modern industrial and rustic architecture. There were some booths in an area of the dining room, but we took a seat at a high-top table opposite the bar.
The bar area featured a couple of flat screen televisions either side of spigots coming out of the backbar wall that appeared to be made out of reclaimed barn boards. The menu of beers on tap were also bordered with what appeared to be old barn boards, as well. It was an open and somewhat loud place, even though it appeared to be only at a quarter of capacity that evening.
The hostess had dropped off a couple menus for us when we sat down and our server Erika came over to take our drink order. Even though DC Oakes has a full bar, we wanted to try one of their IPA's that they had on tap. I thought it was pretty good - sort of a fruity taste on the back side that helped cut into the hoppy flavor of the beer. While my wife got a pint of the IPA, I ended up getting the Copper lager, a smooth and malty tasting beer.
The menu at DC Oakes featured a number of appetizer or shareable platters including chorizo and ale-steamed mussels, a charcuterie board, smoked chicken wings, and skewers of wedged heirloom tomatoes with spicy Italian coppa and fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. They had a number of salads including ones with grilled salmon, steak or chicken teriyaki mixed in. There were a number of burgers and sandwiches, as well as entrees such as a smothered steak burrito, pan-seared salmon in a wheat beer sauce, and a half-rack of slow-roasted pork ribs that were covered in a pomegranate/chipotle sauce. They also had an adult mac & cheese dish that featured four different types of cheese mixed with orecchiette pasta shells. You could add items such as shrimp, steak, chicken, pork belly or lobster for an upcharge. DC Oakes also featured a kids menu and has what appears to be an extensive brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
My wife has been on a buffalo meat kick as of late because of the leanness of the ground meat. She ended up getting the white buffalo burger. It came with whiskey-braised onions and a garlic aioli along with arugula and halved cherry tomatoes. She had a choice of a side with the buffalo burger and she got the house-made slaw. My wife's biggest peeve is when the restaurant cooks the life out of a buffalo burger. But she said the grill chef in the kitchen at DC Oakes cooked it perfectly. She said there was still some juiciness in the meat and it was a delicious buffalo burger.
I had thought about getting the meatloaf sandwich that was made with a mixture of chorizo sausage and ground beef and topped with a chipotle barbecue sauce. But I ended up getting the chili verde burger - a flame-grilled patty topped with their house-made pork chili verde, cheddar cheese and a fried egg, all served open-faced. For my side, I asked Erika if I could get a cup of the green chili instead of a potato choice or cole slaw. She said it would be a slight upcharge, but that was fine with me.
The green chili burger was very good - the pork chili verde was a wonderful compliment to the medium-cooked burger, but didn't overpower the taste of the beef. The cheddar cheese was melted evenly on the patty and the fried egg gave it a another flavor to add to the already delicious mixture of savory and spicy. The cup of green chili was topped with cheddar cheese and it, too, was wonderful.
There was little - if anything - we could quibble about our meal at DC Oakes Brewhouse and Eatery. Their brewery made some good tasting beers, the food selection - and the quality of the food - was a step above most brewpubs we've visited in the past, and the service was fine. If anything, one could say that it was a little loud with the open layout of the floor plan in the place. But it was a Sunday night and by the time we were done we were just two of about a dozen people left in the place, so carrying on a conversation wasn't all that bad. DC Oakes was a nice little brewpub in a city that is famous for their brewpubs and microbreweries.
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