We here at Knotfest have scoured the country to find some of the best metal-themed restaurants, bars, and cafes. Fierce Bites spotlights a monthly menu highlighting some hard-core menu items that will have you drooling over yourself.
Summer maybe winding down but don’t be too sad, Fall is the season of the foodie. Autumn brings us cooler weather (except if you’re in Southern California), longer nights, the turning of the leaves and more importantly Oktoberfests. This month’s menu will have you covered on drinks, dessert and of course a heavy dose of burgers and pizza. September has all new menu items from our favorite restaurants including Grill Em All, Kuma’s Corner, Sizzle Pie and The 4th Horseman. September is also the month of Oktoberfest, so it’s only right we throw a seasonal beer on the menu. And, rounding things out are our friends the Evil Cooks, dishing out a dessert Churro Taco. The fall is our favorite season so we hope you enjoy September’s menu with us. Cheers!
Black Plague Brewing was founded by former pro-skateboarder Jordan Hoffart and Jarred Doss in Oceanside, CA back in June 2017. Hoffart and Doss set out to create a community, relationships, and of course great beer. The brewery began as an abstract idea about bringing people together over delicious beer… but it quickly became more than that. You may recognize Black Plague because of the Tony Hawk collaborations they’ve done over the years, but they have way more to offer. Since opening, they have taken home multiple awards for their beers. The brewery represents the misfits, renegades, underdogs, rebels, rule-breakers, nonconformists, hustlers, D-I-Yers, and all those who strive to be better, stand out from the crowd, and follow their true passion. Their mission is to provide deliciously fresh hand-crafted beer that emboldens a community around collaboration and inspiring creative self-expression – reminding us that death is certain, so we must live life to the fullest.
Since Oktoberfest is beginning, we had to include a fest bier in this month’s menu. This month’s offering is none other than Black Plague’s ‘Prince of Bavaria.’ This 5.5% ABV beer is ‘approachable and balanced with hints of toffee, caramel and lightly toasted biscuit.’ Its brewed with Hallertau Mittlefruh hops and German Pilsner malt. Prince of Bavaria releases this weekend at Black Plague and other various locations throughout Southern California. Hit the link above to getting shipped to your door. Prost!
Grill Em’All was started by Chef Ryan Harkins and former professional wrestler Matt Chernus. They served gourmet burgers out of a food truck back in 2009. Before opening up their heavy metal themed brick and mortar they won the first ‘Great Food Truck Race’ and were featured on the ‘Best Thing I Ever Ate.’ Their popularity led them to lay their food trucks to rest and serve burgers and fries out their restaurant in Alhambra, California.
Another Fierce Bites staple, Grill Em’ All always has an awesome burger of the month to go along with already stacked burger menu. For September, they are blessing us with ‘Keel’ aka Jon Moxley. This burger takes their signature half pound burger patty and tops it with smoked kielbasa, horseradish, beer whole grain mustard, American cheese and onion frizzle.
Founders Matt Jacobson and Mikey McKennedy came together and envisioned an independent pizzeria that would serve up the perfect slice. In 2011, they opened up their first location on East Burnside Street in Portland, Oregon. Since then, they have consistently ranked in the top 10 independent pizzerias in the country. They serve East Coast style slices and pies with a healthy blend of West Coast flair by turning the freshest, highest-quality ingredients into tried and true classics with bold new pizza visions in a variety of meat, veggie, and vegan options.
We usually showcase Sizzle Pie’s awesome Vegan pizza but this month they hit us with something close our hearts. The Bomber is for pepperoni lovers. This pizza is LOADED, and we mean loaded with cup and char pepperoni and grated pecorino
Kuma’s started in 2005 with its flagship location at the corner of Belmont and Francisco avenues in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. From their origins as a corner bar with solid American bistro fare, they’ve grown to five locations that offer the finest burgers available on this planet or any other.
Our Fierce Bites faithful know Kuma’s Corner comes correct with a crazy burger of the month inspired by some of their favorite bands. This month’s offering is inspired by metal giants, Meshuggah. The burger takes Kuma’s 10oz burger and tops it with a potato pancake, veal schnitzel, candied bacon, dill aioli, chives, cayenne cream and served with a side of Lingonberry jam.
The 4th Horseman was started by Ryan Hughes and Martin Svab formerly of the craft brewery Phantom Carriage, Chef Adam Schmalz and Dark Art Emporium owner Jeremy Schott in the heart of Downtown Long Beach, CA back in 2018. The apocalyptic pizzeria is an ode to horror films and all things macabre. The decor includes shrunken heads, vintage monster posters and probably the creepiest thing of all… old TV sets blasting static (thanks Poltergeist). You can’t have a horror themed pizzeria without the appropriately named pizzas. Some of the names include ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ ‘Pastrami Dearest’ and ‘Momento More.’
This month allow us to introduce the Fierce Bites audience to ‘Death to Piggy.’ This beautiful pie is tops their thin crust dough with house tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, house-made Italian sausage, house-made meatball crumble and bacon.
We can’t keep these Fierce Bites favorites off of the menu Pobre Diablo and La Bruja have been in business over a decade but in the past few years they’ve decided to focus on food production on a smaller scale to give more attention to their customers. LA has some of the best taquerias outside of Mexico but their concept is a little different than most. They specialize in street gourmet tacos and are notorious for their Black Al Pastor and Black Octopus.
We have showcased their famous black al pastor and their unconventional fan-favorite black octopus tacos but this month we’re leaning on the Evil Cooks to serve us dessert. The Churro Cheesecake Taco, that’s it, that’s the blurb. Look at the picture, that’s all you need to know.
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