Sometimes the easiest meals to make are the most disappointing when you go out to eat. This is especially true when it’s a dish you know how to make (and have made for years) and make well. It was this disappointment I felt when I went to Hale’s Ales Brewery.

The bar staff was friendly enough and once I had gotten seated the bartender was sure to get my drink as well as my order in. I chose the Celebration Meatloaf ($10.95) but what I got was nowhere near worth celebrating. What arrived was a deep mahogany brown, even on the cut ends of each slice. This portended the condition of the meatloaf - dry and crusty. It was almost as if the slices had been cut earlier in the day and had been left out to harden. The only other explanation I have to offer is that they had cut the slices off of the main meatloaf and then proceeded to reheat them in the microwave, thus providing hot slices with hard, crusty edges. Add to this weak mushroom gravy, cold leaden mashed potatoes and undercooked broccoli. I quickly renamed this “Mourning Meatloaf” as surely any life this meal had, was dead.

For a bar Hale’s Ales Brewery had a pleasant environment and I would definitely go back for a drink and happy hour snacks. But for a meat loaf dinner? I’ll find that somewhere else.