Eat & Run: Let Brickyard Hollow choose the pizza toppings for you

I often find large menus with lots of different sections overwhelming. Too many choices give me a headache sometimes.

So the first thing I liked about Brickyard Hollow Brewing Co.’s Portland location was that the menu was neatly divided, mostly between pizzas and protein bowls. The pizzas were divided further, into ones with meats and ones with vegetables.

I also like that there were about a dozen types of pizza on each list. Again, sometimes ordering a pizza where I can choose from all the possible toppings in the universe is too much to handle. Some days I just want people to lay out the options for me.

When I ordered dinner for my family on a recent Monday, I found it to be a snap. My daughter Dinah and I decided to share a large spinach, ricotta, garlic and red sauce pizza ($24.50), while my daughter Sophie quickly chose a small with Maine blueberries, ricotta, roasted shallots and lemon zest ($15.50). My wife, Jess, also made a quick choice from the protein bowl section, opting for one with herbed salmon, quinoa, avocado, “power blend” veggies, pepitas, red wine vinaigrette, tarragon aioli, pea shoots and a soft boiled egg ($15.50).

Besides pizzas and protein bowls, there are salads and appetizers, plus an extensive beer list.

I ordered online and was told – automatically – it would be ready in 20 minutes. So I drove to the place, on Commercial Street in Portland’s Old Port, near India Street, and the order was indeed ready when I got there. This surprised me a little because the place seemed pretty hopping for a Monday night.

The Portland location, which opened last summer, is in an old brick building where Arabica Coffee had been. Brickyard Hollow also has locations in Freeport, Yarmouth and Ogunquit.

A protein bowl with herbed salmon, quinoa, avocado, veggies, pepitas, red wine vinaigrette, tarragon aioli, pea shoots and soft boiled egg from Brickyard Hollow in Portland. Photo by Ray Routhier

There’s a huge garage door-type opening at the Portland location, which was open when I came to pick up my food, giving the place an open-air feel. The very high ceilings help with that as well.

Though parking around there is sometimes tough to find, there were several 15-minute spots, more than enough time for me to get my order.

My daughters and I found both pizzas to be really good. The crust was especially nice, hitting several sweet spots. It wasn’t too thick but neither was it paper thin or soggy, and crisp but not brittle. I thought it was one of the better pizza crusts I’ve had.

The pizza Dinah and I shared had whole roasted cloves of garlic, which we loved, as well as a tangy red sauce and dollops of creamy ricotta. The blueberry pizza surprised me, because I liked it. The shallots made it savory enough, and the blueberries and ricotta went well together. But it still wasn’t something I’d order for dinner. I did have some of the leftovers for breakfast though.

My wife really liked her protein bowl, especially the tangy sauce created by the aioli and the vinaigrette. It also had a generous portion of flaky salmon. I think I would get that on another visit. Some of the other protein bowls that interested me were the crispy pork banh mi bowl, a shrimp and grits bowl, and one with Korean BBQ pork belly.

Some of the other pizzas I found intriguing included: capicola, pineapple and hot honey; smoked pulled pork with gouda, mac and cheese, and jalapeno cornbread; and mashed potato, bacon, shallot and sour cream chive drizzle.