Hinterland Green Bay, WI

Restaurant Review of Hinterland in Green Bay, WI

By Patricia Summerfield
June 23, 2011
Hinterland is a fine dining restaurant and brewery that has been open since 1995 in Green Bay's historic downtown district. The restaurant is on the ground floor and features a full gourmet menu and formal bar/lounge area. Hinterland also has a casual upscale menu with a bar/lounge area upstairs. The brewery produces eleven different beers and is attached to the restaurant; they offer tours on Saturdays by appointment. The building is a very old one from the turn of the century and it still has the original exposed brick walls and cement floors. It is decorated with an eclectic and rustic style. The dining areas are broken into different sections and in the main dining room there is a large wood burning fireplace with a gigantic stuffed moose head above, while a huge stuffed elk head adorns another wall. Each table has a place setting and a very small votive candle placed on the bare wood tables. The lighting is very dim in the restaurant.

My server for the evening was very polite and friendly. He gave me the wine list and menu, which changes daily, and asked if I would like to start out with a cocktail. A glass of ice water and a cocktail were brought out. I did notice that Hinterland does not use any type of paper napkins for the beverages which made for some large puddles by the end of the evening. For the first course I started out with an appetizer of beef potstickers for $10.00, next I chose their Ledgeview garden mustard green salad for $8.00, and for the main entree I chose the Wild Alaskan Halibut for $36.00.

The appetizer contained five potstickers on a separate plate with a dipping sauce on the side. The beef potstickers were delicious. They were moist and nicely browned on the outside. The beef had a good savory flavor which paired well when dipped in the salty sweet sauce. The salad came next; it was served with one warmed whole wheat roll which was placed on a side plate and served with a tiny dish of whipped sweet butter. The salad came attractively arranged with sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced cucumbers and fresh smoked bacon pieces with a light drizzling of buttermilk chive dressing placed on the bottom of the greens. On the sides of the salad were the delicately fried goat cheese balls, which I especially favored. The cheese just melted in your mouth with a silky texture. The Halibut came next and consisted of four small fresh gulf shrimp, Israeli couscous, fresh basil, goat cheese, hazelnut pesto, spinach, and fire roasted tomato coulis. The entree had a beautiful presentation. I was served a large portion of halibut which was nicely browned and had a slightly salty tender moist texture which intertwined divinely with the soft couscous layered on top of the spinach. The creaminess of the pesto hazelnut sauce paired with the mildly tangy tomato coulis gave it a magnificent flavor. Although I would not call Hinterland's service white glove, it was efficient and they do make the dinner a nice long leisurely experience with each course served 25 to 30 minutes apart.
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Bar Review of Hinterland in Green Bay, WI

By END
December 16, 2010
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight walking in a winter Hinterland!

It was definitely a cold night when my friend and I braved it out to Hinterland. We thought, cold night means good beer. And what better place to try than a place that brews its own! We had a good time at Titletown last week so we decided to venture all the way across the street for some new fun. I assembled my dog sled team and faster than you can say Iditarod, we were there.

We thought we would get there early to avoid the late night crowd. And we were right about that. It wasn't empty when we arrived but it sure did fill up by the time we left. Hinterland seems to be quite the spot for after work cocktails and before dinner drinks but it heats up later in the night with party people. Hinterland consists of two levels. The downstairs is mostly for dinner with a more formal setting and the upstairs is still dressy casual but with a relaxed vibe. There bar itself upstairs is small but it holds everything you need: home-brewed beer, wine and liquor. The seats around the bar are limited but there are plenty of tables and a couple of couches for lounging. They keep the lights down low, which I like, and candles on the tables, which I also like. The walls are exposed brick and cement, the ceiling and floors are also cement which makes Hinterland come off as a cross between cozy yet industrial.

Hinterland carries pretty much every type of wine you can think of: Merlots, Syrahs, Pinot Noirs, Cab Sauvs, Red Varietals, Zinfandels, Sparkling Wines, Chardonnays, Dessert Wines, White Varietals, Ports and I'm sure I'm missing something too. Hinterland may be a cool place for wine, but remember that they also are a microbrewery too. Their beers are always changing with the season and if you're not sure what kind to get, try them all! I ordered the Flight of Beers. It's three 10oz of barely pop for $10. I had a porter one, the Pub Draught and the Pale Ale. The porter, which I'm sure is delicious to beer snobs everywhere, tasted like coffee to me. But the Pub was good; it was creamy. It sounds weird to describe beer as creamy, but just try it, you'll see what I mean, and the Pale Ale was good too. If you're not in the mood to try out full bodied beers you can always choose a bottle of Miller Lite, PBR or Pilsner Urquell. Oh, I should mention that they have a Scotch Menu too, and it doesn't only consist of a Glenlivet either, you can tell that by the wine and beer selections they weren't going to forget about the heavier liquors.

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