The Grist

At The Grist, the smash burger comes back as a pizza. The Mac Smash Burger — two house-ground chuck-and-brisket patties — is the kitchen's clearest first order, and the MAC-Smash-Za turns the same idea into a pie of cheddar, mozzarella, dill pickles, that house-ground chuck blend, shaved lettuce, and a drizzle of burger sauce. The joke doubles as the thesis: this is a craft kitchen and brewery in St. Davids that brews what it pours and treats the beer as half the meal. It runs out of a restored fruit-packing shed on Four Mile Creek Road, takes walk-ins only, and keeps a menu wide enough that a mixed table rarely has to negotiate.

The pizza list is where the kitchen stretches out. Honey That's Spicy Pizza runs sopressata against honey, basil, and chili flakes; Black Tie Bacon piles candied bacon over fior di latte and a thread of maple; Creamy Salmon Bliss treats smoked salmon, capers, and dill like a brunch plate that wandered onto a crust. Around the pizzas sit the things a brewery kitchen is supposed to do well — a Bavarian pretzel with house-made beer cheese, a creamy lobster dip, parmesan chips under hot honey and prosciutto — and a few it isn't asked to, like a mascarpone ravioli in vodka rosé sauce with crispy prosciutto and fresh figs, or a spaghetti rosso crowded with mussels, clams, squid, and shrimp. Sandwiches arrive on toasted schiacciata — a Cubano, a chimichurri steak sammy under smoked gouda — and there are fish tacos and a Thai-sauced crispy-chicken wrap for tables that drift away from the oven entirely. The beer is brewed on site and built into the order: a flight, or a glass of the Where to Begin Italian Pilsner, the 1836 Red Cream Ale, or Burning Down The House IPA. Even dessert keeps the thread, since the Barley Affogato floats vanilla ice cream in a featured dark beer.