At $60, the Monster Mash is by far the most expensive meal offered by the restaurant, located at 4150 Sycamore Dairy Road, adjacent to the Courtyard Marriott. The restaurant bills itself as “the place in Fayetteville for steaks and chops,” and most dinner house features and entrees are well below the $25 mark. The lunch menu also offers appetizers, sandwiches, soups and salads, and entrees, most for under $10.
The restaurant caters to a varied clientele, from the younger crowd at the sports bar to family and business diners and connoisseurs of microbrewed beer. Its location next to a business-class motel ensures a steady stream of military and business-related visitors, who can easily reach the restaurant via a few short steps across the parking lot. The spacious tables and booths arranged throughout the dining area easily lend themselves to the discussion of venture capital or the latest sports scores or movie offerings. A 98.5 health department rating also helps one enjoy meals served by the wait staff.
The restaurant and microbrewery first opened in 1997 as Cross Creek Brewery. However, the business couldn’t survive and closed in June 2001. Dean Ogen and Kevin Summers took over operations and opened The Mash House in late summer of 2001. The pair are partners in the Raleigh-based Rocky Top Hospitality company, which currently operates at least a half dozen fine dining establishments in the Raleigh area to include Michael Dean’s, Bogart’s, Hi5, Twisted Fork and the Red Room restaurants.
The Fayetteville restaurant and microbrewery employs about 60 people, including Executive Chef Mike Bickel and award-winning Brewmaster Zach Hart.
In July, The Mash House rolled out a new menu that includes a pistachio encrusted wild Alaskan salmon topped with grilled shrimp and papaya tarragon salsa. The entrée quickly became a favorite among customers. Other most requested entrees include: Devils on Horseback, which are batter-fried gulf oysters served atop a 16-ounce New York strip steak; the artichoke and spinach dip with roasted tomato flatbread; and the chef-recommended wood-oven roasted crab dip served with parmesan herb flatbread. For the less adventurous, there’s always the meatloaf with twice-baked potato, veggies and red wine gravy.
While the food and reputation for good service attracts a crowd, The Mash House also offers nine microbrews on tap for the beer enthusiast. Two of the beers are seasonal and are offered on a rotational basis throughout the year. A third is called a “high gravity” beer. Referred to as Hoppi IPA, the brew is aptly named “Hopacracy,” and because it has a higher alcohol content, customers are limited to only two beers.
