We are now open for lunch Wednesday – Sunday!

Starting tomorrow we begin our new lunch hours:
Wednesday-Sunday we open starting at NOON
Monday & Tuesday we open at 4:00

Check out our quick hop Sack Lunch Specials we will be offering during the week Wednesday – Friday.  Great food on the fly!

Pressed Tukey Cuban: Kettle cooked turkey breast, melted Swiss, pickles, whole grain Dijon mustard
Griddled Meatloaf Reuben: Niman Ranch meatloaf, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, Emmentaler cheese
Tofu Wrap: Fried local tofu, arugula, tomato, onion and chickpea sour cream
Avocado Roll Up: Whole sliced avocado, tomato, crispy onion strings, romaine lettuce, chipotle and jalapeño – cilantro aioli
Includes house made potato chips
Only $9.99

Mother Day Brunch Specials at Iron Springs

Our mother’s day brunch is sure to please the whole family.  Beginning at noon on Sunday, May 13th.

Pastries, Fruit, and Cheese
Lemon poppy seed scone, cheese blintz, apple, strawberries, orange pinwheels, Marin French breakfast cheese, Farmstead Toma, wild flower honey

Corn Beef Hash Benedict
Crispy corn beef potato croquettes, poached Skillman Ranch eggs, Creole mustard hollandaise, arugula salad

Petite Quiche Lorraine
Pork shoulder bacon, gruyere cheese, sliced tomato, baby spinach, sabayon

Seared Hawaiian Tuna Salade Nicoise
Haricot vert, new potatoes, grape tomatoes, coddled egg, Nicoise olives, Spanish boquerones

Bucatini Pasta Putanesca
Kalamata olives, anchovies, San Marzano tomato, roasted garlic, capers, Calabrian chilies, Pecorino Romano

PLUS
We will be offering a special Mother’s Day Grapefruit Mimosa  to go with the lineup of 15 great beers we have on tap.

Make your reservations today at (415) 485-1005.

See you at the pub!

–The Iron Springs Team

 Iron Springs is very proud to announce a partnership with Marin Produce of San Rafael to donate additional funds to local nonprofits through its Give Back Tuesday program    Currently, each Tuesday, Iron Springs donates 10% of the day’s sales to a local nonprofit.  Starting in February of 2012,  Marin Produce will contribute an additional 5% of daily sales, for a total of 15%.

In May of 2008, Iron Springs Pub implemented its successful “Give Back Tuesdays” program. During the past four years, over $60,000 has been donated to a variety of local causes, many of them environmental & educational in nature. In addition to the financial contribution, local groups are highlighted during their Tuesday at the pub, giving patrons an opportunity to learn about great local Bay Area groups.  By adding Marin Produce as a partner, Iron Springs hopes to have given away over $100,000 by the end of 2013.

“We feel so fortunate that we have been able to give back to the community that we love in this way, and help spread the word about so many great non-profits,” said Anne Dubinsky Altman, co-owner of Iron Springs.  “We are a public house, and this program has been a great way for us to give back.  We are thrilled to work with Marin Produce and be able to donate even more.”

Since the program was implemented, it has benefitted a variety of local groups, including:

“The Iron Springs Give Back Tuesday events provide an opportunity for MCBC to connect with our members, while raising money for important programs that encourage people to get out of cars and onto bikes. It’s a natural fit, given that so many bicyclists visit the pub on a regular basis. It’s easy for them to stop by and spend money knowing it supports two things they love, bikes and beers! With the generous support of Iron Springs we’ve raised over $2,000 for bicycle advocacy in Marin.  Thank you Iron Springs!” – Tom Boss, membership director for Marin County Bicycle Coalition

“I’ve been a cyclist in the Ross Valley for the past 15 years, and the director of the local high school mountain bike team for the last nine.  One of the most important developments in the cycling community in that time has been the arrival of Iron Springs Pub and Brewery.  Iron Spring’s “Give Back Tuesdays” program has provided Drake Mt Biking with much needed funds through a wonderful community gathering.  Our Give Back Tuesday event is one of our favorite among a year-long calendar of events.” –  Dan Freeman, Drake Mt. Bike coach

“Give Back Tuesdays at Iron Springs provides Bread & Roses with a great opportunity to educate our neighbors about our mission and to lift their spirits through live music. The icing on the cake (or head on the beer) is the generous donation that follows.  Thank you Michael and Anne for shining your light in our community!”  Cassandra Flipper- Executive Director, Bread & Roses

Iron Springs is a family-friendly, locally owned and operated pub and brewery located in Fairfax, California. With delicious food and 16 award-winning handcrafted beers on tap, everything on the table – from the hot sauce to the ales – is lovingly hand crafted on the premises. 

Restaurateur Mike Altman and brewer Christian Kazakoff of Iron Springs Pub & Brewery craft beer to pair with food and the seasons.

By Christina Mueller Welter: April 6, 2011

During a visit to Oakland with his wife, Anne, in the summer of 2004 for a short-term consulting opportunity, Mike Altman learned the Ross Valley Brewing Company was for sale. With 20 years of restaurant management and brewery experience already under his belt, many of those years with the McMenamins portfolio of brew pubs in Oregon and Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery in Boulder, Altman visited the 765 Center Blvd. location for the first time.

He walked away that day thinking, “there’s an opportunity here.”

A few months later, the now-owner of Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in Fairfax, made the then-owners an offer and in September 2004, it was his. “I threw the dice,” said Altman, “but I knew what I was getting into.”

Altman closed the doors for three weeks to do an interior remodel and opened Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in October 2004. The short turn-around enabled him to keep most of the staff. “My staff is terrific,” said Altman. “They are as important here as the food and the beer.”

Altman, an award-winning brewer with two medals from the World Beer Cup and seven medals from the Great American Beer Festival between 1998 and 2000, managed the restaurant and the brewery for the first four years. He worked with Head Chef Luis Carrillo to tweak and fine-tune the menu to meet customer requests, added a children’s menu and source more locally-grown products.

A successful community giving program, Give Back Tuesdays, is another Altman creation. Every Tuesday of the year, a percentage of the day’s sales goes to support local nonprofit organizations. “The [Ross Valley] YES! Foundation gets three months of Tuesdays every year,” [sic] said Altman, “and in the last three years, we’ve raised over $45,000 with the support of our customers.” That’s some powerful beer!

Altman, who lives “within pedaling distance” of the brewery, continued to build awareness of the Iron Springs brand but changed his pace a bit after his two boys, Aaron and Joey, were born. Head Brewer Christian Kazakoff joined the Iron Springs staff in July 2008.

Kazakoff, who grew up in Pacifica, originally wanted to be a chef. While attending the culinary arts program at CCSF, he worked in the kitchen at Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse in Berkeley and spent hours of his own time in the brewery there. “Brewing, like baking, has an exactness to it,” said Kazakoff. He took to it immediately and changed the course of his culinary career.

Altman began a wholesale arm of Iron Springs in 2007 and expanded into bottles in 2009. He and Kazakoff continue to expand the wholesale and retail sales channels for the brand. A few Iron Springs-labeled beers, such as Epiphany Ale, Casey Jones IPA, Sless’ Oatmeal Stout and Kent Lake Kölsch, are found on draft or in bottles in Marin, San Francisco and the East Bay. “We do all the distribution ourselves,” said Kazakoff.

Seasonal beers are a typical method for the brewmasters to hone their craft and have some fun with flavors and food pairings. Begun in December 2009, the Holiday Winter Four-Pack needed a full 365 days to ferment, condition and develop the flavors and aromatics to Kazakoff’s exacting requirements for great-tasting beer.

Like wines made by a single winemaker, each of these beers is subjected to a unique but similar brewing process. In this past year’s Winter’s Four-Pack, look for the ’09 “Menace” Barley Wine, fermented in stainless steel barrels; the ’09 Winter Scotch, aged in an oak brandy barrel; the ’10 Winter Scotch with flavors similar to an Export Ale and the ’09 “Malice” Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine, aged in oak.

“There’s a natural correlation between food and beer,” said Altman, who lists food pairings on the menu for every beer on draft. Kazakoff concurs; “I could live on Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk and our Double IPA. Try one of our Barley Wines (the Menace or the Malice) with a stinky blue cheese.”

Coming up this year, Altman and Kazakoff plan to release a cherry stout and a fresh hop beer made with hops from (no kidding) Hopland, California later this year.

For the original article, click here.

One of the world’s biggest events in beer — aside, perhaps, from Munich’s Oktoberfest — is the annual Great American Beer Festival, held each year in Denver. And several area breweries are getting pumped for this year’s proceedings, which takes place Sept. 29 – Oct. 1.

Phil Meeker, assistant brewer at Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax, will make his third visit on behalf of the Center Boulevard brewpub and his eighth overall… <more>

From Chef to Brewmaster

Michael Altman grew up on Eastern Long Island and stayed in New York to attend culinary school. He traveled the world working as a chef. When he had finally burnt out from being in the kitchen… [read more]

Iron Springs Pub brews up a winner

Published: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 2:09 PM PSTLeslie Harlib

When a brew pub is functioning at peak capacity, it’s a lot more than a restaurant — it becomes a community center, thanks to good home-brewed beers, large portions of hearty, inexpensive food, personal attention from the owners and an atmosphere that encourages people to adopt the place as a home away from home.

I found all these elements at Iron Springs Pub and Brewery. It celebrated its fifth anniversary in October and has become one of Fairfax’s most popular hangouts for all kinds of people: families, mountain bikers, musicians, you name it.

It’s easy to see why. First of all, if you like beer, and you favor sampling different types of craft-brewed beers, Iron Springs’ brewing department under head brewer Christian Kazakoff, produces the best “paddle” sampler ($7.50) in Marin. You get your choice of six of the brew pub’s 13 beers, served in an effervescent chorus line of cute, skinny 3-ounce steins with handles. I chose ales that swung from the palest, wheatiest brews to the darkest and most earthy of stouts, and all the colors in between. It made for a fun mouth party, getting hits of wheat, caramel, coffee, chocolate, honey and more, depending on what I was sipping. Beers are also available by the pint or half-pint. (Sure there’s a wine list, but hey, this is a brew pub. For my taste, why bother?)

Iron Springs is also trying to be ecologically conscious. It became a Certified Green Business in 2007. The pub operates a vegetable oil-powered “Ambrewlance” for delivery service, and provides biodegradable to-go containers.

Owner Mike Altman’s a clever guy. In addition to eco-consciousness, he’s health conscious as well. His brewmaster creates natural sodas such as orange and root beer for the hordes of kids who, with their families, appear to be regulars here.

The place itself has several personalities in the one large dining area. A standing-room-only crowd packed the bar, separated from the main space by a low divider so people can watch other people, regardless of where they sit or stand. In the main dining area, I favor a section tucked way at the back for its relative quietness. It’s also fun to sit on the banquettes facing into the room and watch the brew pub’s ongoing hustle and bustle.

As you’d imagine, the menu favors simple, strong-flavored dishes that would complement the beers and allow those malty, sudsy brews to sluice through garlicky, tangy sauces.

A starter special of tuna fritters was an unusual, excellent beer snack — three balls of fluffy batter bolstered by chunks of salty tuna and snippets of green onion. Under their crunchy crust, they had the soft friendliness of pancakes turned entree by the fish and vegetables. They came with cole slaw and a creamy, mildly spicy dip.

I also loved the Iron Springs barbecued wings ($5.44 for a half-order). They were at once pungent, crunchy, sticky and savory-sweet, similar to buffalo wings but without the heat. Call ’em chicken candy. (You can also get a spicy version.)

Enjoy fried food? Try the onion strings ($4.50), a huge platter of thin onion slices coated in the lightest of flours and deep-fried until they tangle into coppery curlicues, sort of like Nicole Kidman’s long locks revamped as an appetizer.

In addition to a large menu of regulars, daily specials might include a memorable half-chicken ($14.99), which exploded with juiciness and potent flavor under a thin tomato garlic sauce that also complemented the fluffy mashed potatoes that came with it.

Do try the vegetable side dish ($4.50), good value for a huge plate of mixed sautéed baby carrots, zucchini, broccoli and bok choy.

Pok Chuc ($13.99) is another hearty plate of food, this one emphasizing marinated, grilled Yucatan-style pork steak (enough for two) with sides of rich black beans cooked with onions, and rice with a smack of smoke to its taste.

Other menu items include a hearty bowl of French onion soup ($5.50); roasted chicken quesadilla ($8.50), assorted Niman Ranch fare, mushroom-and-onion or turkey burgers (all around $10) and a grilled-sausage plate of bratwurst and banger, marinated in house-brewed Epiphany ale and served with red-cabbage sauerkraut, potato salad and whole-grain mustard — a true Oktoberfest-style combo.

Desserts are made in-house, such as seasonal apple crisp. We enjoyed the richness of a succulently dense chocolate cake, a giant bittersweet truffle topped with a knob of vanilla ice cream. Four could finish a meal on this one sweet.

Iron Springs features a happy hour from 4 to 6 every day and all day Monday, with discounts on beer and food.

It’s such an appealing place — even if you’re not a beer drinker you should go for the atmosphere. Pubs, more than any kind of restaurant, seem to echo the pulse of a town. At Iron Springs, you can feel Fairfax’s heart and get a darned good meal as well. That’s a win-win combo in my book.

Iron Springs is at 765 Center Blvd., Fairfax, 485-1005, ironspringspub.com. Free street or lot parking nearby.

Original post: http://www.marinscope.com/articles/2010/01/10/all/arts_and_entertainment/doc4b4509935a96d903596747.txt

San Franciso, Calif., August 18, 2008 –Thimmakka, an award winning non-profit organization that has helped over hundred Bay Area restaurants become green, conducted the first ever contest to determine the most environmentally friendly restaurants in the Bay Area. The nomination period for the “Who’s the Greenest of Them All” contest was from April 22 to May 31, and winners were determined in early August. “San Francisco Bay Area is a hub of the green restaurant industry in the United States – it was the perfect place to have the first annual green restaurant contest.” says Executive Director for Thimmakka, Ritu Primlani, who started Thimmakka in 1998 and its Thimmakka Certified Green program in 2002.

There were over 40 entries from all over the Bay Area for this first contest, including Napa and Sonoma counties. The restaurants represented the diversity of the foodservice industry – bakery, pizzeria, ice cream store, pub, and several ethnic cuisines.

The judging was done by a blue-ribbon panel of distinguished people in the field of conservation and hospitality: Gil Friend of Natural Logic, Rachel Balsley of StopWaste.org, Andy Katz, an environmental planner and a Director of East Bay Municipal Utility District, Pamela Evans of the Green Business Program, Alison Negrin Executive Chef of John Muir Hospitals, and Lauren Mills of Food Service Technology Center. The judging event was graciously hosted by Numi Tea at their Oakland headquarters.

The judging was based on metrics such as energy (KWh) used per month per square foot of space, gallons of water used per customer per day, percentage of waste recycled, green design elements, use of eco-friendly cleaners, organic ingredients, customer education, and importantly, a third-party attestation or certification that the restaurant had implemented the claimed green measures. Even with all the hard data collected, it was not easy to determine the top ten green restaurants in the Bay Area. “It was interesting to note that a lot of the restaurants were implementing all best practices in various segments” said Andy Katz. A shortlist of the top green restaurants was drawn up and some restaurants were asked for additional information. The final “Top 10 Greenest of Them All” had one thing in common – “they all had something uniquely exceptional that their restaurant did” noted one of the judges, Rachel Balsley.

Two restaurants tied for top place: Vineyards Inn (Kenwood, unincorporated Sonoma) and Mixt Greens (San Francisco). The rest in the top ten were not ranked: Razan’s Organic Kitchen (Berkeley), The Bread Workshop (Berkeley), Crimson Restaurant (Los Gatos), Iron Springs Brewery (Fairfax), The Butler and the Chef (San Francisco), Nabolom Bakery (Berkeley), Ajanta (Berkeley), and Tin’s Tea House and Lounge (Walnut Creek).

“We hope that this contest spurs people to seek out these green restaurants,” says Suparna Vashisht, Managing Director of Thimmakka, “because by the simple act of dining at a green restaurant, you are supporting their commitment to your health and the environment. We also hope that the 40-plus restaurants that participated in the contest inspire other restaurants to become green and the next ‘Greenest of Them All’ contest has even more contestants!”

About Thimmakka

Thimmakka is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to environmental outreach that has won numerous awards for its work. In the last six years, the organization’s core initiative, Thimmakka Certified Green program (TCG), has helped over 120 restaurant owners ‘green’ their establishment by implementing at least 60 measures in the areas of water and energy conservation, pollution prevention and waste reduction. By working with Thimmakka, local businesses learn how to implement easy, cost-efficient practices that reduce their environmental impact, save money and expand their businesses by generating community and government goodwill. For more information on Thimmakka, go to www.thimmakka.org or email admin@thimmakka.org.

Contact Information:

Thimmakka
Suparna Vashisht
Voice Mail: 510 655 5566
Direct: 408 439 8090
suparna@thimmakka.org

About the Top-Ten “Greenest of Them All” (notable Green measures)

Vineyards Inn (Kenwood, unincorporated Sonoma) http://www.vineyardsinn.com/
- Won rebates from PGE for reducing gas usage two years in a row
- Green building elements
- Bottled water is not served
- All vegetables, fruit and meat is certified organic
- Grow most of their vegetables certified organic & certified biodynamic
- Commute to work on electric bikes when possible
- 27 yrs ago had a 5 yard dumpster & recycling bins; now a 35 gallon residential bin

Mixt Greens (San Francisco) http://www.mixtgreens.com/
- “Our vision was to build our restaurants green, from the ground up. We even mixed 50% fly-ash into our concrete, and insurance companies refused to insure our floor.”
- Green building elements
- Local and organic produce
- 100% compostable and biodegradable containers etc., reusable dinnerware
- Renewable energy credits
- Biodegradable cleaners
- Customer education

Razan’s Organic Kitchen (Berkeley)
- “We stand by our greatest commitment to the earth and our customers: to provide all organic ingredients at conventional prices to our customers, regardless of the cost to us. I cannot do otherwise.”
- More than 90% meats and produce are organic
- Industry leader in San Francisco Bay Area

Bread Workshop (Berkeley) “http://www.bread-workshop.com/
- “To me, environmentalism goes beyond my restaurant covers to the global impact of agriculture. It is critical to us that we present food that is not only the finest for our customers, but that makes a least impact on our earth.”
- Above average customer education
- Very careful (sustainable) sourcing of food ingredients

Crimson Restaurant (Los Gatos) http://www.crimsonrestaurant.com/
- Los Gatos does not offer composting so she BIKES her compost home; she has purchased backyard composters to produce organically fertilized vegetables for her restaurant – a full circle!
- Customer education
- Bottled water is not served
- Sources local and organic produce
- Spokesperson for environment

Iron Springs Brewery (Fairfax) http://www.ironspringspub.com/
- Solid Waste Diversion over 95%
- Recycle and reuse water from brewery
- Converted old ambulance into Biodiesel to use oil from their restaurant; used for deliveries and events

The Butler and The Chef Bistro (San Francisco) http://www.thebutlerandthechefbistro.com
- Converted 100% of energy needs in wind power energy credits
- Customer education
- Spokesperson for environment

Nabolom Bakery (Berkeley)
- Triple-bottom line business – pays equal attention to profits, people and the planet
- Greater than 90% solid waste diversion
- Recycle and compost almost everything

Ajanta (Berkeley) http://www.ajantarestaurant.com/
- High rate of solid waste diversion – recycling and composting
- Biodegradable take-out containers
- Sustainable seafood
- Customer education

Tin’s Tea House and Lounge (Walnut Creek) http://tinsteahouselounge.com/
- Implemented 109 environmental measures (minimum is 60 measures) which is 179% of the voluntary environmental compliance.
- Replaced Styrofoam take-out containers with biodegradable take-out containers and has not passed on the price difference to their customers
- Diverts grease and oil toward local Biodiesel production (1200 lbs/ yr)
- Biodegradable cleaners