Sound to Summit in Snohomish excels at bites and brews

SNOHOMISH — Buffalo wings, an elk burger, Korean beef skewers and street tacos walk into a brewery.

It’s no joke at Sound to Summit Brewing, Snohomish’s pioneering craft beer maker. The kitchen boasts a solid menu of bites to pair with its stellar suds. The list of 11 appetizers is enough to feast on as shared plates.

During a recent lazy, hazy and hot Tuesday afternoon, my friends Miles and Rachel McKee brought their two young children along, 1 and 3. They have lived near the Pilchuck River in town for several years, but had yet to visit the popular brewery that was bought by Lost Canoe Brewing in 2018.

Our varied dining preferences were all satisfied, and the three adults each tried a bite of an initial four plates and later devoured an additional (and crucial) post-drinks order of nachos.

We were all big fans.

This has been the year of the wings for me, so I started with the seven beer-brined wings in Buffalo sauce ($13). They were classic in their taste and texture, but our table agreed they were otherwise unremarkable (as most wings ought to be).

Rachel picked the three street tacos ($9) with beer-braised pork on corn tortillas, with pickled red onion, cilantro, chipotle aioli and pico de gallo. Her recommendation is to pick another delicious option from the menu to get a full meal.

Miles was drawn to the pair of Korean beef skewers ($11), marinated bites atop a spicy Korean slaw, sriracha aioli, sesame seeds and slivered green onion. This proved to be the table’s favorite order of the night, even for the sometimes fussy-eater 3-year-old, who was happy to try a few bites of the wings and the Korean beef skewers slaw (which he really liked).

Sound to Summit’s elk burger caught my eye, and it was excellent. Cooked to a perfect medium-rare, the burger had a juicy meaty taste that was heightened by the caramelized onions, Swiss cheese and garlic aioli. It was a scene-stealer.

“I like that it was a different type of meat than a beef burger,” Rachel said. “More gourmet and decadent that an average pub burger.”

The taproom is exactly what you’d imagine it to be. It’s a tall, unassuming space with some high and low tables, a bar, fermentation tanks and plenty of kegs around. There’s also an outdoor patio area between the parking lot and the taproom.

Speaking of fans, the McKees’ son was enthralled with the oscillating towers that provided a relieving breeze in the cavernous garage space tucked behind a business strip off Bickford Avenue.

As soon as the McKees had joined me, crayons and a coloring page were brought out to occupy the kiddos’ minds.

“High ceilings, open space and big tables were all pluses,” Miles said.

After the nosh and two rounds of beers, we were still peckish. The S2S nachos ($10) with chicken (another $2.50) provided more than enough to see us through a third round.

Most of the food got an emphatic “would order again” stamp of approval from our table. I’ll leave the beer reviewing to the pro Aaron Swaney, who writes for The Daily Herald’s Hops & Sips page, but Rachel was on board with “literally all of the beer” we tried that night.

And that’s no joke.

If you go

Sound to Summit Brewing, with a taproom and pub fare (burgers, nachos, salads, sandwiches, wings), is at 1830 Bickford Ave., Suite 111, Snohomish, in the back of the building that fronts 19th Street. Call 360-294-8127 or go to www.sound2summit.com.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Happy hour food menu 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; beer happy hour 2 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, $1 off all pints.

No reservations. Children allowed.

Ben Watanabe: bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3037; Twitter @benwatanabe.