Escape to Alcatraz

You want a colorful experience, mac? You go to the Block at Orange, a gaudy new neon- and Op Art-happy mall that boasts a 30-screen cinema, the world’s largest skating park and several heavily themed restaurants. And bring your Ray-Bans, especially at night.

Alcatraz Brewing Co. is conspicuous even in this flashy company. Where else can you sip home-brewed beer under a stunning replica of the Golden Gate Bridge while staring up at a rogue’s gallery of notorious felons, such as Al “Scarface” Capone?

Capone was sort of a microbrewer himself during Prohibition, but I’ll bet he never washed down a mushroom and goat cheese quesadilla with wheat beer, which is just one of many ways to experience this appealingly creative place.

Like everything else at the Block, Alcatraz is exuberantly overdone. You enter through a giant water tower that serves as a grain silo for the brewery portion of the restaurant. Booths are set into giant synthetic boulders.

The theme is, of course, Alcatraz Penitentiary. One wall sports a huge mural of Marin County as seen from “The Rock.” Prison-style steel catwalks soar overhead, and the sound system regularly erupts into wailing sirens, barking seals and jarring cable car bells--sounds we’re supposed to associate with San Francisco.

All this kitsch is in good fun, making it even more of a hoot to discover that the restaurant does some fairly serious cooking.

The menu, mostly regional American dishes and late-’90s favorites, is both diverse and well thought out. And Alcatraz Brewing Co. gives you good bang for your buck. Portions tend to be downright huge, and the ingredients used are generally of good quality.

Naturally, you’ll want to try a few of the beers. My favorite is a dark brown stout that has hints of chocolate and caramel in the finish, a thick, mild brew, not nearly as bitter or foamy as Guinness. I’d also give the thumbs-up to the restaurant’s Big House Red ale. It’s a fruity, well-balanced pale ale made with plenty of English hops, and whoever poured mine put a very nice head on it.

The menu’s large appetizer section appears to have been designed with beer in mind, because it features a whole raft of salty and piquant starters. “Bubba’s bubbly warm artichoke, spinach and cheese dip” is a challenging mouthful to say but an easy one to eat. I’ve had this dip at Houston’s and also a few local pubs, but Alcatraz’s version tops them all. It isn’t a bit greasy, and the taste of artichoke comes across strongly, despite the competition from the other components.

“Gangland sweet roasted garlic” is really an oddball assortment of things to smear on toasted pita bread, such as a penetrating tomato chutney and a wedge of partially melted Cambozola cheese.

Buckshot shrimp (known as popcorn shrimp to some of us) are baby shrimp fried in a crunchy red ale batter, and they’re pretty good. But they’re served with an eccentric salad of chopped celery in a creamy blue cheese dressing, which really doesn’t go with them at all.

There are brick-oven pizzas with fairly thin crusts, and I’d rate them as quite good. I could swear that my pepperoni pizza had some Fontina cheese mixed in with the mozzarella, and the result was practically a show stopper.

Palermo Memories is the fanciful name used here for pizza Margherita. By any name, though, this classic pizza topped with sliced tomato, basil, garlic and fresh mozzarella is a good one.

The sandwich standout is a crusty French dip, because the thinly sliced Angus beef has been smoked before serving. “ ‘Cued” pork is really a Memphis-style pulled barbecue pork sandwich. The meat is good, but I’d like this sandwich better if the sugary Midnight Special barbecue sauce were a little more sharp and spicy.

Definitely pass on the San Francisco crab melt, a gooey mass of crab meat and mayonnaise served open face with a melted cheese topping. It could be what the Jaycees from a small town in Kansas would come up with if they were making their idea of a San Francisco-style sandwich.

If you’re in the mood for an entree salad, the Big Louie From ‘Frisco is at least as good a crab and shrimp Louie as you’ll get on Fisherman’s Wharf, and at a much lower price. The Thai beef salad doesn’t remind me of anything I’ve ever had in a Thai restaurant, but it’s loaded with that good smoked Angus beef, this time flavorful strips of sirloin.

All the main courses are big enough to share. For instance, try “Omaha Outlaw,” an 18-ounce rib steak with a nice spice rub. The “not-so-free-range” chicken (which also tastes as if it has been smoked) is half a rotisserie chicken fragrant with lemon and rosemary.

The one main course I didn’t care for was the farm-raised salmon, served with strangely bitter pesto mashed potatoes. My fish came to the table badly overcooked.

There are a few nice desserts too. The Great Escape, which is more restrained than it sounds, is my first choice. We’re talking a nice-sized square of lightly textured sour cream fudge cake served warm with hot caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. If you’re not in the mood for chocolate, the best choice is probably Armed & Dangerous, a fruit crisp made with Granny Smith apples and lots of cranberries.

Hey, this ain’t what I expected prison food to be like.

Alcatraz Brewing Co. is moderate to expensive. Starters are $3.50 to $9.95. Main courses are $8.95 to $22.95. Desserts are $4.95. Beers are $.75 to $5.50.

BE THERE

Alcatraz Brewing Co., 20 City Blvd. W., Orange. (714) 939-8686. 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily. All major cards.