Alex P.
Yelp
The seemingly simple act of venturing just a minutes outside of a place where we live can present an opportunity to experience life, culture and food that is distinctly and unique, once again highlighting the beauty of exploration and travel. This is how Duluth feels at times when venturing from the city of Atlanta. And then, there is downtown Duluth, with its own unique subculture that is neither Duluth that most know, nor Atlanta that residents are accustomed to.
If there is a spot where "it's happening" in downtown Duluth, Good Word Brewing is probably it. It does not give off the context of being in Atlanta, where kids are seldom seen. It does not feel like Duluth either, where Korean demographic and establishments dominate. Unlike Atlanta's city center, the scene here is dominated with a demographical mixture of suburban families with kids earlier in the day. Towards the evening, it transitions to a decent number of tinder dates and middle aged guys trying to get away from suburban lifestyle of kids and housework to grab a cold one. Oddly, despite the huge Korean population of Duluth, very few of them seemed to be setting a liking to this spot and the downtown area in general.
With Todd DiMatteo at the helm of brewing, beers are very solid, with a selection that is heavily focused on lagers and brown ales. Thankfully it was not another joint where every option is an IPA, which has been a trend as of late in many breweries. The wine bottle selection comprised a dozen or so bottles, priced roughly at 2 or 3 times retail. The Barolo is not actually a Barolo, but a Barbera, but who will complain about that in a brewery.
Brian Crain is the executive chef here. Food unfortunately seems to run out very quickly, but porchetta was wonderfully cooked. Pig ears and fried chicken bucket are on the list for next time. Fries were a bit disappointing with very little crispy texture, creating a bit of sagginess.
Good Word feels like a place that's delivering everything one could desire in terms of liquors, brewing, wines and food, and doing it quite well also. Bartenders are very attentive despite the overload of guests at almost all moments. The waiter situation is the one place where the joint does need some work. Either have waiters or don't, but the in between zone was a bit sporadic and was quite messy. The bar crew seemed to be trying to cover for waiters mishaps and lengthy disappearances. Despite some of these possible improvements, ended up spending at least four hours here and that alone is a testament of how good this spot is.