What's up big dogs? This is Ben Rice. I'm the Hospitality Lead at Cerebral Brewing Congress Park and this is Cerebral Staff Picks.
What have you been listening to lately?
There's this newer doom metal band out of New York called Castle Rat and they do this whole fantasy stage show thing. Their music is just insane. Castle Rat's just killing it, dude.
Restaurant recommendations?
I really love hotpot, it's one of my favorite things ever to eat. There's one that recently opened up in Aurora called Bong Bong and I really like it. Their food selection is great, the service is good, they just have better quality meats. Some of these other hot pot places you can spend $300 or $400 on a couple of people, and to me, that's just too much. They're right in the middle there where the food's great, service is great, and the price isn't too high.
Breweries you like?
I like Second Dawn a lot. It's right across the street from Stanley Marketplace. I live really close to there, so my son and I walk down the Stanley all the time. The staff are really cool there. Shout out to my boy, Juan, at Second Dawn. They chop it up. Great beer. They have Dungeons and Dragons and some Magic the Gathering. I really enjoy Second Dawn’s vibe a lot.
Last Second Hot Take
My hot take is Dad Rock still sucks. It sucked in the 90s, and it sucks now.
