Liquid lunch bunch

The beer dinner is a common concept these days, but Central Food is taking it a step forward – or maybe backward – with the beer lunch.

The Kendall Yards restaurant’s second such event, Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will feature Iron Goat . Pints of the styles pictured above will be poured for $3, with the Goat crew on hand to chat about their beer.

In addition to the regular lunch menu, there will be pretzels with beer cheese sauce, and butterbeer ice cream, both made with another Iron Goat brew, Trashy Blonde.

“It’s a lot different vibe than doing a formalized dinner,” says chef-owner David Blaine. “The brewers kind of work their way around the tables and sometimes throw out a little schwag.”

And, he adds, “There seems to be interest in doing some day drinking on Fridays.”

Central Food’s first beer lunch, with Twelve String in early December, was a “huge hit,” Blaine says.

“We just did it to kind of see how it would go,” he says. “I was really kind of blown away. We got to meet a lot of new people.”

The lunches will continue throughout the year, Blaine says, though there’s no set schedule.

“The idea is to keep working our way through all these great local breweries,” he says. “Since there’s been so much expansion in the market, it’s a good chance for people to get caught up.”

He’s also planning Central Food’s first beer dinner, Feb. 22 with Twelve String. Keep an eye on the restaurant’s Facebook page for further details.