Patricia Talorico

The News Journal

Award-winning restaurateur Kevin Reading and the folks at Mispillion River Brewing have teamed up for a new Smyrna brewpub opening at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Brick Works Brewing and Eats at 230 S. Dupont Blvd. in the Commodore Commons shopping center will serve housemade brews along with casual foods such as brisket burgers ($12), catfish tacos ($9) shrimp and grits ($19) and smoked salmon BLT ($12) sandwiches.

Reading, owner of Abbott’s Grill in Milford and Laurel, and Milford craft brewers Eric Williams and Ryan Maloney of Mispillion River Brewing are partners in the new eatery that will initially offer four taps of Brick Works’ beers made in its onsite 7-barrel brew house. The restaurant also will have six more taps featuring other local brews.

The Brick Works name honors a former brick making factory in Smyrna.

The small, Kent County town has been welcoming new food and beverage establishments in recent years. The Painted Stave Distilling opened three years ago, followed by Blue Earl Brewing Co. in 2015. New places to eat include the Inn at Duck Creek and the Drunk'n Baker, a family-owned bakery.

Brews at Blue Earl’s a cure for cabin fever

Inn at Duck Creek restaurant-tavern opening in Smyrna

Paul Gallo, former executive chef at Abbott’s Grill, is running Brick Works kitchen, and plans to focus on using produce from Delaware farms. In addition to casual fare, Gallo will be making some “bierhaus-inspired” German dishes like pork schnitzel with braised red cabbage, Emmentaler cheese, a fried egg and a pretzel bun ($13).

Reading is a longtime Delaware restaurateur. He ran the former Fox Point Grill in Wilmington in the 1990s and later opened Espuma in Rehoboth Beach. (Reading sold the restaurant to current owner Jay Caputo.)

He also owned Sweet Dreams Bakery in Rehoboth and Nage restaurants in Rehoboth and Washington, D.C. In 2010, Reading was named Delaware’s Restaurateur of the Year.

Mispillion River Brewingat 255 Mullet Run St., has been opened since 2013. Brews are created in a 15-barrel brew house. The tasting room is open daily.

Brick Works Brewing and Eats will be opened from 4 to 10 p.m Sundays-Wednesdays.; and 4 to 11 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Visit www.brickworksde.com

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 orptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter@pattytalorico.