The couple operates the brewery with the help of their four children; Emma, Cooper, Finn and Pepper; their “bonus daughter,” Isabella McCoy; Freshwater’s sister, Paola Turner, and her two children, Dylan and Averi.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
What’s new?
Since taking over ownership at the end of January, they’ve introduced a new cantina menu implementing their family’s recipes.
For example, the Rochester Hot Dog features Freshwater’s father’s New York-style, spicy chili sauce, mustard and onions.
In addition to hot dogs, the brewery features made-from-scratch burgers, tacos, taco salads, quesadillas and nachos.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The nachos are a top-seller featuring fried tortilla chips covered in queso and topped with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, jalapenos, sour cream and customer’s choice of meat.
“We’ve been using our beer that we brew here and we incorporate it with a lot of our dishes,” Freshwater said.
The ground beef for the Redemption Taco is cooked in their Redemption Irish Red beer and the grilled steak for the Limey Carne Asada Taco is marinated in their Limey Mexican Lager.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Other specialty tacos include:
- Ojos Locos Carnitas (shredded pork marinated in Ojos Locos beer and Mexican spices, shredded Chihuahua cheese, lettuce and corn salsa)
- Margarita Grilled Shrimp (tequila lime marinated grilled shrimp, lettuce, queso fresco and lime crema)
The brewery features a “taco of the week” that gives them the freedom to be creative. They’ve had a meatball sub taco, jambalaya taco, Reuben taco and a Big Mac taco.
“Just come and give us a chance,” Turner said. “Come and taste our food. Come and taste our beer because it is really good. We worked really hard to make sure that the flavor was there.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Beer and more
In regards to beer, “we’re using the same recipes that the previous owners had,” Freshwater said.
Former owner, Glenn Perrine, is still involved in the brewing process, as well as his son.
The new owners have added their very first beer to the lineup — Aye Papi is a hazy IPA. They’ve also added White Star, a passion fruit flavored hard seltzer that is brewed.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The brewery has eight different flavored frozen margaritas, as well as a Devil’s Juice margarita with a 27% ABV.
Each month the brewery will feature a special drink menu. Non alcoholic options include a homemade root beer.
Meet the family
Freshwater and Turner grew up in upstate New York. They were born into an Italian family where food was always involved. They learned how to cook from their mother.
Turner, a home cook who hosted tours to Italy for many years, moved to the Dayton region in 1997 for her husband’s job and Freshwater followed.
“I never thought I’d get to work with my sister, my husband and my kids,” Freshwater said.
Freshwater is a full-time physician specializing in anesthesiology. Her husband has been a football coach for 26 years with 12 of those years at Archbishop Alter High School.
The owners plan to eventually add a private party room and open on Sundays during football season.
MORE DETAILS
Lucky Star Brewery is family friendly — as long as the kitchen is open. They have highchairs and games for kids.
The brewery offers tacos at a discounted price on Tuesdays, open mic on Wednesdays, chicken wing night on Thursdays, live music on Fridays and live entertainment on Saturdays.
Lucky Star Brewery is open 3:30-10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 3:30 p.m.-midnight Friday and 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. everyday.
For more information and updates, visit the brewery’s Facebook or TikTok (@luckystarcantina) pages.
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