Dining review: Is Midnight Sun Brewing Company on your dining radar yet? It should be.

When you're a food writer, people love to tell you about their favorite restaurants. My texts, Facebook messages and email inbox are all chock-full of photographs of pizzas, salads and great-looking burgers. Some people get love notes; I get food porn. (Not a complaint.) Recently, I received three separate food photos sent by different friends enjoying a meal at Midnight Sun Brewing Co. Some people might call that a coincidence. I call it an urgent message from the universe. I was overdue for a visit.

Tucked back into an industrial neighborhood in South Anchorage, the restaurant doesn't seem to suffer for being off the beaten track. In fact, the unlikely location — surrounded by warehouses and parked 18-wheelers — gives it a bit of a hip "insiders" feel. Like a secret clubhouse, but for grownups.

Inside, the decor is sparse but creative — industrial fixtures and minimalist furniture offset by brightly painted walls hung with local artwork. Large windows flood the room with light. On a recent visit, doors to the patio were open, inviting alfresco dining and sipping. The space is cool and eclectic without being pretentious.

Service was friendly and casual, and there's a sense that everyone pitches in with everything. The server who brought my iced tea was not the one who refilled it, and the one who delivered our meal wasn't the one who checked in on us later. Service felt, pleasantly, like a team effort.

The menu is modest, focused and designed with the brewery's beers in mind (16 of them, all house-made, are available on tap). Hearty sandwiches, soups, chili and shareable snacks, with an emphasis on Southwestern flavors: these are the kind of dishes that can hold their own against a complex beer.

My husband and I started by sharing a cup of the cheddar ale soup ($6) and an order of soft pretzel sticks ($6). The soup is just what it should be — thick, creamy and cheddary with enough malty flavor from the beer (Kodiak Brown Ale) to balance the sharpness of the cheese. It comes with two stir-ins (I chose bacon and garlic croutons) and a dinner roll, making it a very substantial starter.

The pretzels, while not exactly exciting, are warm and salty, and are a perfect dipping device for the grainy mustard and cheese sauces that come on the side.

For my main course, I opted for the Loftwich ($13), a daily sandwich special. On that particular day, the featured sandwich was an ancho-marinated flank steak topped with grilled peppers and onions and a blanket of melted cheese — a Philly cheesesteak, basically, with a Southwestern spin. This was a well-constructed, robust sandwich. Crusty bread, a zingy spiced mayonnaise, buttery, charred vegetables and an ample amount of lean beef made for a meal I could only get halfway through (I blame the soup).

My husband's Three Cheese Squeeze grilled sandwich ($10) with ham ($3) was a well-executed classic. Layers of cheddar, provolone, mozzarella and thinly shaved smoked ham were packed in between two thick slices of perfectly crisped sourdough bread. At the (excellent) advice of our server, we dipped the corners into the leftover mustard and cheese sauces from the pretzels, which added a bit of complexity to this lunchtime basic. We left full, happy and with leftovers.

We returned the following weekend for Sunday brunch. Because my personal philosophy includes "leave no biscuits and gravy untasted," I opted for a half order to "share" with my husband (he was not fooled). This was a spicy take on the classic, with a peppery chorizo lending smoky flavor (and a slightly pink hue) to the perfectly creamy gravy.

The biscuit was unexpectedly light and fluffy, which made the dish feel better balanced than the usual plate of starchiness that biscuits and gravy usually implies. A smattering of bacon on top lent salt and crunch to the dish, making it even harder for my husband to get his fork near it. At $5, this rich and filling plateful is a tremendous bargain.

For a main course, my husband ordered the Rancheros Locos ($12). This is a behemoth of a dish. A layer of corn tortillas was topped with three fried eggs, black beans, two different kinds of chili sauces ("red heat" and "green heat"), cotija cheese and a smattering of cilantro. However, despite the visual excitement of this colorful dish, we both found it to be underwhelming. Overall, it lacked seasoning. Without it, the "red heat" tasted bitter and the bright, acidic "green heat" had a vinegary sameness. More salt would have gone a long way toward improving the dish.

As for me, I opted for the Hot Mess breakfast sandwich ($14). Designed to scratch every breakfast itch you could possibly think of, this is the official sandwich of the chronically undecided. Fried eggs, cheddar and Gouda, bacon and ham, onions, and arugula, bacon basil mayonnaise and an ever-so-slightly-sweet brioche bun, this sandwich has everything. It's a messy, two-hands, four-napkins, knife-and-fork (for backup) affair. And it's worth every yolky bite.

So thank you to my unofficial, crowd-sourcing team of picture-taking, food-obsessed friends. You spoke. I listened. Midnight Sun Brewing Co. is back on my radar. And if it's not on yours, it should be.

Midnight Sun Brewing Company

Hours: Open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Location: 8111 Dimond Hook Drive

Contact: 907-344-6653 and midnightsunbrewing.com