Schooner’s Grille and Brewery

No Longer In Business

Visited January 9, 2015.

I stopped in after visiting a client in Antioch. First meal of the day at about 7 pm so I was ready for a burger and a flight. I was also frustrated by the time I finally found this place. It’s in a large shopping center but the lighting from the main road (Lone Tree) is really bad so you might very well drive right by without realizing it, like I did. It’s on the north west end of the shopping center. Know that. Inside is a large restaurant with a bar on the one side, which looks through the window into the brewery.

They had nine house beers on tap. The sampler is six but the bartender let me buy individual tasters of the other three. The best of the bunch was the very last one I tried which was the vintage barleywine (Old Diablo, don’t remember the year but I think it was 2011). The hibiscius beer wasn’t bad. Actually none of them were bad, just most weren’t all that amazing.

The food was pretty good, though it was a large portion and I really didn’t need that much of it but since I was hungry I ate it all. I had the chicken sandwich on the bartender’s recommendation. I can’t imagine when I’ll ever be back in Antioch so even if this place was world class I’m not sure I’d make the journey out here again.

Not a particularly pretty place in a parking lot for a huge strip mall in a street that consists mostly of huge strip malls. Rather cold interior which is mostly about the restaurant it hosts. I was drooling over the barley wine presence on the seasonal boards. Nice, with its performance at Toronado’s contest, this is a treat! Well no luck Sherlock, we’re out and have been for a couple of days, but never thought it a good move to erase it off. Now the seasonal is our apricot wheat. Bleh... I stuck to the IPA, which was good. Besides that, the service was correct, so was the food, but I would have been quite disappointed if the place had not been pretty much on my way to San Francisco.

I have eaten here several times. We had the pot roast, fried chicken and fish and chips all were excellent. Tartar sauce was excellent. Beers are delicious. Worth a drive from anywhere. I drive 50 miles. One weird thing. I took a picture of the beer board and the manager stopped me and asked me what I was doing. Duh? What’s the big deal?

Very nice place in a low key, country like area outside Antioch. Craig, the brewer, is a very nice guy and passionate about beer. The service was good. Several of the staff stopped by and chatted beer with me for a few minutes. I didn’t try the food, I got the beer sampler with about 7 or 8 of their taps. Everything they had was good. The IPA and Old Diablo barleywine were the standouts. Awesome. Nothing else on tap but their stuff, but Craig says that they’re going to be bringing some more stuff in from local breweries, which should be all right since I think their brews can stack up against any in the area.

Upscale dining with a welcoming pub atmosphere. Quite a sophisticated restaurant that welcomes all ages and demographics. Very good food and a good assortment of Schooner’s beers. A few big screens in the bar area but not overwhelming noise to dissuade converstaion.

Classy spot. Good food, good beer, beer savy staff. Three TV’s over the bar, and nice music in the background.

Schooner’s multiple- award winning beers have become the quality standard for me. Typically feature (5) fixed handles and (3) seasonal varieties. Food quality does tend to vary, but generally is better than average. Family restaurant atmosphere w/ a decent bar area.

I sat at the bar upon my visit so I was watching the cleanup of that mornings brew session. Saw the head brewer behind the glass so I raised up my pint of IPA as to say thanks nice work, he decided to come out and chat with me about said beverage. I really appreciate someone taking the time like that to talk brew when he didn’t have to. Then food arrived and so I went to work on my order. I was sitting there thinking I’m glad I made the trip over here.

Decent looking place with a long bar facing sports tuned displays and tap offerings as well as their brewery through a window. There are dozens of seating options. The space has nice high ceilings with exposed wood beams. I saw Craig the brewer hard at work in the brewery. Once he noticed I was taking notes he went out of his way to introduce himself and talk beer with me. That was really cool. If you plan to visit I’d arrange to be there when Craig’s working and drink in the Antioch hospitality. One nice deal seems to be their 5 gallon take home keg option for only thirty seven bucks. Seems like a good price.

Big place that I can see where people would say it feel more like a family restaurant than a brewpub. Great people, good food, nice selection of beers on tap. For some strange reason, I tend to get much better/faster service at a table than at the bar.