Safari Grill and Brewing Company

No Longer In Business

The place seemed to be understaffed as our bartender was seating restaurant customers and showing rooms at the hotel to prospective renters while trying to attend to our needs. The staff didn’t seem to know much about even their own beers. We were told that the owners are going through a divorce ... the man is getting the bar but the wife has been doing the brewing so the future doesn’t look good for Safari.

Nice place! Agree with mjames, this place is really out in the middle of nowhere, but downtown Chanute seemed quaint enough, with a little Safari museum and library next door. In the little park, a dixieland band was playing. This restaurant and brewery serves the Tioga Suites hotel, recently remodeled.There is a bar, a formal dining room, and an informal room. We chose the informal area, with nice semi-private boothes with our own personal TV! In general the beers were surprisingly good. Nothing mind blowing but most were surprisingly well built with a nice soft palate and pleasing carbonation. Our sandwiches were OK, I had the reuben, wife had a patty melt, which arrived terribly undercooked, but they remedied it quickly without a fuss. Service was fast and pleasant, but the girls seemed harried, and they weren’t even busy (mid Saturday afternoon). It was worth the 120 mile drive from Wichita - we had a good time.

It’s a bit of an odd location, Chanute, Kansas, out on the middle of nothing and next to a whole lot more of nothing. But I guess there’s a bit of tourism here, enough to support a brewery in a hotel bar. The bar and lounge are set up well, right near the main entrance, it’s a bit small, but the tables and chairs are fairly nice looking. I was told that the brewing equipment was located in the basement, and that they give tours if requested. They offer 12 taps, 10 regular brews and two seasonals, but they were out of the vanilla bean stout when I was there. The beer quality is decent, and for being the only brewery in 100 mile radius, it’s good enough. The IPA and pale ale (which was one of the special taps) we’re the highlights, and the aromatic hops were spot on. The stout, porter and brown ale were dominated by smoked malt, a little too much, but the pale ale and IPA were impressive. They serve 1/2 price appetizers 4-6pm, and the food menu was a breath of fresh air: naturally raised beef, mozarella and balsamic vinegar, jamacian jerk chicken, great stuff. Staff was helpful but didn’t really know anything about beer, and they initially gave me an incorrect bill. Decent place, worth visiting if you’re close, or if you’re starved for a new brewpub to visit like I was (I was in Tulsa for the weekend, which is about 120 miles south of Chanute).