July 22, 2009
As a resident in the area I frequent the L.A.B. almost weekly. One of the better places in town for a good beer and good food. I am a fan of their chicken fried steak and smothered brew fries. I have been told the onion rings are a must as well. It’s a quaint little place, friendly, knowledgeable staff (for the most part). As for their in-house beers; my personal favorite would have to be the Prairie Pale Ale, solid flavor, good mix of hops, and probably the most consistent. The XXX Black Angus Stout is a solid, malty, creamy stout. Very smooth. Bison Brown Ale also smooth, with a very nice flavor. The Riley’s Red Ale consistently is a good pour. Finally the Wildcat Wheat comes in. Most inconsistent as far as flavor goes, also pretty weak as far as wheats go. As far as prices go, they’re a good deal. Food and beer both fairly priced, and you will get out of there with a smaller bill than at an Applebees or Old Chicago. Overall, a must stop in Manhattan. Great place for a family meal or to get together and drink some suds with friends.

September 15, 2008 [ Updated July 30, 2009 ]
Revisit: Service was good with a very pleasant server. Food was basic bar and grill fare, however it seemed clean of grease etc. Was on a Tuesday so low number of patrons which was pleasant. Did not have to sit and listen to blaring tv sounds. Had a red which was ok and a stout which was pleasant. Previous rating: Ok place to sit and drink, however, service could be a little better. Was somewhat cramped in sitting and elbow room. OK selection of midwest style beer. Maybe need to clean the lines a little more often.

August 3, 2008
Kind of hidden away in a non descript strip mall. This is a little hole in the wall of a place with mediocre beers and I did not try the food. Tried to sit away from everyone else. Kind of crowded the day I was in. Worth stopping for the seasonals, the house beer are severely lacking and depending on when you roll through town, have had some bad experiences with infection.

June 17, 2008 [ Updated August 8, 2008 ]
Visited brewpub for dinner on Saturday, June 14th, 2008. This place was hard to find in the strip mall as it has a smallish and rather busy sign out front. This is halfway between the liquor store (Nespor) and the grocery, if that helps future visitors. The place is laid out with a biggish bar area in front, and two different dining rooms in back. This was a pretty big place, and was more or less full for dinner. Crowd was a great mix of families and folks out for a meal and a drink. The food was excellent, I had the chicken fried steak and it was prepared perfectly. Crunchy, and not greasy at all. The food was certainly the highlight. I tried 5 of the beers, and they seemed pretty uninspired. The Wheat was a complete Diacetyl bomb, which is frustrating that they were even serving it. The restaurant also features a pretty good guest beer list. Overall, this place is worth visiting for the food alone.

March 24, 2008
my buddy ford9719 showed me this place and i love it. they have the best seasonal beer. if your ever in the area around winter you have to try there merry berry beer.

February 6, 2008
Stopped in on a busy Friday night service was excellent got a seat at the bar with know problem. waiter was very informative, only problem it is in a strip mall and might be hard to find if you dont know hwre it is. Excellent selection not only of beer but also souveniers if you are into that.

August 3, 2007
Great place to stop by for a bite to eat and a great beer before the football game. Their Prairie Pale Ale ,which is actually an IPA, is very delicious.

June 27, 2007
Went for lunch on a Saturday prior to a KU/K-State basketball game. I mention that there was a game only because the service we had was really slow. The KU/K-State basketball game is probably annually the busiest day of the year for the place, so I’m cutting them slack for the slow service. The beers were surprisingly really, really good. I especially liked their Brown Ale and their Pale Ale. The food was really good, and I would recommend both the onion rings and the patty melt. Prices were about what I expected, and they did have a 6-beer sampler for only $5. The place was located in a strip mall and the interior is similar to many strip mall restaurants. All in all, a pleasant experience and I will definitely go back if I am in the neighborhood.

December 6, 2006
I love the Little Apple. This was my very first Barleywine on tap many years ago. Great food and a great selection of beer. I’ve always thought the beer here was first rate.

December 2, 2006
Not much to look at from the outside, occupying a spot in a small strip mall. For what it’s worth, they make the best of the location with the interior setup. The dining area is relatively open and airy with decent use of wood beams and what-not but it’s still kinda generic. The bar area is a cozy enclosed space and seemed like it would be a suitable place to hang out and drink suds. I had heard mostly average things about the beer, and this is a small college town, so I came in with low expectations thinking this was more of a poser brewpub that brewed weak watery junk just so they could call themselves a brewpub and say "Gosh, aren’t we cool, we brew our own beer.” I’m pleased to say the low expectations were unjustified. Two standouts were the tasty chocolaty stout (only weakness was the nitro system that draws this beer did not nitrogenate it enough) and the IPA, which was actually one of the best British-style IPAs (as opposed to West-Coast/American-style) I’ve had from an American brewery. None of the beers said "poser brewpub." Everything had at least a solid level of quality. Food was very good too. My wife and her friend enjoyed their steak, I had the nacho plate with their incredibly zingy salsa. Beer-battered onion rings were huge, bready and delicious. If I lived in the area I’d be proud to call this place my local brewpub and I’d spend some quality time here.