Rivertowne Pour House

September 3, 2008
The best brew pub I have ever been to. Variety and rotation are awesome. My ratings of their beers were consistently high. I think they blow away Otto’s in State College & the Selinsgrove brewpub which are rated higher by most.

September 2, 2008
Stopped on a quiet Labor Day afternoon for lunch. 18 house beers on tap, which is pretty awesome, although I only was really interested in one or two of them for a pint’s worth (and the Pineapple Under the Sea, sadly, had just kicked). Our food (veggie wraps) was excellent, though my brother described the source of his buffalo wings as marathon-running chickens, dead eight years. So, skip the wings. Medium-wood bar, bright but softly lit, a good place for a quick pint thought not somewhere I could see myself at often. More of a family restaurant than a serious brewpub, at least on slow days. Still, lots of stuff to try.

June 30, 2008
A jaunt from downtown Pittsburgh, definitely out in the ’burbs. Ample parking, but watch out crossing the street. A great number of house brews on tap - at least 14 - so there are two sampler flights. The beers are hit and miss, but generally decent. I had the Pacino Italian sandwich, and it was the bomb - nicely toasted. Feels like the average sportsbar-on-a-shoestring. Wait staff was friendly and prompt enough. Worth the drive from Pittsburgh? Yes. Worth a cab ride? No.

April 10, 2008
A nice brewpub for the Pittsburgh and suburbs area. A little off the beaten path so I thought it would be empty. Well, I came during a Penguins game and the place was packed and loud. Nice selection of beers. Typical brewpub quality, but not bad. The waitor was knowledgeable about their beer and gave good descriptions on what to expect in each one. Food was typical bar food. Good and greasy. I will go again to try the rest of the beers I didn’t have. Nice place.

December 28, 2007
Very Very dissapointed at the Pour House. I read everyone’s reviews and had my expectation set high. The place was packed, and business was booming. There was a 15 minute wait to get a table, which ultimately was not what I expected. There was no where to wait for a table, the bar area was packed so I had to stand in the way of the staff for the time being. The really pack them, so I was stuck at a small table with my guest right next to the arcade machines. Not cool. Three guys were enjoying themselves playing golden tee, couldnt get mad at them, for this tabled was place frustratingly too close to golden tee. Now the beer. Very, very average. I enjoyed the IPA throughouly but the sampler was bitterly dissapointing. Next came the food. Nothing special, our pizza was not cooked all the way, and my burger was so-so. One good was fact was that it was non smoking, but only till ten o clock. In comparion to all the other brewpubs in Western PA, this one was way under par.

July 25, 2007
This place is, IMHO, the best overall brewpub in the Pittsburgh area. This is for several reasons. First, beer is fantastic. Great selection and execution. Not just a lot of beers that are average and a few standouts, but everything I had was tasty. Second, the service was excellent. I didn’t sit at the bar since I had the family in tow, but the server did a great job. The only thing that kind of bummed me out was that she wasn’t a huge beer fan, but she was pretty knowledgible (especially for only being there for a few weeks. This, though, was countered with a table visit from Andrew, one of the brewers at this fine establishment. He noticed me taking some notes for ratings and struck up a conversation. He’s definately a guy that cares about his esblishment. I was fortunate enough to be offered a sample of the barleywine (that wasn’t on tap yet) straight from the conditioning tank (fantastic). It was good to see someone who cares that much about his patrons and will go the extra mile. Thirdly, food was very good. Not your standard menu. Man selections, from the normal fare to some dishes that are found rather infrequently. Everything was priced well. I also enjoyed the family-friendly atmosphere. Definately a place I’d love to frequent.

July 11, 2007 [ Updated July 22, 2008 ]
Accolades to the business owners of the Rivertowne. This place has some of the best brewpub brews I have ever tasted. Everything from the hay flavored light to the darkest most bitter imperial stouts, barrel aged too! If you are into one of a kind micro~micro brews, you better experience these concoctions. I saw a couple of steeltown locals putting on the buzz with the higher abv brews without knowing it. One of them went from talkative to belligerent in about three glasses. Pretty funny. The atmosphere is that of a comfy brand new sterile pub. Lots of seating at the bar and at the pedestal tables with barstools. You have your choice of affordable samplers. The impy stouts at this place rival the offensiveness of any beer in the top 25. Killer brews for a brewpub. Knocks yer socks off. The only thing that bugged me a little was the waitress possibly mixing up the brews when she brought over the samples. Another thing, sometimes I think they rename the same ales and re-serve them as a new brew. Right off the turnpike. Didn’t have any food this time around but the guys next to me got some very attractive looking grub and they didn’t say another word till it was all gone.

June 16, 2007 [ Updated May 15, 2008 ]
Stopped on Saturday afternoon during US Open. Happy hour prices since it during opening week. Great service at the bar and all the bartenders knew about the beers and were extremely helpful. Samplers available, and they even brought them two or three at a time so they were fresh. Fifteen beers on tap, plus a hand pump. Everything from golden ale to IPA to fruit beers to a BA Impy stout. With former John Harvards and Johnstown brewers doing up to 3 batches a day, this place looks promising. /-/-//-/-//-/-///-////-/- Disappointing visit on 5/14/08: place was going to be closed an hour after arrival for private function. We were still told we could eat. Seated and ignored for 10 minutes. Asked host to send someone over - ignored for another 10 minutes. We left after 20 minutes, having never been approached by wait staff. Still trying to contact them - but their email bounces back. Get your act together people.