Bocktown Beer and Grille

October 9, 2008
Prices are steep, especially for bottles to go, even though they do have a good selection, you might have to swallow your pride... I would recommend going for the samples... $1each, which is what most places charge, and they have a nice rotating selection... Never got to try their food, but it did look good...

February 29, 2008
Located right across from Target, out near the Airport. Kudos to whomever did the interior. They took a sterile generic strip mall space and created a nice cozy beer bar. Brick walls, wood bar area, and even wood veneer on the beer coolers! Draft selection is adequate, but the emphasis seems to be on bottles. What I really like is that I don’t have to look over a beer list or lean over the bar to browse the bottle selection. The coolers are out in the open, and you just grab what you want and take it to the bar....NICE! I do wish they would put price tags on the bottles. I did not eat, but the food looked very good and was very reasonable as far as price. Service was excellent and the owner chatted with us for awhile. This is a great little beer bar, but be prepared for sticker shock. In Pittsburgh, you have to deal with the stupid PA case law pricing, 5 tier system on some breweries, and that 10% bullshit county pour tax. Factor all that into the fact that this is prime retail space (high rent), you are going to pay quite a bit for some brands. For example, Avery Samaels was $21!!! Don’t let that keep you from visiting. . Just check the price before you open a bottle.

January 27, 2008
My fiance and I had a really great time at Bocktown. Liked the glassware used for draft selections. Food was very well prepared and our waiter was very knowledgable He even came up to the coolers and gave me some suggestions and some of his favorites. Had a delerium noctournal that was fabulous. Had bells expedition stout on tab when we visited and it was spectacular. Can’t wait to go back!

August 1, 2007
The beer selection here is very impressive. I was thrilled to find that they were carrying New Holland, and enjoyed a few Mad Hatters. I only ate an appetizer which was typical fare, but other customers commented that the food was enjoyable. Wait staff was very knowledegable and was quick to chat about beer!

July 13, 2007
I had four hours to wait for my sister to come into the PIT airport - made my Dad take me here for dinner - great find! Service - great, informative without making me uncomfortable.Answered my questions well and with tasters!! Beer selection - great, they have locals on tap and the HUGE coolers with bottles from around the world. Food - awesome...I loved the fries and the pickles - the best I have had in years!! The owner - Chris spent 20 minutes talking shop with us and seemed to enjoy the conversation as much as we did. Mike - the beer guy - also spent many moments with us and was more than happy to answer questions, share his thoughts on beers and food. I can’t wait to make another trip to Pittsburgh just so I can visit Bocktown again...

June 11, 2007
I’ve been going to Bocktown for about 3.5 months now. I had to give the food a perfect "10’ because I’ve never had anything to eat that I didn’t Love. Chef Scotty really knows his stuff and the ingredients they use are perfect every time. I could recommend everything but you have to try "The Strip District" (a wonderful chef’s salad with more on it than you’ll be expecting), the Fish Sandwich (It’s from Wholey’s!), The Grilled Reuben, and the fries! They’ve got 16 beers on tap most of which are constantly rotating to new things. I know wines better than beer but because they alter their drafts so often I’ve gotten to know beer a lot better than I used to. The bartenders and wait staff are very helpful when you have beer questions. Tara, Jennifer or Mike are usually behind the bar, and they know their stuff. Their personalities are also great, the kind of bar staff that makes you want to come back and hang out with them. They, along with Chris the owner (who always has a pleasant smile on her face no matter how much I’m bugging her) have taught me more about beer in the last few months than I could ever have known without them. I’ve gone into Bocktown with friends, clients, work mates - and everyone’s been glad I brought them there. It’s a great place to talk business over lunch, hang out after work or to impress people with. Everyone should give Bocktown a try.

March 24, 2007
Good service. Helpful but not pushy. We sat at high table in bar area, just there for a beer. Food looked, smelled great, but we were eating at Mad Mex later. Nice tap selection; had the Penn Weizenbock (all they had was quarter keg?, I think) and Great Divide Hercules. Nice bottle selection for take-out, but a bit expensive - even for PA. Wasn’t too crowded, even for Saturday night. In all, a decent place to hang out, right across from the Target.

December 27, 2006 [ Updated July 22, 2008 ]
First thing that hit me on the way there was the complexity of the Robinson mall shopping complex area. I would dread it if I had to buy something at this shopping complex. Lots of traffic and since it takes so long to find your place, you better hope it was right the first time. But there is now a reason for me to navigate the maze. Bocktown Bar - Nice people and the selection is really expansive, over 400 bottle styles and at least 12 hard to get beers on tap. The price of the take out six packs are high ($15-18) but at the bar they are very accommodating. Also, they quite often have bottles on sale for $2 each, You can get free 2 oz samplers and the 6-7 oz samplers are only $1or $2 each, no limit on the 16 tap assortment! Nice atmosphere, small place but there are additional tables in the rear. Even the cook come over to shoot the breeze about the beers on tap. www.bocktown.com, This place is named after the famous Bocktown stretch on 151, outside of Hopewell towards Independence. It is a notorious straightaway that my dad and grandads used as a dragstip for there hot rods. When I’m out there on my harley, the temptation is great to just nail it. Terra was especially friendly and the other girls seemed to be interested in our comfort as well. At first I thought this place was going to be too expensive but I had a pleasant surpize.

December 18, 2006
I went there for lunch for the grand opening and was I impressed! The place is small (used to be where Rotellis was) but they pack a lot in for what they have. The selection is great with 16 beers on tap and a 20 foot long cooler section. They will let you mix and match bottles in 6 packs or buy 1 at a time from what I heard. The staff was very knowledgable and helpful. I think almost everyone working there down to the one who cooked my fries came out and asked what I was drinking and asked how I liked it. We needed this in this area. I could go on all day, but go see for yourself

December 7, 2006
Awesome beer selection and better than average food. The highlight is the friendly staff. Just passing through and looking for a Target and stumbled across Bocktown. It’s a little hidden but well worth looking for. Highly recommended if you are in the area.