Latest reviews from South Bend

“Visited several times over the past year. Located ~ 2 miles North of the Notre Dame campus. Standard liquor store layout, with the beer in the back coolers, and warm on one side of the rack. Decent selection of local beers, as well as Chicago and Midwest craft. Small single selection available. Service is efficient. (Locals should check it out, visitors with extended time) I only use the total score, not the component parts.“

theisti 378 days ago

“Visited for dinner on a Friday. Located in an Old mansion which also houses the Tippecanoe restaurant. The brewery and bar are located upstairs. Beer menu had a selection of 11 beers, though the beer I ordered had run out. We ate at the Tippecanoe, which has a bit more of a formal feel in both service and food menu. The brewery food menu was a bit more bar and grill casual. Service was solid. Very interesting old mansion, likely worth a visit for that alone. (Locals should check it out, visitors with extended time) I only use the total score, not the component parts.“

theisti 402 days ago

“Visited for dinner on a Friday. Really cool building, built right on the river with several levels of both indoor and outdoor seating. Parking in several lots near the building. Beer selection is 12 “big batch” beers and 2 “small batch” beers. Nice variety of styles, and both I had were tasty. In addition to beer, they also had a house made seltzer and a slushie plus some wine. The standout for me at Crooked Ewe was the food, all three meals my family ordered were excellent - the smoked half chicken I had was some of the best I have had in a long while. Service was friendly, I liked the vibe here and will certainly be back. (Worth the visit, must for locals, and visitors with time) I only use the total score, not the component parts.“

theisti 611 days ago

“Patty and I stopped in last night on the way back from Duluth. I had the Irish Ruben and 2 great beers. Zombie Dust and Bare Hands Citronic!. After those they had a few same old, same old. It was a week after Notre Dame had graduation. Not many kids left around. Nice place and staff though.“

Ron 730 days ago

“Close to downtown. Weird parking lot. All the beer is in the walk-in cooler, which is huge. Large selection. Tons of locals. Some more uncommon stuff. Person stocking in the cooler didn't speak to me. Cashier was friendly. Prices a bit high. Lots of singles. SIngles selection a bit disorganized, but plenty of variety. Overall, nice beer store.“

Drake 751 days ago

“Really only had the time to pick one brewery to visit in South Bend, and I picked well. Located it what seemed like an old warehouse. I didn't pay too much attention to the decor, but it was comfortable. A few tables outside, but it was raining and nasty outside. ALL of the employees were friendly and helpful. Prices decent. Tried a flight of four, and I'm drinking a howler right now. All five are good. They do tend to be hop forward, so if that's not your thing maybe not the best place. So far I've tried a hefeweizen, IPA, oatmeal stout, rye IPA, and a chocolate milk stout. All good. Didn't try the food. Large parking lot. Overall, recommended stop.“

Drake 751 days ago

“Visited later on a Sunday evening to watch the end of the Super Bowl and grab a beer. Located across the street on the south side of the Notre Dame campus. Inside is bigger with tables spread throughout and a long bar. Service was pretty slammed due to the Super Bowl, though friendly when engaged. Beer selection was decent, with a fair number of local craft as well as more typical Irish Bar options. Food looked decent as well. I am sure this place is pretty hopping on a Friday or Saturday night. (Locals should check it out, visitors with extended time) I only use the total score, not the component parts.“

theisti 827 days ago

“Unbelievable place - in the old Studebaker mansion (Tippecanoe Place). Downstairs is regular restaurant and upstairs is a spectacular old style bar. Ambiance is off the charts - this is the coolest place to have a beer in the entire Midwest. 6 of their own beers on tap with one guest tap - full bar available though. Menu - sandwiches and flatbreads primarily (didn't eat though). Decent parking next to building. Beyond cool just for the history.“

shrubber85 1859 days ago

“Stopped in for dinner after a nap - was considering finding somewhere else because I didn't want to drink too much seeing as how I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. Monday, 8:15pm, there are a handful of people in the place. The bar is where I choose to sit; it's small, but cozy. No printed beer list - just scrolls on the TV (well, three slides on the TV - the first is their beer, the second is guest taps, the third is mixed drinks). Took me two+ go rounds to find what I wanted to try, finally telling the bartender to pick the last one for me since I missed it. Every beer I sampled (6) was meh. Some of them had poor carbonation, but the biggest issue was flavor. They're playing it safe with everything; I see they're a chain - I guess that's why. The beer reminds me of a BJs - ordinary/safe/forgettable. Grabbed a reuben with fries (about 15 SMALL wedges of potato) for $10 something, which was average at best. Service was nothing special. I'd see no reason to return, to be honest.“

hershiser2 2158 days ago

“About 20 seats at the bar, some regular tables, high tops, and booths. 5 big TVs and several smaller ones behind the bar. 10 bottles - nothing to get excited about, but the taplist is nice. A handful of macros the rest a combo of locals (HopLore), craft (6 Three Floyds) a cider (Ciderboys), a mead (B Nektar)! I’m here on a Monday early afternoon - post lunch crowd, So it’s not busy. One server/bartender taking care of the 8-10 people in the place- she’s nice - asked me if I wanted a POP. Hell yes I do. Got two flights - 4 five ounce pours for $7. Prices very reasonable. Settled on the fish and chips to eat - the fries are awesome; fish a little over fried but still tasty. $9 (I haven’t seen fish and chips that cheap in ages). Very sweet Tatar sauce which I wasn’t expecting. I would return if I was in the area again, but unless Notre Dame tries to poach me tomorrow that probably won’t be the case.“

hershiser2 2159 days ago

“Large, standard (I'm guessing - not from the area) booze store with a mix of macro and micro, craft, local 6-packs, singles, and bombers, plus BOOZE. I can see the place from my hotel window. One full shelf devoted to singles. Lots I haven't had, but I also haven't been to Indiana in 10 years, so guessing it's not a great selection. Service was just the cashier - but she was friendly. Pricing ~$2.00-~$2.50 for local singles. I'm fine with that.“

hershiser2 2159 days ago

“Great little out of the way spot in South Bend, IN. There is a wall of windows behind the bar overlooking the St. Joe River. They have 15 of their own beers (including a nitro) and one guest brew on tap. The staff is incredably helpful selecting a beverage or something to eat. They have something for everyone, from carnivor to vegan. My wife and I ordered two veggie options, the Ewe Tso and the Revelocion Cubana with a quartet of savory sauces. The Cubana was very good but that Ewe Tso was no ordinary bar food. This is some gourmet shit! At $5 a pint and just over ten bucks to eat the value is great. This is my first time here, I can’t wait to come back and I haven’t even left yet!“

ChiGuy68 2834 days ago

“Nice little oasis where I enjoyed a pleasant lunch with an old friend while visiting ND. As the other reviews note, the interior is uber-warming, necessary in Northern Indiana and most welcome on my part. Decent food with more than the usual pub offerings. Vibrant and friendly atmosphere. And while I wasn’t blown away by the beer offerings, the emphasis was largely on the local and thus I could score some Three Floyds and such. Solid and certainly top drawer in this town.“

JCB 3051 days ago

“In the basement of an old building on the river. Pretty crowded on a Saturday (even a non-game Saturday). Great aroma of smoked meat as you walk in. Had 8 of their own beers, three guest taps, wine, and some great Honduran french press coffee. Didn’t eat - on the pricier side but smelled and looked great. Their beers were not bad but pretty average overall. Great place overall.“

shrubber85 3151 days ago

“A small brewery with a diverse selection of beers on tap. The food menu was limited, but it was good (I had brunch on a Sunday morning). Food value is better than beer value. Worth a stop if you’re in the area.“

b3shine 3455 days ago

“clean liquor shop in downtown south bend. prices on the higher side, but decent selection, especially of regional beers.“

rumproasts 3459 days ago

“Located just down the street from South Bend Brew Werks in downton, this City-Wide Liquors location has a similar selection to the other one. Beers take up several shelves as well as coolers along the back row. Additional offerings fill a walk in cooler.

Besides the usual suspects City-Wide provides a nice array of Three Floyd’s bottles. Other local breweries include Evil Czech, Burn ’Em, and others from the southern end of the state such as Sun King and New Albanian. On the whole prices are pretty fair. Some singles might be a little more expensive than a four or six pack but not completely unreasonable.

Service was excellent with a very knowledgeable person to walk me through the local offerings as well as what was new. If you have any questions about something being in stock don’t be afraid to ask - you will not get a typical "I dunno" blank state that you might at a store which only sells 24 packs for tailgating.

It remains a tossup if this location is any better than the other. The options at both seem pretty similar. Hit up whichever is closest to the places you plan to stop (either Evil Czech or South Bend Brew Werks).“

Brigadier 3460 days ago

“Great selection and lots of singles.“

edgallow 3461 days ago

“I was not aware of this place until the first brewpub mentioned that it had recently opened in downtown South Bend. With ample parking and a low key vibe similar to a local coffee shop it offers a bit of something for everybody. The selection of house beers looks like a mixture of brewer’s recipes and suggestions from others. This does make the place a little unique and something that might draw me back if I ever returned to South Bend.

The quality of the drafts provides a good alternative to Evil Czech if it happens to be too crowded or noisy. Both are similar with beers that offer a solid local experience which is average to slightly above average. With a dozen t chose from that cover most styles you should be able to find something.

One cool feature that sets it apart from many bars is that a percentage of each draft gets donated to selected charities in the area. At the end of the evening you put your bottlecaps into jars along a wall. This alone would have me returning from time to time even if the draft list did not seem to change on a regular basis.“

Brigadier 3462 days ago

“Since I was walking past before a football game I stopped in long enough to browse the shelves for tailgate options. Along with a huge wall of macros several regional breweries were represented. Nothing leapt off the shelves - for the most part this place is your typical liquor store.

The only reason to stop here would be if you cannot make the drive to a City-Wide location nearby. Otherwise give one of their locations a visit then hit up this place in case something happened to be sold out elsewhere.“

Brigadier 3462 days ago

“I’ve been here a few times and feel its time for a review. South Bend Brew Werks is a great addition to South Bend! Before you walk in, you get a good whiff of what is to come from the amazing aromas coming from the kitchen exhaust. As you walk in, you will find a lot of ’repurposed’ items pretty much everywhere you look. If you are into this type of thing, you will love this place. Service has been good and the servers are eager to explain the beers and food to newcomers. They seem knowledgeable. The food is all sourced locally and bread and noodles are repurposed from the spent grains. Everything I have had has been fantastic, though yesterdays food was a little on the cold side. Warning, the portion sizes are a bit small, so don’t expect to go for dinner. Much like everything else in the brewery, the dinnerware is also repurposed, and I feel like I am eating gourmet food on a plate from Goodwill. The beer also is very good. I have only had one ’beer geek beer’ (the pumpkin beer) so I anticipate more to come. All of the beers have been clean and good, however. Once you are done, you will receive beer caps to donate to one of three local charities. The brewery then donates a portion of the brewery profits to the charity, based on how many caps are in the charity container. Overall, this is a good spot to enjoy a beer and tasty food in. It is very inviting. With more breweries popping up in the area, competition will soon be tough for the tasty beer seekers. This place has a good start.“

frank0830 3490 days ago

“Don’t go there! They sell beer in the cooler that’s 4 years past its expiration date! Plus, they cheated my on my winning lottery ticket!“

ron_moore 3544 days ago

“I've been stopping in here for quite some time now and the crew is very receptive to new beer recommendations and goes out of their way to find what you're looking for. Excellent selection of FFF, Bells, Founders, and a bunch of other highly sought after craft beers.“

lancerobbins24 3985 days ago

“Nice selection. Friendly and helpful staff.“

Iphonephan 4038 days ago

“A franchise operation with a sports bar ambiance. 37 beers on tap sounds pretty enticing - until you see the lineup - which is mostly pretty uninspiring big brewery lagers and faux craft beers. Still there were a few beers of note from the likes of Three Floyds and some more local breweries. Chances are you will find something you haven’t had before -- at least on your first visit. College crowd and decent bar food.“

Iphonephan 4039 days ago

“Came here because I read they still had Hopslam and I never got around to getting this year’s batch. What a pleasant surprise is this place! There are some glass coolers that show about 1/4 of the beer they have. Walk into the cooler and the cellar for the rest of it. The cellar has the special releases and vintage bottles. Everything can be sold as a single as well. Staff was helpful and prices pretty reasonable. I’ll be back.“

HighWine 4108 days ago

“GREAT STAFF!! Selection is also top notch!“

Hophaze 4211 days ago

“Friendly helpful staff, and a decent selection. I was able to pick up a couple of things from my want list. Worth the stop if you’re in the area.“

queenholly 4279 days ago

“Small store but they do sell singles and will on occasion get some neat brews. Still in the starter stage and the staff is not all that familiar with the craft beer other. Still if in the area it does not take long to stop in a see what they have.“

BBB63 4395 days ago

“good place to hunker down and enjoy a warming beer and lunch. make sure to have time to spend though... seems understaffed at night and orders take a while.“

TIMT 4541 days ago

“Always visit this place when in town on business and never leave disappointed. Great selection of the most recent releases and aged bottles in a temperature controlled room in the back. Service is top notch, and I can’t recommend this place enough.“

DalzAle 4588 days ago

“The location at Ireland/Ironwood is ok at best. Don’t go into the facility expecting the clerk to know anything about beer...go in there expecting to look for what you are interested in and hope its there. They are always very nice and curious and will happily go into the cooler to see what is back there. A 10min drive will get you to the best the area has to offer, City Wide.“

frank0830 4633 days ago

“Good selection of microbrews. Convenient downtown in South Bend. Friendly service.“

Alerider 4641 days ago

“This place was great. I did a little reseach on this site and this sounded like a decent place. I was blown away with the service and selection. Upon looking around for about 3 minutes Dave came out to ask me if I needed any help. I told him I was from MI and looking for stuff I can’t get there or stuff that is rare. He quickly pointed some out, then took me into the cooler to show me where the good stuff was. They also had a very large "cellar", unfortunately wine took up 80% of the room. Some great finds there and I will be going back whenever I am in town (unfortunately not very often). I wish I could find a place like this by me, mainly because of the service, Dave was so helpful.“

ICEatALAMO 4837 days ago

“Small store, but has a good selection. Three Floyds, Bells, Founders, and Dogfish Head were all represented. Not a lot, but a few winners. Cashier was a beer geek, pointed out a few of his favorites. Only three minutes from the house, nice!“

smith4201 4935 days ago

“Visited Notre Dame over the weekend, and THANKS to Ratebeer.com, I found this little gem. Nice selection of beers, especially from the region. Boulevard and Three Floyds to name a few. Because it’s a liquor store first and foremost ( With a nice selection of single malt’s by the way) there wasn’t much room to showcase their selection. The service was very accomodating. They even let me into their cooler to forage for myself where I found some hidden gems like The Bruery Coton 2010. They also have a temperature controled room for their higher end wines, liquors and beer. I was able to get the last Barreled Aged B.O.R.I.S. Very good selection and excellent service. If you are in town visiting the campus, check this place out. It is very easy to find and it will be worth the trip.“

mefolts 4987 days ago

“very good selection, very good pricing...very helpful staff. Its the king of store I wish we had in michigan. Good selection of 3 floyds, Mikkeller and other things I cant ever find here. Biggest suck factor is the 1 hour plus drive.“

coyotehunter 4999 days ago

“Hands down the best selection of craft beer in South Bend. Store is clean and the staff here is friendly but on average not very knowledgeable about beer (they know what the stock and were its at, but thats about it)“

HollidaySlim 5131 days ago

“Decent selection of micros and beers available as singles (though they can be quite overpriced if you buy them as singles.) Store is a little overpriced in general. Some workers are helpful and knowledgable. But, i tend to go to downtown citywide.“

SrSilliGose 5175 days ago

“Unexpectedly impressive beer store in the middle of downtown South Bend. Pretty big inside and a wide selection. Came here with shawnm213, and I’ll take his word for it that it’s the best in the area.“

phaleslu 5394 days ago

“Charming old-Irish style atmosphere, and even though it’s in Indiana, it doesn’t seem tacky because it feels like it’s aged. Of the 18 taps, most are pretty pedestrian offerings that can be found anywhere- American macros, the big Irish ones (Guinness, Harp, etc.)- but also a few regional microbrews like Bells, Founders, Three Floyds. The menu has a lot of Irish food and American brewpub fare, and is hearty and pretty good overall. Recommended if you’re spending any time in South Bend.“

phaleslu 5394 days ago

“nice atmosphere. usually about 15 beers on tap... maybe 3-4 are worth drinking and there is usually at least one standout beer (like bell’s expedition stout, founders breakfast, founders imperial stout, founders double trouble)“

SrSilliGose 5512 days ago

“Solid selection- very helpful and knowledgeable employees. Definitely the best in south bend area. On awesome guy even brought me some beer back from a trip he made to PA. This is my go to store and I’m sure I’ll be back here soon. Great place all around.“

SrSilliGose 5512 days ago

“Now my reviews compares Fiddlers to other local offerings and its not even close. I gave them 15/ 15 on Beer because of the range. You have Robert the Bruce in cask, Hopslam, Chimay (Premiere), Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Founder’ Imperial Stout, Gold Purveyor Guiness, Three Floyds Gumballhead Wheat, Delirium Nocturnum, Two Hearted Ale (all on tap) and only Stella Artois as a BMC offering on tap.... I could go on. The food is good enough to go with the drinks. The ambiance is rough tables, fire place, Irish flags, and unplugged local bands focusing more on Irish style of folk music. Nothing in the area even comes close.“

Tetano 5576 days ago

“A clean shoppe, with a one-sided aisle of micros and a bunch of sixers & bombers in the cooler. Good representation of Midwest breweries (Mishawaka, Mad Anthony, Dark Horse, Warbird, Upland, Bell’s) as well as some quality nationals and imports (Stone, Rochefort, etc., etc.) Moderately priced. I did not regret stopping in for a look.“

frankenkitty 5702 days ago

“The ambiance of this place was the best thing about it with a quaint, pub-like feel. Mis-matched furnishings, comfy chairs in front of a fireplace, Irish decor as far as the eye could see. The downfall was that it was packed to the gills with college kids, and it wasn’t even a game weekend. We sat on the patio and alerted an inside server of our presence, but were neglected for 15 minutes and finally pushed through to the bar to get our drinks. $5 pints were not overly expensive, but I wouldn’t call it a value. We finally were able to grab a table (seat yourself!) and kept getting bumped into since the aisles were so narrow. Hop Devil on draught was a pleasant surprise, as well as Chimay. Otherwise the selection was rather common. Since there are few beer bars in the area, it may be worth it for you to stop here for a pint, but I was a little disappointed.“

frankenkitty 5702 days ago

“The beers are great. They have the gold standard for Guinness and it’s the best in Northern Indiana. The atmosphere is great! And the food is equally good. I’ve met some interesting people there -)“

ratmonkey 5762 days ago

“There were a couple times while I was at ND that I ventured out to find booze.. and these guys had at least a few beers that I picked up each time (not a bad selection, but nothing that I couldn’t get closer to campus). I ran into the same guy working there a couple times, and he was into the beer scece.. and we had some good conversations (I think he took another job, though).“

Ughsmash 5979 days ago