Beertown Public House - Waterloo

Visited on a Saturday afternoon in early August 2015. Stopped in for lunch with friends, we had some cheese curds that were battered and fried, I ate the fish tacos, and apparently the burger was excellent. It has a bit of a sports bar feel with light rock music playing. Friendly service but busy as the outside patio was stealing her attention away from our little group. Beer selection (tap and bottle list) is pretty decent for the area with lots of locals and larger area offerings, but nothing that stood out. Would return again if in town. (4/7/12/8/8/14) 74

Ce restaurant a une belle sélection d’une trentaine de futs. Le menu possède les classiques d’un pub avec quelques ajouts intéressants. Les tacos étaient tres bon. On y trouve une bonne quantité de téléviseurs diffusant du sport et l’ambiance est joyeuse et bruyante. Le service est courtois et excellent.

2015-08-01. Stopped by for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Good sized spot with large outdoor seating area and a range of seating options inside, including at the large bar. Server was friendly but not overly present (the patio was quite busy and she was splitting her time between sections). Draft and bottle lists are lengthy with a good range of styles but nothing particularly impressive today for the hardcore beer geek. Included a decent number of K-W and area microbreweries which was nice. Food was pretty good . My burger was excellent, the side ceasar was slightly over dressed but I kind of like it that way. Burger was slightly bigger than I needed. The rest of the menu has some decent offerings as well. Definitely worth a stop while in town! Pretty nice overall.

When I visited: Mid-October 2014. What I had: Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier and Block Three King Street Saison on tap, German Sausage and Potato Soup to start, Wienerschnitzel with Red Cabbage and Spaetzle for me, Chicken Club Sandwich and two glasses of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc for my fiancé. What I liked: Comfortable booth overlooking the front of the restaurant, quick and friendly service, tasty food (though my schnitzel was a bit dry), took in the full Oktoberfest experience here, we enjoyed all of our drinks. What I disliked: Beer selection is just okay, like the London location they have several macros on tap, prices are on the high side, this place is fun to visit for a casual lunch or dinner but it’s not a top-tier beer bar. Would I go back? If I’m in the area again, sure. Overall Rating: 68

Dropped in here for a belated birthday dinner. The business has died down enough that you can almost get a seat now. Tap selection is decent for wannabe-bourgeois Uptown Waterloo, lots of Ontario craft stuff and some decent imports, but nothing you couldn’t get at the LCBO. Bottle selection is pretty extensive and not horribly priced. They do have some seasonal taps that are rotated regularly so it’s worth asking about that. The staff are quite friendly and the food was delivered in a very reasonable amount of time. The atmosphere is kind of an upscale sports bar but the noise is pretty intense. This would be my only major complaint as I like to actually have conversations when sitting down for a meal. What I appreciate about this place is that the owner, the Charcoal Group, usually runs places that attempt to be upscale but want desperately to not be seen as ’snobby’, which usually results in an awkward failure. But with beertown they have a nice balance and despite their usual tendency towards Molson/InBev products, they actually offer a beer selection geared towards actual craft breweries.

Great atmosphere - light fixtures made from Ontario brewery kegs are very cool. Volume level is good at lunchtime, but very loud at dinner time. 4 rotating seasonal taps, plus a bunch of year-round ones, with some good selections like Delerium Tremens and Maudite. Proper glassware for all beers on tap, available to purchase for $5. Servers are very friendly and accommodating, but unfortunately not very knowledgeable when it comes to beer. Some tables have self-serve taps on them, which is pretty insane. A vast selection of beer, especially for K-W/Cambridge, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed in it as well. A few great craft offerings, and a bunch more mediocre craft/macro beers, with a huge emphasis on Ontario breweries. With the exception of a small handful of beers, all the beers here are readily available at the LCBO or Beer Store. I would’ve loved to see other offerings that are harder to find; this would definitely make me come in more. Food is reasonably priced, and very good; the quality I expected from the Charcoal group of restaurants, but at a lower-than-expected price. On a particular visit, the keg of Mad Tom had gone sour (they agreed once they tasted it themselves). They have an infuser, which is cool, but I think they’re still figuring out how to use it effectively. Update, April 2015: getting better. They now have some beers I can’t from LCBO/Beerstore. This includes US craft brews (Stone, Sierra Nevada) as well as new local breweries (Black Swan, Elora).