Latest reviews from Novato
| 76 /100 1016 RAILROAD AVE “Smallish place just over the tracks. Some street parking. Decently busy on a Thursday. No food; apparently there are sometimes trucks. 12 taps, but several were out on my visit. 3oz pours are $3 each. No crazy styles. Beer quality was good across lagers and ipa. Good service. Laid back atmosphere. Not a destination, but if you are in Novato it is worthy of a visit.“ |
| 56 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “I would've been excited to visit this place 10+ years ago. Now it sort of feels like a tired old brewpub that is struggling to stay relevant. I visited shortly after California's Covid reopening and they had 10 beers on tap, all available in 4 oz pours for $2 (incl tax). None of their taplist really stood out, so I just picked off the few I'd never tried, which weren't terribly interesting. Pleasant enough service. Not worth a stop nowadays if this experience is representative.“ |
| 84 /100 Beercraft - Novato (Beer Store) 7388 REDWOOD BLVD. “Minutes off the 101 at the far north end of the North Bay. Around 20 taps, CA-heavy. They clearly have their favorites (Cellarmaker, Bottle Logic, Alvarado Street - very good taste) and a small but well-curated bottles for there or to go. I'm a sucker for places like this - straightforward but well-curated. Worth a stop.“ |
| 84 /100 Beercraft - Novato (Beer Store) 7388 REDWOOD BLVD. “Nice little place amidst other small shops not far off 101. This is pretty much the same set up as the Rohnert Park location with the one difference being you can actually browse the bottle selection while drinking a beer. No invisible line between the taproom and bottle shop portion. Almost all the beer is cold stored and fresh which is a big plus. Great selection of interesting bottles I don’t see at other places. The owners are both big beer nerds and therefore up on all the new hotness. Occasionally they’ll make trips to Oregon and SoCal and bring back some out of market goodies, so like I already stated, pretty much the same as the original location in Rohnert Park. Prices are fair. They seem to always have at least one or two beers from Cellarmaker and Sante Adairius on tap along with some of the cool new breweries from Sacramento, which is rare around here. This is definitely a must stop for me even if I’m already going to the other store, since the beers on tap are usually different. Tap lists are updated regularly on their website for both places and you can compare them side by side. One of the better bottle shops/taprooms in the Bay Area.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Visited on 01/02/16 around mid day not so long after opening.
Old skool brewpub kind of set up. One large room, bar to the right as you enter with stools and high tables immediately behind then the rest of the joint is a more formal sit down and eat kind of place. Lots of wood being put forward in the decor ... kind of felt like the 90’s !
20 or so beers on tap across a wide spectrum of styles. No greats but plenty of drinkable numbers and smaller batch offerings including one on cask. Some bottles to go also being offered. You can see some of the brewing kit behind the bar. Service was prompt and friendly and our server turned round the best part of twenty beers on a tasting tray in good time ! The place slowly filled up with locals taking their lunch and boosting but being a Monday it never got particularly busy.
If you are in the area and have time it’s well worth taking the two minute detour from 101 and getting some ticks in ya !“ |
| 80 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “A solid all around brewpub. They have 15-20 beers on tap, so plenty to keep you interested. The quality level is maybe just a touch above average; stylistically, a lot of the beers seemed to be stuck somewhere around the year 2000. The pricing is fair. The service is pro - quick and efficient. Beyond the long bar, the place has the look and feel of a casual restaurant. We didn’t eat during our visit, but the food seemed pretty good. I’m not sure I would go much out of my way to visit here, but it is a worthwhile place.“ |
| 70 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Big brewpub, tons of seating capacity, tons of beers on tap and lots of food. They do samples of everything, service is a little uninterested but fine. Didn’t try the food but it looked average at best. Beers were good for 10 years ago, but a bit boring by today’s standards. Decent stop, but not someplace I’d like to visit with any regularity.“ |
| 76 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Big place right off of 101. The large bar was decorated with all kinds of Irish American bric-a-brac and was generally cozy. The 20ish beers on tap were decent. They covered a range that ran from 1990s brewpub staples (Irish red) to things that were a bit more creative. Prices seemed reasonable and service was brisk. While Moylan’s won’t blow your doors off, I’d recommend it as a place worth checking out.“ |
| 78 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Stopped in here close to opening on a Monday and got a flight of everything. All but a few were new, and everything was decent. Didn’t eat but some others in our group did and it looked good. Prices were fair, service was quick. The place itself is not in a very interesting area, just off 101 at one of the Novato exits. From the outside, it’s a well-kept, newer looking building than it is. Inside, it’s roomy and about what I expected, using wood and tile and flags to aim for an older, lived-in feel. There were certain commonalities between this place and Marin - I’m wondering if there’s some common ownership between the two, given the county they’re in and some of the small, subtle touches. Both places are about even, too. Worth visiting.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Big brewpub. Bit old school beers style wise, but solid for what it is. Some brews were pretty mediocre. 18 house beers on draft, which of almost all were new ticks for me. Huge flight with all of these available at a good price. Close to the freeway so easy to drop by on the way to/from Santa Rosa. Service was quick, especially considering they poured an 18 beer flight.“ |
| 76 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “A large brewpub with a nice big bar area. Service is great and very accommodating to tickers. Large selection of beers at a good price for a full taster. Beers were solid with a few stand outs. Good stop.“ |
| 72 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Stopped in here driving to San Rosa. 20 tick sampler tray, go big or go home. The beers ranged from blah to alright. Rather open floor plan created a good atmosphere for drinking. They do not have a divider for the urinals making it a co-pilot system in the pissers. A local told us about a short-cut to avoid traffic.“ |
| 78 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “always enjoy Moylans - usually a couple new beers on, but the classics are solid, as is the food.“ |
| 68 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Standard, old school irish brewpub vibe that feels a little like a chain. Looks like there are a lot of regulars here. Many beers on tap and the service was quick. Tasters are cheap so it’s easy to try a good portion of their lineup. The bar area is long and there is a lot of seating. A solid choice for the area.“ |
| 94 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Solid food. Orange and black is a unique beer that tastes like an orange creamsicle. The ES-Tea is an incredible Earl Grey tea beer.“ |
| 72 /100 HopMonk - Novato (Restaurant) 224 VINTAGE WAY “Nice little island of beer, food and music in an otherwise unremarkable mall in Novato. Outdoor ’beer garden’ with a stage as well as a ’bar-within-a-bar’ indoors that hosts live music essentially every night. Beer list is (iirc) ~15 with about 1/3 Hopmonk beers (average but tasty) and 2/3 guests with some local gems on all the time. Food is very very good, the lunch specials are particularly great.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Stopped in for a beer on the way to San Francisco. Friendly service. Good selection of beers including two casks. Good sized bar and an ample amount of tables. Not too busy on Friday around noon. Didn’t try the food.“ |
| 78 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Run by the same folks as Marin Brewing. I believe this was the ’first’ of the two, but don’t hold me to that. Exactly the same layout as MBC, minus the outdoor area down there. Food menu is also basically the same. Beer selection @ Moylan’s tends to be lengthier and personally I like them a bit better (especially with more low-ABV options that fit well with a quick lunch in Novato). Solid.“ |
| 74 /100 Whole Foods Market - Novato (Grocery Store) 790 DELONG AVE “Average size Whole Foods (ok, larger for California) with about 25 ft of beer. They have it in three different areas so you get the feeling they would have more if they had the space. There is a section for Pliny but like everyone else they are out. Delivery is on Tuesdays (2 bottle limit).“ |
| 76 /100 Whole Foods Market - Novato (Grocery Store) 790 DELONG AVE “This is a huge store. Jeeze. Anyway, despite the overall size of the store, the beer selection isn’t quite as good as some of the other locations. Pretty basic selection of imports, decent amount of local stuff and some of the more popular items from SoCal. They did have bottles of Pliny, other North Bay staples like Lagunitas, Bear Republic, Moylans, etc as well. Not the most amazing beer selection, but pretty respectable.“ |
| 80 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Conveniently located right off of 101. In a small little shopping center with a McDonalds. The interior is a pretty typical brewpub set up. Nice long bar with some bar tables and regular booth/table seating as well. Lots of beers on tap with a good mix of the usual bottled offerings, a couple casks, and some brewpub only beers. Service was really friendly and fast. They do tasters of all of their beers for about $1.50, which is appreciated. Didn’t eat, but seemed like pretty typical brewpub food. Certainly worth a stop.“ |
| 74 /100 HopMonk - Novato (Restaurant) 224 VINTAGE WAY “This is in the same shopping center as the Novato BevMo (it’s also just across the street from Moylans). The restaurant is fairly large and has a small little patio right near the main entrance. Not a huge beer list, but it includes the Hopmonk beers so you don’t have to drive all the way to Sebastapol to try them. Nice wooden interior and decor. Some high top bench tables in the bar area and plenty of booth seating available, too. Kind of dark inside, but that’s okay with me. Service was quick and friendly. It was kind of empty for an afternoon evening.“ |
| 66 /100 Beverages and More (BevMo!) - Novato (Beer Store) 104 VINTAGE WAY “This place was really hard to find by following the directions from my GPS. It’s in a fairly large shopping center, but it’s actually quite near the first entrance from the intersection of Vintage and Rowland. Inside, it’s pretty much your typical BevMo. Selection is the usual Firestone, Deschutes, Stone, Ballast Point, Knee Deep, Hermitage, Hebrew, Chimay, Rochefort, etc. They did have some special releases available (Double DBA, Abyss, etc.). Service was just okay.“ |
| 80 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “We didn’t arrive until about 9:30 or so but the restaurant was still open and full of people. There was a really nice atmosphere and the employees were helpful. The place looks more like a cafeteria than a brewery or a restaurant. There’s a long bar on the one side and theres plenty of beers to try from.
I got a sampler of everything they had which was about 16 different things at that time. What I thought was neat was the fact that they had some cask aged versions of some of their beers. Found some pretty good ones. I got a burger that was really good especially after drinking a bunch of beer and my friend got the fish and chips which wasn’t very good. The beer prices weren’t too bad but the food prices made up for it. I think we spent $55 for the sampler, 2 meals, and a pint glass. Update: summer 2012, stopped in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon while meeting some up and coming brewers that were still in the process of raising money to open a brewery (Beltane and Van Houten). Much quieter and more easy going. Tried a couple of new beers including the Orange and Black world series beer.“ |
| 78 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “A rather huge restaurant with a very long bar. A great and very variared selection of their beers on tap. Friendly staff and very reasonable prices specially on bombers to go.“ |
| 80 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Nice interior, but a bit dark. Friendly and mostly quick service, and the selection is almost as good as one can expect from a brewpub. Didn’t get to try all of them, but there’s certainly some fine brews coming out of this brewpub. Didn’t get to try the food. I you’re to chose between Marin and Moylans, I’d say go for Marin and sit outside if the weather is good. Else, I’d go for Moylans.“ |
| 56 /100 Whole Foods Market - Novato (Grocery Store) 790 DELONG AVE “Stopped in basically because it has a very high score on the RB app for some reason. The store itself is quite nice, but the beer selection is seriously lacking. Not even good for a whole foods. Some locals and a few easy to find Belgian and German beers. Meh.“ |
| 78 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Drove up on a day when the wife was going to a show. Asked for a sampler flight and was served a platter with about 17 4 oz samples on it, for $34. Interesting! Staff was super friendly - I didnt ask, but I think I was served by Chelsea Moylan (of Chelsea Moylans Porter). Beers ranged from mediocre to pretty good. Food was fair to middlin.“ |
| 68 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Feels a little odd inside, kind of like a chain Irish feeling family restaurant brewpub. Service was great, prices were fair, couple of things on draft from them that I have never had/seen. Easy to get to if driving by, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get here“ |
| 86 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Spacious pub/ sports bar, nice warm atmosphere. Menu has a variety of traditional and neuvo pub fare, even enticing vegetarian options. 16 Moylan’s brews on tap including seasonal and cask options. Samples are $1.75 for four ounce, which may seem pricey, but some of the higher abv are only available in 10oz servings anyway. I had the Californian sandwich, piled high with veg and mashed taters with brown gravy. No complaints except some of the menu items seemed over priced, but then again the food was good quality. waitress was very nice and accommodating.“ |
| 68 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Overall an okay place. Situated like a restaurant / brewpub with a long bar. Service was pleasant, we didn’t have any food on this trip, pricing was fair. Overall worth a stop if you like their beer.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Stopped in here on my way to Russian River one day. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it here. The place is absolutely huge with a massive bar. There must be 30 seats at this bar, no joke. Lots of tables as well. The ambiance was typical of a nice brewpub. The service was pretty good. The girl at the bar didn’t seem particularly knowledgable about the beer, but she was friendly and gave me free samples of the beers that didn’t come with the sample tray. The selection of Moylans beer was impressive. I didn’t count, but it seemed like there was at least 25 different beers with a couple cask options. A good number of them are not available in bottles. The Hopsickle was amazing on draft. Much better than the bottled version in my opinion. I only got the beer sampler and it was reasonably priced. I think this place gets lost in the sea of great craft beer in this area, but I will try to definitely put this in my rotation when I’m up in the north bay.“ |
| 78 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Great joint. 16 house taps with samplers available. Cool beer hall vibe. TVs and outdoor seating.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “(Visited 01/2011): Moylan’s is located off the 101 in Novato right past a busy intersection on Rowland. The brewpub has a private parking lot.
Inside the bar is along the right wall, and there is restaurant style seating elsewhere. The place is relatively dark and has a casual atmosphere. Some Moylan’s breweriana as well as TVs behind the bar, along with a tap listing. Dart boards in the back too.
The brewpub has around 12 beers on tap with some seasonals and at least one cask ale. Aside from the flagship beers they have one-offs like Wet Hopsickle (Chardonnay Barrel) and a 2 year-old Old Blarney on my visit. The beers are average to above average overall.
Service on a slow weekday lunch was good. The bartender was approachable and knew their beers.
Salads and sandwiches for me and my colleague were pretty standard fare.
Overall this brewpub doesn’t really stand out, especially when compared with a place like Russian River, but it is worth checking out for travelers in the area.“ |
| 84 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Believe it or not the Barleywine from Moylans is about as good as it gets. I give them high marks for that alone they have a ton of their own beers on tap and cover a lot of ground with the variety.
Food is really good and prices are fair.
A great stop on the way to and from Russian River or an easy stop on the way home from napa.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “seems like it is in an old corporate restaurant. Good food menu, pork tenderloin sandwich was ggod, as was NE Clam chowder. decent selection of house drafts, lots of hops. nice beer on cask. Nice stop“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Came in on a fri night and found a spot at the bar pretty quick. The tile on the floor is hideous and puts a damper on the ambiance...however the tables are spread out well so it isn’t too noisy. Didn’t order any food, but menu looked like average fare. Huge beer selection. I think 15 or 20 of their beers on tap. Even had a nitro imp stout and a special cask ale. All in all good place.“ |
| 60 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Pretty typical brewpub in a suburban stripmall. Right off of a freeway exit (convenient)
The full selection of Moylans delicious beers.
Food was average and prices were kind of high. Service was fine. Classic rock and sports...meh.
Not bad if you’re in Novato and Moylans beers ARE pretty damn good.
Overall impression: as a restaurant only average as a brewery pretty nice.“ |
| 72 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “My first stop on a trip up the West coast from San Francisco to Washington. Looks like a small-scale chain brew-pub from the outside (Think BJ’s Brewery), until you see the beer list board inside. Very clean, lots of wood in a lodge-type atmosphere. I was not surprised to see other hiopheads decked out in Stone or Russian River regalia apparently doing the same thing I was -- Amazing BreweryTour 2010 up the coast. Food was typical pub, not great, but OK. They are stingy and serve mainly their own brews, but the hopsickle was flowing in about three versions so I couldn’t complain. Left happy. Bill was not cheap, but it was a weekend, middle of day, no happy hour. Turned out that I went there for the hopsickle but found the Nor-Cal on tap to be an amazing session ale. Go visit. Take pictures, and watch ’em smile at the beer nerd.“ |
| 86 /100 Whole Foods Market - Novato (Grocery Store) 790 DELONG AVE “Opening day, much bigger than WF in san rafael or petaluma, very fancy store, almost on the level of the potrero hill store. in fact, basically the fanciest WF i have seen to date, but not the biggest. awesome attached parking garage, upper level dining area, lots of other trick shit. good beer selection as always, but lots of stuff new to WF in the north bay. carrying multiple selections from valley brew, jolly pumpkin, brew dog, goose island, lost abbey/port, etc. st. b abt 12, rodenbach grand cru, cuvee renee, etc. great prices on RR stuff. a very solid selection and plenty of room, lots of singles, i would expect to see more one offs and seasonal stuff as it progresses. talked to the beer guy, hes into trying things and is seeking out new fun beers for WF to carry. good location, glad it happens to be near my house. *update:* this place has been stepping it up nicely. now carrying 5 selections from hitachino nest, several lost abbey and port brews, 5-6 valley brews, fair selction of belgians, saosons, etc. st. b abt 12 in small and large bottles, nice singles, old raspy 12, and a good bit of other stuff.“ |
| 88 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “We loved visiting this brewery, the selection and tasting options were amazing. We also ate lunch, which was reasonably priced and tasty. Downtown Navato.“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Moylan’s is a place I probably would not have wanted to visit were it not located so close to San Francisco. My reasoning was that I can try their stuff in the bottles and it’s widely distributed at that. I could have missed on smoething though as you can encounter a whole lot of exclusivities on the premises. The beer is cheap for what is pretty much a SF suburb and tasty. Outside, it’s another strip mall and gaz stations area. Inside, you have the bar area which feels welcoming enough and the rest is a large restaurant where families are welcome. It does not feel like a beer-geek place, but the board tells you otherwise and could keep you there for a few hours. T-shirts are particularly nice if you’re into that stuff.“ |
| 90 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “I love this place. It has everything you want in a brewpub. Nice bar, pizza, beer to go and good salads. Big selection and extreme beers.“ |
| 80 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Pretty nice looking brewpub, a bit of a surfer dude motif going on, but otherwise pretty similar to Marin which is owned by Mr. Moylan as well. The service was very prompt, and the barmaid was gorgeous which certainly didn’t hurt either. Got to drink the Moylander which was delicious and one of the barrel aged Hopsickles which was not to my liking and then had a regular Hopsickle as well because I love that beer and it’s too expensive to buy bombers of anymore. Pretty solid brewpub all in all, and not too busy.“ |
| 84 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “I stopped by for the first time on a trip back from Sacramento. The place was remarkably clean for a beerpub, and they had two very nice cask beers (Extra Bitter and Kiltsickle - which was the Batch 1000 Double Kiltliftear aged in a Hopsickle Barrel...served on Cask.E It was excellent. I had the Moylan’s Black & Blue Burger for 10.95. This is the Moylan’s Burger Blackened with Cajun Spices and Topped with Crumbled Bleu Cheese. It was delicious. The garlic fries had a ton of garlic on them. I had some samplers and like the fact they will serve all their beers in samplers, including the cask ones. The service was excellent. I loved this place and will be back.“ |
| 88 /100 Finnegans Marin (Restaurant) 877 GRANT AVE “Outstanding Restaurant located in Old Town Novato. Great Beer, Great FOOD and you’ll feel right at home! It’s more of a Irish Pub/Sports Bar but the food and drink... it AWESOME!!!!“ |
| 74 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “Pretty standard restaurant style brewpub with little glitz or swank (not really needed) and plenty worn-in. It has the feel of the Marin brewpub. Both the food offerings and brew offerings were pretty darn solid but well short of being stellar. I had the wet Hopsickle that was very nice and near stellar though, yum. This is certainly the kind of place I will enjoy coming back to the next time I’m in the area.“ |
| 84 /100 15 ROWLAND WAY “great place, i live right down the street and go there 1-5 times a week. it is a godsend ! they have at least a dozen beers on tap at given time, usually a couple exclusives, as well as having cask aged exclusives regularly. they usually have a good selection of bottles too. its a good brewery atmosphere with several tv’s in the bar area, friendly(and cute) staff, but not really a family place or stand alone restaurant. the food is decent, its always good sized portions and is decent quality, but i don’t go if i don’t plan on drinking. the staff is overall pretty knowledgeable about the brews. they aren’t pushy, but aren’t in a hurry either. it has the sorta old west feel of a slow saloon where you hang out for a while, not chug a beer and be in and out. a great local oasis, especially in the north bay brewery badlands. also just about any discount liquor store in novato will carry at least a half dozen of their brews. well worth the trip. don’t expect to be charmed, but you can expect great bee“ |
