Latest reviews from 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“

mabel 2368 days ago

“Visited on a Saturday afternoon in early August 2015. Marble bartop with taps on for samples and fridges for beers to go. We tried a few but took most away with us, all turned out to be pretty decent. Friendly service for our short visit. Would drop in again if in the area. (4/8/10/NA/8/14) 72“

mabel 2368 days ago

“Decent little uptown brew pub - they brew twice a week and offer about 8 brews at a time on tap. Easy access to fill a growler with fresh craft beer. Good service, brews are fair, food is pub grb, no meals.“

pootzboy 3122 days ago

“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.“

Francois71 3143 days ago

“An upscale and very well designed brewpub. Modern, industrial and artsy. Service was passionate, lots of beers to choose from and flights available. Beer was all pretty solid with a couple of stand outs. This place was designed and executed very well. An Oasis for the area.“

Ferris 3153 days ago

“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.“

jercraigs 3187 days ago

“2015-08-01. Location is kind of in the middle of nowhere in a strip mall. The decor inside is actually nicer than you might expect given that. Nicely polished bar area with friendly staff behind the bar on our Saturday visit. 10+ bottles available, with most of those being available on draft as well. Some tables if you want to linger and have a drink as well. A kids table by the window seemed odd but probably well appreciated by those visiting with kids in tow! We packed up one of each of most of the bottles to take home.“

jercraigs 3189 days ago

“A very fine tasting room. Good service, atmosphere. Get your own food. Worth stopping in. “

Sammy 3434 days ago

“Hip brewpub in uptown Waterloo. Beer is somewhat pricey, but food is well-priced. Had the "Abe Burger", which was very good. 3 house-brewed beers on tap. On my second visit, the IPA was served from a bright tank, and was therefore more "casky" and therefore delicious. In addition to their three house brews, they have about 8 guest taps, all with good quality Ontario craft beers; enough to bring me here even if they didn’t have their own beers. Will be returning frequently!“

kevinsenn 3442 days ago

“the space is great! the kolsch is very good the hefe is passable the IPA needs work the cider (?) made off site, is surprisingly good the place was packed but the staff was handling it well, biggest negative was they sold me a growler of IPA when I asked for a growler of kolsch i hope they expand on the current house offerings and clean up the IPA very nice addition to the KW beer scene“

barncatmatt 3451 days ago

“When I visited: Mid-October 2014. What I had/bought: Flight of Innocente No Marzen For Error, Bystander APA, Glance Rye Pale Ale, and Conscience American IPA, sample of the DIPA (don’t remember the name), then purchased bottles of the No Marzen and Glance and a 16oz tulip. What I liked: Beautiful space inside with a large tasting bar, multiple tables, a dizzying array of schwag, and the brewing tanks in clear sight; impressive glassware selection; attentive and informative service; affordable prices; the Glance is a solid, rye-infused Blonde Ale (the one good beer out of five sampled); plenty of parking out front. What I disliked: Their hoppy beers need a lot of work, as the Bystander is acridly bitter and the Conscience has little to no aroma; I enjoyed the Marzen on tap but the bottled version was mediocre; they should market the Glance as a Rye Blonde/Golden Ale (a la Bell’s Smitten) since the hops merely add balance; similar to Brick they have a nice shiny brewery but most of the beer is ho-hum. Would I go back? Unless the beer improves substantially, probably not. Overall Rating: 64“

cratez 3453 days ago

“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“

cratez 3453 days ago

“I needed beer BADLY and it was 5:45 on a Sunday. The Beer Store and LCBO were closed. Oh, thank heaven for this place!“

sprintersrlazy 3516 days ago

“You can tell there was lots of money put into this place. A large tasting room with shiny new equipment in the back. Open to the brewery, you hear and smell what is going on. Tasters abound, but beer is a bit below par at the moment. They are new, so hopefully they figure out what they are doing. Not worth a trip, but close to other places that are.“

Ferris 3523 days ago

“A nice semi underground restaurant with stone walls and wood galore. Would have been great, but tack beer decor is everywhere. Service is good and selection of their beer is plentiful. Unfortunately beer is pretty bland. Food is nice though. Not worth a specific stop, bud not bad if you are around.“

Ferris 3523 days ago

“brand new brewery in a strip mall. tasting area and bottle shop. decent value for the beers offered. i be back once the core lineup expands. worth a stop if you are in the area.“

barncatmatt 3533 days ago

“Rating the actual place, not the "brewery".. plaza-front, a few stand-up tables inside at a bar, a cooler with walkout beer to buy and taps of each of their 3 flagship beers and a rotating tap for seasonals. Big brewery space. No food.“

rob6239 3549 days ago

“Very basic. Small walk in. Service was well, they cashed their beers. No chat. OK to grab few ticks for trades. Its better to go to restaurant and ask for samplers.“

Radek Kliber 3594 days ago

“Sports bar with plenty of drunk regulars. Service was passable. Food was weakest part. It was obvious that hamburgers were made of frozen patties .....They do offer cheap tasters. Beers were decent.“

Radek Kliber 3594 days ago

“Good uptown beer spot. Rotating taps (when I visited: some macro, some Ontario craft, one Rogue). And many bottles, many of which were good options. The bottles rotate as well, so I was able to find something new to try. There were even some bottles from Bellwoods on one of my visits! Friendly staff. Hipster clientèle. Bad acoustics (not a big place, not too many customers, but still really noisy chatter somehow). Would go here again.“

kevinsenn 3826 days ago

“I’ve been here many times over the years. It’s a remarkably decent spot in an otherwise horrible part of town for craft beer. They do have a lot of macro crap, but the craft taps rotate and they’ve always got a few decent offerings going. The food tends to be pretty decent by pub-fare standards, and the atmosphere is laid back. Despite being a student bar there is a distinct lack of obnoxiousness. Prices tend to be pretty good. Service can be pretty slow but they do get rather busy. It’s a great place to just sit and enjoy good company.“

JesseM 3954 days ago

“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.“

JesseM 4004 days ago

“Popped in to the Huether Hotel while my inlaws were in town recently for a few drinks and some lunch. The place is a nice cozy basement pub. Low light and lots of brick with a very friendly server. I started with a sampler and I quite enjoyed all of the beers in it - considering the fairly low ratings for the products, I was quite surprised by the quality. The lager was fresh and balanced and the bitter had a solid balance of malt and earthy/spicy hops. Our lunch was also pretty good - massive portions for the price (lunch could easily have been two meals). I’m not sure if there were quality problems before, but of the five beers I tried, four were absolutely solid for the style. No complaints here.“

JoeMcPhee 4155 days ago

“An old haunt of mine back in my biker days when it was a genuine road house with live music and cheap draft. The "Lanc" still has it’s roots as a roadhouse tavern in the decore and the blues music they play but has a sothern BBQ menu with great BBQ smoked pulled pork "po boys" or blackened catfish and fritters is a welcome change in KW’s sea of mundane cuisine. Good food but a bit pricey to feed 4 or more at about $15-20 a plate for a full meal. Beer is about $6 a pint and they get mostly Flying Monkeys, F&M, Steam Whistle. Welly or Brick. not much rotation although I have seen Hogs Back lager there. I stop in on Fridays for a Smashbomb and a pork sandwitch as a nostalgia thing and have caught the Sat. Jazz sessions upstairs. All in all it’s great to see someone take a risk revitalizing this grand old local landmark and doing well. Support them, they support craft beer, local producers and local history.“

pootzboy 4174 days ago

“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).“

kevinsenn 4177 days ago

“Great relaxing spot to taste some Ontario craft beers.“

hoppin_john 4200 days ago

“Great place! Fantastic BBQ and other southern/Cajun dishes; big portions at very good prices. A surprisingly large selection of beer, and all but one of them are Ontario craft brews. A couple really good ones, including Smash Bomb on tap. By far the best selection of beer I’ve seen in a restaurant in Waterloo (this will change when Beertown opens). Live blues on Fridays and Saturdays. But it’s not open on Sundays... what’s up with that?“

kevinsenn 4380 days ago

“Great Place, good selection amazing food. Beer selection is wide and contains a high percentage of craft breweries from across Canada.“

Stoutgirl86 4408 days ago

“Its a great LCBO. It’s Canada so you pay through the nose; but some good selection from Southern Tier which is pricey no matter where you look.“

Stoutgirl86 4408 days ago

“A great place with delights for the beer drinkers (Inus and Gunn on tap!) and your cocktail inclined friends. Amazing food! But you pay a lot to end up still a little hungry.“

Stoutgirl86 4408 days ago

“Descent food and much better service then Barley Works (upstairs and essentially same restaurant) But three words: Clean your lines!!!!“

Stoutgirl86 4408 days ago

“Like walking into an episode of Cheers but with better been, an amazing patio, better conversation and set in an old farm house. They serve exclusively local beers with the largest company being Mill Street, but usually smaller ones like Grad River, Flying Monkey and Wellington. Amazing selection including all kinds of seasonals and one offs. The staff know why they’re talking about too. $4.30 a pint! Food okay. They local free range beef and have reasonable gluten free options. Could really work on their vegetarian selection and are limited by lack of deep fryer. Get some fries guys!!“

Stoutgirl86 4408 days ago

“Cheap beer, that’s all there really is to say about it. At least, that’s all there was to it when I used to buy beer there. Sometimes would have to wait a minute or two for someone to actually come to the counter. Now they have a little U-Brew operation going there, but given the quality of the beer they sell, it’s probably not worth it. Very small selection of lagers only; if they sold the Huether’s "English Ale" I might actually come here to buy it. But no such luck. Frequent problems with 6-packs of Kings Pilsner (at least a couple years ago when I used to buy it), including caps not sealed properly (soaking my backpack in beer), bottles not filled all the way, and labels applied backwards or twice.“

kevinsenn 4426 days ago

“slightly better the the Waterloo town square store, easier to get to, more parking, same selection, best LCBO in Waterloo.“

barncatmatt 4473 days ago

“Very nice place. Hours are a little bizarre and I find them restricting. Food is fantastic, I’m not vegetarian but it’s the kind of place that will make you really enjoy not having meat. Beer selection is pretty solid, with an impressive bottle selection (like a beer geek went through the LCBO and chose stuff we would like). Taps don’t rotate much which kind of sucks. Prices are pretty reasonable. Service is quite friendly but rather slow. Has sort of a 1960’s counter-culture vibe to it, which unfortunately attracts some rather obnoxious people, but it’s not that bad if you can ignore people. Live music as well, which is always a plus. Worth checking out if you have nothing to do after 5pm in Uptown Waterloo.“

JesseM 4543 days ago

“Great little place in a historic old farm house on campus. Went with a friend of mine from UW. Place is sort of cozy on the inside with a lot of board games. Non-members have to pay a visitor fee of $5, and it’s not much more for a membership for students. Enjoyed some Flying Monkey’s Netherworld while there, and they had Smashbomb as well. Some Grand River taps with names specific to the place, as well as the ever-elusive Wellington Imperial Stout. Service was mediocre, seemed a little annoyed and or hostile when I had to admit I was neither a member or student of the school, but once I paid the fee everything was cool. I would go back and enjoy it. Worth checking out, especially if you’re around the University, although over-all I would still prefer the Kick Off which is near by. If you have a membership the prices on pints are very good, though a one time visit will be more pricey due to the fee.“

JesseM 4707 days ago

“Large patio is nice in the summer. The historic building is nice, and their in-house beers are quite cheap, and not bad. The English Ale is the best I’ve tried there. Food is decent, but the real value lies in the beer.“

kevinsenn 4780 days ago

“The only LCBO in the region where I’ve seen any Dogfish Head. This one, along with the one in Uptown, seems to get new beers first and more often.“

kevinsenn 4781 days ago

“Great selection, as far as the LCBO goes. Outside of Toronto, this is the best store I’ve seen.“

kevinsenn 4781 days ago

“Its an LCBO.. the second best in town for selection and service. Nice folk with a well stocked selection of LCBO standards and seasonal selections. Its still an LCBO but thjey have an above average selection of Micro and Craft.“

Zenwolf 4949 days ago

“Great place when its open.. very odd hours making it difficult to be a regular spot. When its open it serves really good vegetarian/ vegan friendly food (mostly snacks) and a fantastic selection of Microbrews. Mostly Ontario Craft brew on tap (2-3:5) and a whack load of bottles. Well priced and varied selection. Good atmosphere, friendly people.. shame about the hours..“

Zenwolf 4971 days ago

“Decent place with drinkable, but not fantastic in-house brew. The menu is vast and varied with something for everyone. Interesting building with several distinct areas with different feels (sports, patio, pool, dinner, etc). mostly a macro beer type place with the house brews as a cheap option.“

Zenwolf 4971 days ago

“I couldn’t reccomend for food or drink. true they have Mill street and Palm so they are above par, but there a dozen other places in town with similar / better beer selection with much better food.“

Zenwolf 5000 days ago

“Best LCBO in town. The buyer here does a great job of bringing in LCBO’s newest and best beers. Alway a new treat every week. That being said the LCBO is still too much of a monopoly. Too bad I have to go to Quebec or the states to find my favorite beers.“

Zenwolf 5000 days ago

“Nice place. Food was good. Three Mill St bottles, Tankhouse and Palm on tap.“

jimmay 5123 days ago

“Visited on a quiet Saturday afternoon in October, this small store offers a selection of GC brews from the walk-in fridge, singles and packs. I picked up a single and embarassingly had to go back for two more when I realized that they were separate ratings from next door’s Heuther Hotel. (How does that work, anyway? Aren’t they the same beers?) Friendly helpful staff manning the counter, and he didn’t even smirk at my antics at gathering ratings. No brews or food served here, only the store, which is pretty bare otherwise. Overall, glad I stopped in but probably wouldn’t seek it out for future 6-packs.“

mabel 5157 days ago

“This is the second best LCBO in all of KW. They often gets seasonals/new releases long before any other in the area, including the major Uptown location. The service has always been friendly in my experiences. My only major complaints would be the awkward location (traffic is horrendous in this part of town), and the slightly cramped feel to the store. The have an OCB isle, an isle for 6-packs, a fridge for Euro macro’s and assorted decent things, and the seasonals/special releases get one long aisle which tends to get crowded. Someone at this store obviously cares about good beer as they always seem to have too much stuff for the amount of space available (and it’s not all just crappy macro’s). I would frequent this store all the time if it were less of a hassle to get to, though due to their selection I tolerate the journey. I’ve rated in comparison to other LCBO’s.“

JesseM 5354 days ago

“huge LCBO with a good selection. the staff always seem agitated because this store is always busy. tthey dont rotate their stock or refridgerate the beer that needs it. i usually only buy belgians from this store because all the OCB stuff sits on a warm shelf. could be a great LCBO if they cared about beer.“

barncatmatt 5470 days ago

“Couple different spots in a nice old building. I usually go with the Barley Works, especially with a nice, really big patio in the summer. Decent selection of beers brewed on site. Food is nothing to get particularly excited about. Prices are pretty good. Certainly worth a visit when you’re in Waterloo.“

Spab 5660 days ago

“As noted below, the prices here are great. 4 beers available. You’re hopefully not coming for the ambiance (none) or the service (really slow at working thru the fairly lengthy line-up of folks eager to get cheap beer). But there’s a reason for the crowd - decent beer at excellent prices. Unfortunately that’s currently the only reason.“

Spab 5660 days ago