River City Brewing Company

River City Brewing CompanyRiver City Brewing Company
River City Brewing CompanyRiver City Brewing Company
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

835 Museum Circle
Jacksonville, Florida, 32207-9003
United States

// CLOSED //

Hours:
Mon-Thur: 2:30pm-11pm
Fri: 2:30pm-2am
Sat: 11:00am-2am
Sun: 11:00am-6pm
BEER STATS
Average:
3.53
Beers:
10
Ratings:
36
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.14
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
27
pDev:
17.2%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by woodychandler:
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Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev +17.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
This was a ginormous place overlooking the St. Johns River. Entering, the m.d.s. was just inside to the right with the bar area through a set of double doors still to the right. By going down a long ramp, we reached the octagonal wood and copper-topped bar. Further aft was seating on an outdoor wooden deck with its own bar for use primarily on weekends. The copper-jacketed brewhouse was to the right of the ramp and was visible behind glass. To the left of the ramp was their stage. Past the m.d.s. was a spiral staircase leading up to their private banquet facility. Further on was their opulent dining area with a panoramic view of the river.

Beers: Jag Light; Red Rooster; Jackson Pale Ale; Rip Tide Porter. Seasonal was a Summer Wheat.
Dec 16, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by Satorn from Florida

Jan 15, 2017
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Rated by valrxman from Florida

3.1/5  rDev -1.3%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 3 | service: 3.25 | selection: 3
Nope. Cheers
May 22, 2016
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Reviewed by acmurphy696 from Georgia

4.05/5  rDev +29%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 5 | selection: 3 | food: 4.75
My favorite place to visit during the Cocktail Party. The food is great, but I used to order a house porter that may no longer be available. I still plan to drop in if I make it to the Georgia-Florida game in late October.
May 06, 2016
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Reviewed by PorterLambic from Florida

3.3/5  rDev +5.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 2.5
This is a restaurant right on the river pretending to be a brewery. No indication that there is even a brewery on premises.
I got there late (for dinner, at least) and there is hardly anyone left in the place that isn't an employee.
Only had one of their red ales. It was ok, nothing more.
Had no food as I had eaten elsewhere 90 minutes previously. This was just a beer stop on the way back to the hotel.
May 01, 2016
 
Rated: 2.68 by max85 from Arizona

Dec 07, 2015
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Reviewed by tduecen from Louisiana

2.73/5  rDev -13.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 2 | food: 2.75
more of an upscale restaurant, the beer was very "meh" and not something I would do again. we went to drink and not really eat since we saw, "brewing company" and it should have said restaurant.
May 25, 2015
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Rated by goodshiz from Florida

3.81/5  rDev +21.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Very cool place to visit
Mar 14, 2015
 
Rated: 2.98 by Hop_God from California

Feb 25, 2015
 
Rated: 2.75 by Agentveba from North Carolina

Dec 11, 2014
 
Rated: 3.71 by Corburk from Pennsylvania

Jun 27, 2014
 
Rated: 2 by KVNBGRY from Florida

May 19, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by ashleylake from Florida

Jan 28, 2014
Photo of azorie
Reviewed by azorie from Florida

2.8/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 1 | food: 3.5
I am just giving a quick review here. WE used to go here back in the days before Craft took off again. It is a decent food place, that just happens to have a micro on the site.

if your going for the food and atmoshere its not bad at all, in fact if you sit near the water its quite nice.

It should not really IMHO be listed. in the beer locations of this Web site.
a beginner with an extract kit could make better beer.

avoid IF you want beer. I usually drink a blue moon from the bottle IF we go to eat here.

Really not much more to say. Its been reviewed under yelp and others because its frankly not a beer place but a Restaurant., I think i said that.

I been going here though since it opened. Its where most big companies have the xmas party frankly.
Jan 05, 2014
Photo of SaCkErZ9
Reviewed by SaCkErZ9 from South Carolina

1.83/5  rDev -41.7%
vibe: 2 | quality: 1 | service: 2.5 | selection: 1.5 | food: 3.25
Another sales meeting, another dinner at a brewery/brewpub. I love the company I work for. This place, however, was a huge "swing and a miss".

We had a large group of people, but we started out in different factions. I was with a group of about 6 to start with. We made our way by water taxi to the waterfront brewery location. Getting off the taxi, the place is easy to find, but actually getting in the place is quite cumbersome. One entrance to the left, another to the right, about 50 yards away. You miss the initial entrance because all of the outdoor seating and action are in the middle. So, you see the place to your left, and you are force to walk passed the place and circle back. Inconvenient at best.

Once in the establishmetn, more confusion ensues. They have two upstairs area, but the two are not connected from the outside. So walking up one set of stairs, under the belief you can get to both upstairs area, was again, inconvenient. There is a central staircase that leads upstairs, but that staircase is part and parcel to the outdoor brew pub part of the operation. There is a completely seperate restaurant area. Neither seem to be accesible to the other except at the side entrance.

The beer: In a word, horrible. They had a pale ale, porter, red ale, wheat, and light beer on draft. I ordered a pale ale, a buddy ordered a red, and another buddy ordered the porter. I swear to you, the pale and red were identical in color, and the porter was only 2 or 3 SRM darker than the pale and red. The waitress even said "I know, it doesnt look like a pale ale. We get that a lot". What? What kind of self respecting brewery knowingly puts out a subpar product? The beers tasted close to the same and they all tasted horrible. Sour, pithy, green apple, etc.

Here is the real kicker. We had a group of 90 people in our party, which was in one of the reserved upstairs dining room. They didnt even serve their own beer!!! It was all bottled stuff like Yuengling and Corona and Heineken. Again, what self respecting brewery has a party, and doesnt even serve their own beer?

The food was actually decent, but nothing outstanding. Some co-workers ate the fried gator and they were almost unanimously having stomach problems later that night. Luckily, I didnt get any of those, so I was "safe". I am not even going to waste my time reviewing the beers because they are all horrible.

I would never come back here. Even when everything was free, I was miserable. This place needs an ass-kicking. They are taking up very valuable real estate and giving beer a bad name. This place and Hilton Head Brewery are tied for the two worst in the country.
Oct 07, 2013
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Reviewed by kylehay2004 from Illinois

3.55/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
River city brewing company is in a great location on the south side of the st johns river in downtown Jacksonville, FL. In a few words this is an underachieving brewery which makes ok tasting beers for the masses. Their beers rarely offend however are simple. The cost is reasonable for the beer and food. The standard food menu is average but their Sunday brunch is excellent. Service isn't great or bad. The typical crowd is older usually at te happy hour and late night times. A great place to enjoy a drink is expectation it low or if you are also into wine or liquor.
Jun 08, 2012
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Reviewed by WoodBrew from Ohio

3/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3
It was Monday evening...A Monday night that included Monday night football just down the bay from this establishment....and it was dead. The only others here were a group of older people (mostly women) that were obviously in town for a conference of some sort. The tables were blan and the bar was small...not much going on which was a big surprise. The quality was mediocre at best...the food was ok, service was spotty, and the beer was eh. Our server was not overly knowledgable and seemed depressed to even be there....which I can;t blame her....there was not too many people there. The menu had much to choose from so the selection was average. The food was ok...the best was chips and salsa....but honestly...how hard is it to F up chips and salsa. The bill for four samplers and four appetizers came to $50 which I thought was reasonable.
Dec 08, 2011
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Reviewed by GarthDanielson from Virginia

3.2/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 4
While visiting JAX we ended up stopping by River City Brewing Company. The place was great visually, and we were seated right by one of the huge picture windows with a view of the bay. Awesome atmosphere, with a nautical theme to everything in the restaraunt. The waitress was very helpful initially, being able to describe all the the beer offerings available, including the specials, as well as a bit of a description of each, showing that she very likely has at least sampled the line-up. After that, she was basically off the grid. She delivered our beer orders, and then was nowhere to be seen for quite some time. I can understand this at times during extreme rush/busy hours, but this was early afternoon on a Monday. The place was at least 75% empty, and we waited forever just to order food. Once we ordered and received the food, it was extremely tasty. And overall, the prices were extremely reasonable. Three of us were able to eat and drink for under $40. On vacation from the LA area, that is absolutely amazing to me. Unfortunately, once we got the bill, we once again had to wait for our waitress just to pay. It seemed as though she had 7 breaks scheduled all while we were there. Other than service, this was a great visit. The bar area wasn't open while we were there, so I couldn't tell if they did growler fills or anything like that. Might be reason enough to further investigate on a return visit.
Mar 08, 2011
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Reviewed by chinchill from South Carolina

3.55/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
River City Brewing is disappointing as a brewery, inconsistent in food preparation, had shaky service, yet remains an attractive destination largely due to its location, featuring great views of the St. Johns River and the Jacksonville skyline.

They do offer an attractively priced ($3.25) beer sampler consisting of about 3 oz. samples of each of their 5 beers: the house beers on tap were a Light Lager, Red, Porter (more like a brown ale), an interesting high ABV bourbon triple (?) and a (weak) Pale Ale.
Other beers are available in bottles.

Their venue has 2 distinct areas: the brewery/bar, and the upscale restaurant. The former has a far more casual atmosphere and furnishing. Customers their can order off a bar food menu, as well as the upscale restaurant menu. Both sections have many tables with fine views, but the view is a little better from the restaurant, and can be a lot better if one sits inside.

Dining with 3 other people, I got to see and sample a variety of food offerings. This ranged from inedible (a spinach side) to improperly cooked (burnt scallops) to extraordinary (the bread pudding with fruit and rum sauce). Service was somewhat formal but too inattentive. Bread was served with no plates, and delays were long even though the restaurant was not busy.

Worth a visit for the exceptional views and fine atmosphere, at least in good weather, but set your expectations low.
Mar 06, 2011
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Reviewed by Radome from Florida

3.5/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
I stopped in for dinner and beer when nearby for business.

It was a very relaxing atmosphere. my friends and I ate outside on the patio overlooking the river and attractively illuminated bridges and buildings. The food was very good. I had a salad with walnuts and feta that was delicious. Other dishes at the table looked good as well. The service was fairly quick and attentive.

I tried the beer sampler and decided the Porter and the seasonal were my favorites. The house style tended to be very mild flavors and aromas. Every beer seemed to be on the lightest/least offensive end of its style spectrum. I would consider the beer forgettable if not for the very nice porter and the bourbon aged barley wine. The best part was that the beers were very cheap, even after happy hour ended.
Feb 27, 2011
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Reviewed by armock from New York

2.83/5  rDev -9.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 2.5 | food: 2.5
Atmosphere - I only went to the bar area but the rest of the place looks pretty decent. The bar area is where they do the brewing with the brew house is behind a glass wall by the entrance. Decent sized oval bar and some tables inside a a large seating area outside on the deck.

Quality/Selection - It seams like they cater more to the BMC crowd than craft drinkers. They only had four house beers on tap a Light Lager, Red, Porter, and a Pale.

Service - It wasn't bad but it wasn't better than average. With the 40 something year old bartenders complaining about their hangovers from the night before and that its too loud for a Saturday afternoon.

Food - Not all that impressive to say the least. I ordered a sandwich and it was like something I'd make at home to take to work for lunch. By that I mean the they used wonder bread.

Overall the other two brewpubs in town are better places to go for some local beer and food.
Nov 12, 2010
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Reviewed by wvukb from West Virginia

3.18/5  rDev +1.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2.5 | service: 4 | selection: 2.5 | food: 4
My visit to River City Brewing Company surrounded a bowl game in Fl. We stopped in to catch a basketball game and enjoy a few North Florida hand-crafted brews. While I will admit the selection was a little disappointing, I had the sampler, the atmosphere of the place and the friendly nature of the servers and owner was outstanding. The deck that oversees the St. James River is picturesque and the food was incredible. All in all, I'll give Anthony and his staff a pat on the back because of the atmosphere and service, but as far as a brew pub, this is much more of a restuarant than a brewery.
Feb 06, 2008
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Reviewed by gixxerman from Pennsylvania

3.2/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 2.5 | food: 3.5
Great place to stop on the way to the airport, from 4-7 they offer a $2.50 pint special on the house brews. I had a few of their RipTide Porters, it was roasty, chocolaty and had a hint of coffee. I give it a thumbs up, I think any porter lover will enjoy it. I am not sure of the ABV, but it doesn't knock you over the head.

I sampled the Crab Bisque, it was awesome. A very generous amount of crab, and a quite delicious!

The view is of the St. Johns River and downtown is quite picturesque. Be sure to bring that camera along, you'll want to use it. There are 2 marinas right outside of the patio, but I don't think there is any public docking available.

You choices are pretty limited in Jacksonville, but I think this is a great place to check out during happy hour or for dinner. They have live entertainment starting at 5:00 Wed - Sat if you are into that.
Sep 25, 2007
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Reviewed by nickfl from Florida

2.98/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3 | selection: 2.5 | food: 4
This is an odd place to review because it is really like two separate establishments sharing the same building.

(note: for the numbers above, I will be referring to the restaurant, because the bar isn't really worth going to).

The restaurant is a nice, relatively upscale, location on the river downtown. The atmosphere is great; in no small part due to the excellent view of Jacksonville's attractive downtown skyline. As I recall the food is quite good; but I have to admit it has been a couple of years since I have eaten there.

The bar is about as different from the restaurant as one could imagine. It is a dark, dank, dive and on the weekends it is a meat market. Most people there drink buckets of macro beer and I really can't understand why they bother making their own beer.

The Beer itself is pretty average. They brew a handful of standard session beers and while none are particularly bad, none are very good either. The thing that strikes me most about the beer is that it in no way justifies coming to one of the shittiest bars in town.

If you come here for dinner you have the option of enjoying a decent beer with your meal (which is more than you can say for most good restaurants in Jacksonville), but it you come here to go to the bar, you will regret it.
Sep 24, 2007
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Reviewed by Redrover from Wisconsin

3.3/5  rDev +5.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
Located right on the St. Johns River and directly opposite the touristy Landings, the RCBC seems to more of an upscale restaurant vs. a normal brewpub.

The bar is separate from the large dinning area. I was only in the bar, so I’ll restrict my comments to that area. They have a copper toped island bar with seating for about 20. There are plenty of tables to seat about 80 more. There are a couple of different elevations, which add some visual interest, but the best part of the bars is the great view of the river. They have some good happy hour specials.

The bar menu is decent with a variety of appetizers, sandwiches, salads and entrees. I liked my oysters and the salad; the gumbo was ok but not a world-beater.

The bartender was fast, friendly and accommodating. Sparse crowd of about 15 in the bar and I was the only one drinking beer....
They offered 4 regular beers and one seasonal. The seasonal was the brown ale. The beers were ok, I did like the porter.

The restaurant section was packed so; I’m guessing most folks view this as a dining and not a drinking location.

Since my hotel was close, the RCBC was made to order. I'm not sure if I would go out my way to come here.
Feb 07, 2007
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Reviewed by redmosquito from Michigan

2.68/5  rDev -14.6%
vibe: 1.5 | quality: 1.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 2 | food: 4.5
When planning my trip to Florida, I had few expectations for quality craft beer, since my two previous trips hadn't turned any up. But as I researched I noticed that the Jax/ St. Augustine area had a few independent brewpubs (2 of 3 turned out to be chain pubs with different names), so I started to get a little excited for River City.


When I arrived I noticed a large "Miller Lite" banner outside, but with the Superbowl in town last week and the Daytona 500 next week I thought "no big deal." Inside the pub it seemed to have a neat nautical theme which I thought was a nice touch knowing they were attached to a marina. The ambiance took a turn sour since the restaurant is definitely geared up to be a shirt and tie affair. That's fine, I had a collar on my shirt. I was also very disappointed that the brew house was in the bar which didn't open until later (we were in at lunch), and wasn't even visable elsewhere in the restaurant. I use the term restaurant specifically because that's what this is. Ivery good restaurant that claims to be a brewpub. The small selection of beers were of a poor quality, and were of no major signifigance to the whole of the experience.

The service was very good, even though the wait staff was poorly educated about beer, and the food was excellent. But if you are in search of beer (good beer) search elsewhere.
Feb 21, 2005
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Reviewed by tigerpaws from South Carolina

4.28/5  rDev +36.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This is not your typical brewpub, more like an upscale restaurant. Great setting overlooking the waterfront and downtown Jacksonville. The food and service were excellent, the beers good but bot to die for. I would recommend trying this place out, but don't expect the Cheers atmosphere........Prost
Jun 30, 2002
River City Brewing Company in Jacksonville, FL
Brewery rating: 3.53 out of 5 with 36 ratings