The Liberty

The LibertyThe Liberty
The LibertyThe Liberty
Bar, Eatery

1812 South Blvd
Charlotte, North Carolina, 28203
United States

// CLOSED //
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.93
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
16
pDev:
8.4%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by cptbenjamin:
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Rated by cptbenjamin from North Carolina

4/5  rDev +1.8%

Oct 13, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.37 by RUN-4-B33R from North Carolina

Dec 16, 2015
 
Rated: 4.11 by bostonbeans from Massachusetts

Aug 15, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by WOLFGANG from South Carolina

Mar 20, 2015
 
Rated: 4.11 by dailyminefield from North Carolina

Feb 13, 2015
Photo of evan35
Rated by evan35 from North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -17.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.25 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
I don't find this place worth the price. I'd rather go to the local breweries and drink it from the source and grab a bite from the food truck.
Jan 21, 2015
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Reviewed by surfcaster from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%
Really good place for craft beer and great for the family. The beer list is very strong with lots of local craft but great stuff from the West Coast (can usually find some Sculpin on tap) and mid west.

Food is outstanding and a good value and the place is perfect for a family--simple understated atmosphere.
Sep 07, 2014
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Reviewed by DVMin98 from North Carolina

4.33/5  rDev +10.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
This is kinda my go-to place in Charlotte as its about 3 blocks from my work.

They always have a great selection of beers on tap. They have 20 beers at all times, with varying craft brews, except for the standards of PBR and Guiness. They also have a decent selection of bottles, and on occasion, they have a secret beer that is posted on FB that you have to ask for. A couple of times, they've have KBS or The Oracle as their secret beers, so not bad.

Matty, one of the owners, is one of the coolest guys you will meet. On occasion he'll just hop behind the bar and pop open a bomber of something special and share it with you. That's how I learned about Blushing Monk and Barrel Aged Human Blockhead, back in the day. You gotta love someone that enjoys beer so much, they just want to share!!!

The food is upscale pub food, though they do tend to have other items like pork chops, and he Kobe Short Ribs (awesome) etc on the menu. The Devils on Horseback are frickin' amazing. And something as simple as the bleu cheese chips really hit the spot.

The atmosphere in the bar area is really nice. The dining room isn't really big, but adequate. The part that takes it over the top is the downstairs area. I salivate everytime I go down there because Matty has his rare beers in a cabinet right there. I think my nose print is on almost every cabinet. 2010 Nemisis, Pliny, you name it, he's got it. Can I have the key please???

Overall, I love the Liberty. I often take the wife for the beer dinners and special events, like the Founders tastings.

Well done Matty and co. I will be back on a regular basis!
Oct 17, 2012
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Reviewed by pmatz2 from Illinois

3.35/5  rDev -14.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Went on a Monday Night during Charlotte's restaurant week. A number of restaurants offer an Appetizer, Entree and Desert for $30. Excellent value at this price. Overall good selection on tap. I was able to have a few beers on tap that I've only experienced in bottles. Really enjoyed the food. Service wasn't the best. I'm not from the area so I probably won't have an opportunity to go back. However If I'm back in the area and there were beers on tap that I wanted to try I would go back. Hopefully the service will improve
Jul 29, 2012
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Reviewed by Mantooth from North Carolina

3.55/5  rDev -9.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
The Liberty has some very nice brews, draft & bottled. Here's their current draft lineup as of 2/9/12:

Kind Pale Ale (Charlotte)
Sam Adams Revolution Rye Ale
Gulden Draak, Belgian Strong Ale (10.5%ABV)
G. Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti (RARE!, 9.5%ABV)
Original Sin Cider (100% Green Apples)
Pabst Blue Ribbon Lager
Spaten Lager
Chimay Triple Biere Trappiste (8% ABV)
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA (9%ABV)
Guinness Stout
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale (Rare, 9.6%ABV)
Dogfish Palo Santo Brown (12% SUPER RARE!)
Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
Old Meck Brewing Copper (South Blvd)
Smuttynose Barleywine (11.1%, only keg in NC)
Olde Hickory Table Rock Pale Ale (Hickory)
Mother Earth Weeping Willow Wit (NC)
Lagunitas IPA
Lagunitas “Brown Shugga” Ale(9.9%ABV)
Heavy Seas Siren Noire Imperial Chocolate (8%)

The atmosphere is good but I find the service to be pretty average at best, my girlfriend didn't care for the service at all.

We tried what the Observer (local newspaper) called the best burger in Charlotte. It was okay, no biggie - and at $10 a pop, no way I order it again. I've had a salad there as well, also so-so. I hear folks rave about the food here; I don't get it.

I will give them bonus points for running a nice CBS/KBS tasting with 2011 CBS & KBS, 2010 KBS and a barrel aged KBS; however, it wasn't managed well. The first folks in the door (including me) got small flight glasses worth for our $50 investment. I sat at the bar, right beside the tenders... folks who arrived fifteen minutes later were getting 3/4 filled pint glasses for their money. I did get hooked up after complaining a bit but a lot of people didn't.

All in all it's a neat spot with good beer but the food & bev are overrated for the price. I'll stop by for special events or if they happen to have an amazing brew I can't find elsewhere.
Feb 09, 2012
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Reviewed by PhillyStyle from Georgia

3.88/5  rDev -1.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Visited on a Thursday night for dinner, October 2011:

The atmosphere of the place was good, they had the doors to the outside seating open as it was a nice evening and they had an acoustic guitar player on the patio. We sat in the bar area, which was fairly full given that the MLB playoffs were on TV as well as some college football games.

We were seated promptly and greeted promptly by our server. We were provided with a beer list, which was rather extensive and full of North Carolina beers. I tried the Olde Mecklenburg Copper, which was good. The server had some knowledge of the beer on the menu, but not much about beer. The food was also good, we tried a few apps and I also had a burger. We found the prices to be reasonable. Overall, the place was good and worth the visit, but probably not a place that I would frequent often when I visit Charlotte.
Nov 08, 2011
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Reviewed by Bung from Michigan

4/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Been here a couple times now. First time was to score some Hopslam, so I really wasn't paying much attention to the place. This time I tried to take it in a bit more.

Restaurant left, nice open high ceiling bar area right when entering. Both places could provide a comfortable place, but the bar has a couple televisions and we were here on a Saturday afternoon. One bartender working the bar and whole room, she should have had some help. Still she provided good service, though minimal beer knowledge. It's apparent they try to have some knowledge, they just have incorrect knowledge. Either way that doesn't bother me, but someone not knowing could be led astray.

Nice selecion of taps, varied in style, local, regional and national stuff. Looked like they got a new tap island since the last time I was in. Prices are a little higher, but that is the clientel they are trying for. The food is also foodie-esque and higher end. Not the typical pub grub, cheese fries are not ballpark sauce covered so be prepared. I liked them, but my wife wanted the artery cloggers. Claim to have the best burgers in town, I can't argue a whole lot with that.

All and all worth a stop.
Nov 08, 2011
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Reviewed by SaCkErZ9 from South Carolina

3.58/5  rDev -8.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Stopped by here for lunch one day after browsing the Beerfly directory for Charlotte. Never heard of this place so I decided to give it a try.

I sat in the bar area immediately to the right as one enters the establishment. The place was slightly hidden from South Blvd but I caught the place in the nick of time. Menu was quite eclectic and rather fancy. There seems to be a hint of British/Irish in the menu as bangers and mash, fish and chips, and shepherds pie were on the menu. I chose the Angus burger with fries and had a cup of the tomato soup. The soup was good but a little salty. The burger was quite nice and the fries were really good.

The beer selection was rather pedestrian but lacked BMC. The only drafts of note were SN Tumbler, Bells Oktoberfest, two Mother Earth beers and one Olde Mecklenberg beer. Specials included 1/2 off NC drafts on Monday and Tuesday is pint night. Most beers were just run of the mill craft stuff that werent very impressive.

I am not sure what to think of this place. The beer selection can easily be had in several places around the city. The service was good until the place got a little busy, and then I was forgotten on a couple of occasions. The waitress was completely idiotic on a couple of things. She said that Bells Two Hearted was a Belgian beer and the "water will kick in the alcohol again", referring to a patron who was suffering a small hangover. I doubt I will be back but it is worth one visit.
Aug 31, 2010
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Reviewed by lateralusbeer from North Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
One of my new favorite bars in town. GREAT ambiance, love the beer design elements of the bar...homey without being dark and dingy. Very well done. Food is phenomenal, if a bit pricy.

Beer selection could use a little bit of work...I'm sorry, no "Gastropub" should ever have Heineken on draft. Overall, not a very exciting lineup, and not much of anything I couldn't get elsewhere. Bottles VERY pricy. But it's a good experience, and the rare beer joint where you can take the gal.

The bones are certainly here for a killer South End beer bar...the food is definitely good enough for me to keep coming back and watching them grow.
Jul 17, 2010
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Reviewed by CBlack85 from South Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Nice warm feel to the place, some of the decor seemed a bit cheesy but comfortable overall. I would also get rid of the exposed keg cooler with windows. The rest of the place has nice warm colors, but this keg cooler has windows and the lighting inside is a harsh bright light, and has all of the tap lines visible. Kind of an eye sore.

The beer menu is fairly extensive, and has some great beers both on tap and in bottles. The only issue that I have with the beer menu is that there is very little description of each beer, and there are no food/beer pairing suggestions. I would also like to see a place like this have a few more taps, I think they have around 20 beers on tap now; 30-40 would be better (IMHO)

The food is outstanding, my wife had the braized short ribs and I had the shrimp and grits. Both dishes were terrific. A little pricey, but definately worth it. We went for dinner each had two beers, a main course, and an appitizer to split and after tip our bill was around $70.

The service was really good, our waitress was attentive, not overly pushy, and helpful with the menu. Overall the experience was very enjoyable.

I would definately suggest the Liberty to anyone looking for a good beer-centric restaurant with better than pub fare food. I will still stick with Duckworths if I just want to stop and have a pint or two, but this is a great choice for great food paired with good beer.
Mar 24, 2010
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Reviewed by NelWoltz7 from North Carolina

4.15/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5
Decor: There are few restaurants that let you know that it's focused on beer more than The Liberty. From the moment you walk in the door you see a chandelier made out of beer glasses and a hostess stand created around an empty keg. Then you hang a quick right and see a barroom decorated with a very impressive collection of vintage beer advertisements. The main dining room has a dividing wall that is designed to look like a freshly poured beer while the walls have panels which describe, in clever poetic form, the character of different types of beers. While this may sound like a complete cheesy mess, I must say that the restaurant is absolutely beautiful, modern and unique.

Patronage: Unfortunately, this is where things have to take a bit of a turn. Perhaps it is simply the bias of being in the place in its early days, but I have not yet been to The Liberty when it was anything more than sleepily quarter full. Perhaps this is down to its lack of promotion and extremely minimal external advertisement on the already busy South Blvd. area of Charlotte, but I feel that it is perhaps being lost in the weeds. Here's hoping that word of mouth can improve this, but thus far they don't have anything resembling a "bar crowd."

Beer: If you're going to walk the walk and decorate your establishment with all things beer, you'd better deliver on the beer menu. Well, the restaurant does a great job in this regard as well. While I would suggest that the taps (twenty, I believe) are a bit safe in their selections as opposed to the more adventurous selections of others (most notably Duckworth Cheesesteakery, which I would argue goes a bit too far the other way), the bottled selection more than makes up for this by having a nicely varied selection of beers. I am definitely not spoiled for selection.

Service: Very nice. Friendly, well versed in beer knowledge, they are a good resource for picking a beer, especially the bartenders.

Food: I wish I could judge it as a pub and then as a gourmet restaurant. This is where things are a bit muddled. The menu is a bit unapproachable, as it includes some very sophisticated twists which make truly interesting and remarkable dishes, but when you're craving pub grub, it may turn you the wrong way. However, once you overcome your initial unease with terms better suited to a five-star restaurant, you find some truly sublime flavor combinations. I would especially recommend the scottish salmon with ferro. The salmon was cooked to perfection, and the ferro was savory and delicious.

Value: I won't lie: this is a "once every two weeks" style place. The gourmet food is not cheap, and the beers are not on special. As such, you can't call this a "value." However, the beer prices are pretty much "par for the course," especially for the more unique beers.

Overall: Overall, I'm quite glad that I don't live in walking distance from this fine establishment, or my liver and my wallet would both be destroyed.
Mar 11, 2010
The Liberty in Charlotte, NC
Place rating: 3.93 out of 5 with 16 ratings