Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Rock Bottom Restaurant & BreweryRock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
Rock Bottom Restaurant & BreweryRock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

250 Granite Street
Braintree, Massachusetts, 02184
United States

// CLOSED //

Previously a Brew Moon brewpub.
BEER STATS
Average:
3.5
Beers:
2
Ratings:
8
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.89
Reviews:
24
Ratings:
24
pDev:
12.6%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jim102864:
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Reviewed by jim102864 from Connecticut

3.71/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Nice intimate looking brick building built in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Braintree. The atmosphere is somewhat stereotypical if not past its prime. The preponderence of golden yellow everywhere gives it a dated appearance. Large bar area with dozens of tables. Very airy atmosphere with high ceilings. Several flat screen tv's but on this particular night, not a one was tuned to anything other than the Bruins game (which was largely ignored by the partrons). As to the beer, approximately 8 on tap. I enjoyed the imperial stout, though it could've been a tad bolder. Also sampled the Munich Gold, a tasty mildy sweet lager, and apparently a past GABF medal winner. A nice but not overly impressive brew pub in an area that suprisingly offers little quality beer. Take the red line to Beantown to find a plethora of options.
Mar 01, 2008
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Photo of Cherrypop
Reviewed by Cherrypop from Massachusetts

4.55/5  rDev +17%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4
I'm so pissed that this place closed, but hey it's a troubled time for business. I will certainly miss this place, but I wish there restaurant was less pricey. Perhaps that could of saved the bar.
I'll miss there seasonal's including (anniversary ale, off-kilter scotch, rudolph ale, and the best pumpkin ale I've ever tried). The location in Boston doesn't compare to this, as their beer is weaker. Their scotch ale is pathetic, and their beer is always flat. Hopefully, Scott takes over as the brewer there. Because like most Irish brewers Gerry's is flat and bland. Now the south shore is empty with quality bars.
Feb 07, 2009
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Reviewed by BillCastle from Massachusetts

4.2/5  rDev +8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This was the best bar in the South Shore, but unfortunately it closed this past Sunday (Feb 1 2009). The reason was due to the lease being up from the South Shore Plaza. I really hope they re-open in a new location in the South Shore. I'll miss the 2.50 beer of the week, 25 cent wing night, stump trivia, and more importantly the freshly brewed beer. They had terrific seasonal's such as the Off-Kilter Scotch Ale, Rocktoberfest, and Czars Imperial Stout. I really hope the brewer keeps in touch with this site, and if your out there Scott please email me. Although there is one in Boston, it doesn't come close to their quality. This will be a deeply missed bar, especially for red-neck south shore.
Feb 04, 2009
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Reviewed by cbeer88 from Massachusetts

4.9/5  rDev +26%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4
I have nothing but the highest praise for this Rock Bottom location - my mug club card tells me I've been here 30 times in the last few years. :)

They have 8 taps - 4 standard year-round offerings, and then 4 brewer's choice that change frequently. The year-round offerings are drinkable, but the 4 rotating taps tend to be very good and usually exciting. The Braintree location in particular has some great brews - Imperial Stout, Belgian White, Jalapeno Beer, and West Coast IPA, for just a few examples of the variety of styles you can find here. Additionally, they always have one beer on cask.

Two things you should know:
1 - Get a mug club card. It's free, and entitles you to a 22 oz. mug of beer for the same price as everyone else pays for a pint.

2 - Every week they have a "beer of the week" that only costs $2.50. (and you can get it in your mug club mug) For the most part this seems to either be one of their year-round offerings, or something special that has been sitting around for a while - but for the cost conscious, that is probably the best bang for the buck in the Boston area.

Atmosphere - Their bar area is my favorite place on the South Shore to catch a Celts or Sox game. It's large with plenty of tv's and plenty of seating. The dining area is nice as well, but I prefer the bar area.

Quality - No complaints. The beer is consistently good - I've never had a stale beer here.

Service - The bar area can get a bit overwhelmed at times, but that is to be expected in my opinion. Never had an issue in the dining area. I find servers to be above average for what you'd expect from a chain.

Selection - I already talked about the beer - plenty to enjoy for a visit.

Food - This is the only area where I knock them down a peg. It's still above-average bar food, but it used to me so much better. In the last 6-12 months the food quality has gone downhill - they changed the fries for the worse, the portions are smaller, and the prices keep increasing. Still - there's a few unique offerings, and given the beer you can't complain about a decent burger for $10.

Value - The beer values are untouchable. I already spoke about the beer of the week and the mug club. Normal prices range from $4.50-$5.50 and seem to line up to the ABV. At $5.50 for a pint of 8% imperial stout you can't complain. Food prices have gone up a bit, but are still not out of the ordinary. You can have dinner for two with a few beers and still be out of there for $50.
Jan 18, 2009
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Reviewed by abartke from New Hampshire

3.45/5  rDev -11.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Right at the South Shore plaza, good location and easy to find. The atmosphere was pretty much exactly what you would expect, kind of a slightly upscale chain. The service was the worst part -- there wasn't a lot of information given unprovoked, and he seemed a little overwhelmed when simple questions were asked. I got an Irish stout which was slightly disappointing, and their IPA which was pretty good. The nachos were great, and my girlfriends enchiladas were pretty good too. Overall, I would go back, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there.
May 19, 2008
Photo of Jwale73
Reviewed by Jwale73 from Rhode Island

3.88/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Visited the Rock Bottom after hiking a 5 mile section of the Warner Trail in MA. Eight brews were available - 3 lager-style beers, an Irish Stout, a Red Ale, an Amber, a Wheat and an IPA. I had the wheat and found it to be extremely refreshing and quite flavorful. Also had the Amber, which was also soild. Service was excellent. It was not particularly busy, but the waitress was very attentive to our party and there were no gaps in beer being delivered to the table. Food was tasty and the portions were pretty hearty. Everyone in our party enjoyed the food immensely. Prices were reasonable in my opinion. My only recommendation would be to mix up the selection a little. Felt like 3 lager-styles were a little excessive and would have liked to see a brown and a seasonal on tap. Would definitely go back if I were in the area.
Apr 07, 2008
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Reviewed by mltobin from Connecticut

3.68/5  rDev -5.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
I've been to locations coast-to-coast and north-to-south, and have always been pretty impressed by the oversight and management that must go on, keeping an unwieldy-seeming sprawl of brewpubs in line.

This one feels more devoted to TV's than most (Ranking fun!: Braintree, San Diego, Bethesda, Minneapolis.) The leftover high ceilings from the Bru Moon days leaves more room for big screen, big screen, big screen! I assume with the location's proximity to the mall, this is for suburban football fan to take care of his jones while the little lady does the shopping. That's the non-PC assumption anyway. Heck, I've watched the Bosox here myself at least twice.

The beer is solid. BA's wary of dumbing-down at a chain needn't worry. The head brewers at each location know their stuff, and better yet, really care about it. The food is good, albeit on the pricey si
Mar 23, 2008
Photo of bilyboy65
Reviewed by bilyboy65 from Colorado

3.95/5  rDev +1.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Location is across from the Braintree Mall parking garage. Has an interesting Mug Club. Free Valet parking as well.

A: This is an interesting mix of old decor, lots of space and a good bar area. Everything is this goldish color which kinda dates the place. The tables and booths in the dining area are spread out allowing for a private dinner setting. The bar area really is the attention getter for the place. Big open area with plenty of tables, seats at the bar and standing room. HD TVs all over the place with sports on all of them.

Q: Everything was clean and well maintained.

S: The service was good. Table was cleared timely after finishing a course, food and beer was brought out in a timely manner.

SE: Had 5 beers on tap standard and then 3 others that were the selected brews for a limited time. The menu was pretty standard with a good amount of choices. Having a rotating beer is always good when so few are on tap.

F: The food was good. Well prepared and cooked to order. No ones meal came out badly prepared.
Mar 08, 2008
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Reviewed by lordofthewiens from New Mexico

3.78/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Hit this palce last weekend when we visited our son, and it was pretty nice. Big and open, with a restaurant on the left a,nd the lounge on the right. The lounge had multiple TVs, as well as a few games. Over the bar was a chalkboard, listing the beers, when brewed, specific gravity, Alcohol by volume, and features. Almost too much information. There wer seven drafts when we went: Lumpy Dog Light, Munich Gold, Improper Hopper IPA, North Shore Red Ale, Plymouth Rack Bock, Whitey Belgian, and Mayflower Porter. I think the first five were always on the menu, and the last two were occasional releases. I had the IPA and liked it, as well as the porter, which was OK. My wife thought the Belgian was quite good, and our son really enjoyed the bock.
Our server was attentive without being intrusive, and had good knowledge of the beers. The food was good, and I thought it was pretty reasonably priced. My only quibble was the noisy background music.
I would go back again.
Jun 02, 2007
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Reviewed by Freshie from Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev -8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Seen this place for many years. As a teenager loitering at South Shore Plaza the Brew Moon gawked at us from across the street as if to say, you wish you were 21.

Even since I turned 21, now over 2 years ago, I have driven past Rock Bottom, and yearned to see the inside. I mean, from all reports, it is a quality brew pub just miles from my house. A rarity on the South Shore by no stretch of the imagination.

So it came to pass that on one fateful night (last night to be specific), while some friends and I yearned for some good food and a few beers, we decided to journey to Rock Bottom in Braintree.

The place is spacious and very nicely lit. Two sections, the resturant side, and bar side, are seperated by the main foyer. You can cleary see the big fermenting and mash tanks of the brewery from glass windows behind the bar. Always a nice sight. There are many TV's from which to watch the Red Sox lose (that's another story all together). Plenty of seating for even a large crowd.

Their beers are cleary listed on a menu, and a more current list with ABV's and descriptions are up on a chalk board above the bar. I believe last night they had about 6-8 beers on tap. I went with the Improper Hoppper IPA, and their Beer of the Week, which was porter (I forget the name).

The food is good, with standard fare, like a Chilis, or TGI Fridays. The menus even had pairing suggestions.

The beer and food, seemed a bit expensive, but the quality of the establishment made it easier to cough up the dough.

Slainte!
Sep 03, 2006
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Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

2.46/5  rDev -36.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2 | service: 3 | selection: 2
I finally made it to this location, following an aborted attempt a few years ago involving a cabbie who seemed incapable of following simple directions. This was one of the few east coast locations that I had not visited.

Has anyone tired of hearing me sing the praises of the Rock Bottom chain? Really? Too bad. Their big mistake was in issuing me a Mug Club card and then compounding the error by having salmon fish ‘n’ chips as a standard menu item. It really doesn’t take much to make and keep me happy.

Walking in, the maitre d’ station is just inside of the door and the place splits like an inverted “V”, with the restaurant area to the left and the bar area to the right. Quickly, you naviguessers out there: In which direction does the Woodcompass always align itself? “Bar” would be the correct answer. Seated, the brewhouse was directly in front of me, behind glass, behind the back bar. Above the back bar was the “Fresh Beers” blackboard, with its attendant information, like “Name”; “Birthday”; “Specific Gravity” (does it mean anything to the average patron?); “A.B.V”; and “Description”. Surprisingly, their medals hung openly from the bottom of the blackboard. Hmmm.

Overall, I have to cop to being underwhelmed, beer-wise. I just could not find anything that held my interest. I don’t want to hear the chain argument, either. I have been to plenty of Rock Bottoms with really good beers, but not here. The IPA was weak; the Blueberry lacked actual blueberries (as vociferously pointed out by a fellow patron); and the Stout just did not do it for me. The Pilsner was the best of the lot and it was a seasonal. Disappointing.

There was one redeeming moment, however. It came as I was poking around in my usual fashion: peering in windows, testing doors for locked status, writing notes, that the manager came out and gave me an impromptu tour. Thanks for doing that.
Aug 19, 2006
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Reviewed by johnshuster from Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev +1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I live about 2 miles from RB in Braintree, so this place is a frequent stop for dinner on weekends. They make all their own beer, plus they have a full bar for people who aren't into beer (that's not me, but I know some). The decor is definied by a lot of darker wood, copper and steel accents from the brewing equipment. Also, they do the bolting old crap to the wall thing, as seen in Fridays, etc. but not quite to the extreme those places take it.

The beer and food are both good. I always rock the IPA since I like IPAs, but they have basically any beer you could hope for normally. Food is good-better than the crap you usually will find at other casual dining joints, but not super fine quality either. It is good for what it is though, a nice laid back restaurant with a casual atmosphere.

Service, especially at the tables, is very good, at least in my experience. However, since I am always at this joint on the weekends, I frequently have to wait a short while (never more than 15-20 minutes) to get a table...(I usually hit the place up around 7:30-8PM) Thus I like to have a waiting beer while we wait. Often times the bar is understaffed-one or two barkeeps for a bar with 60 or 70 people plus a whole gigantic restaurant filled with hungry and thirsty diners. What really pissed me off last time I was there was that I had been waiting literally almost ten minutes to get helped-had established eye contact with the 'keep-then some guy waving a 20 in his business suit cuts in front of me and the guy helps him first. I'm left standing by in my jeans and chuck T's. Apparently I didn't look worthy of quick service. Anyway that rant's over. The place usually has decent service but the bar itself can be tough.

Selection is great. Basically any food, appetizer, drink, or dessert you could hope for is on their menu. Many beers to choose from as well, and growlers to go too.

Again, foods good. Not gourmet restaurant good, but it's above the typical applebee's/chilis/friday's shite.

Since this is basically in Boston, I give the value a "reasonable" rating. Look to spend about 8 bucks for a sandwich with fries, mind you a nice big one, and 14+bucks for an entree. Beers are, I believe, all 4.50, which I find to be a tiny bit steep since they brew the shit there. Still, it's boston folks, so I'll be happy beer's arent more than $5.

This is a good joint and I will continue to go there. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of trying it.
Nov 04, 2005
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Reviewed by WanderingFool from Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This was my first visit to a Rock Bottom and my friends and I were there on a Sunday afternoon. The Braintree location is quite large, with plenty of parking across the street in the mall lot. There were only a few patrons here at this time watching NCAA basketball on the many TV's that were present throughout the bar.

The dark wood decor reminded me of a John Harvards restaurant. A combination of old photo's and beer logos hung on the walls. TV's were turned down so we did not have to shout over any unnecessary noise to hear each other.

We arrived during happy hour where you can choose several menu items for either $1.95, $2.95 or $3.95. They also offer a $1.95 beer special which on this day was a smooth, malty tasting brown ale. We tried some Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas, which were very good and had a spicy bite to them from the bbq sauce. We also had a plate of buffalo chicken that included blue cheese and celery. For lunch I got a burger that was very cooked the way I like. However, I did find the hard crusted roll rather tough to bite. Others I was with had the bread bowl chili and club sandwiches. I believe the chili was on the happy hour menu because the serving size was rather small, but all the food tasted very good. We finished off our dinner with an enormous slice of carrot cake and pint glass sundaes.

The service we received was excellent. Our waitress was prompt with our drinks, answered all our questions and cleaned up our plates/empty glasses just about when we were finished with them. Also, just after we sat down the manager came by to introduce himself and welcomed us to the restaurant.

We only tried a few beers during our visit. They had their limited availability Fire Chief Ale on tap which was a red ale that I thought had a bit of metallic taste to it. I also tried their brown ale and enjoyed it very much. My friends stayed with the Fire Chief, but they have visited Rock Bottom numerous times and told me their other beers are very good.

A couple other things worth mentioning are the free mug club and growler prices. My friends encourged me to join the mug club right then and there so I could get a 20oz. beer for the pint size price. I can also start accumulating points for prizes and other benefits. Since it was free, I figured why not. Just ask your server for details.

On the way out the door I noticed the cooler filled with growlers. It did not mention what they cost, but did say refills were $5.95. I'm guessing there's a $2 deposit for the growler so that would make them $7.95 each. A pretty good deal I think.

I really enjoyed Rock Bottom and look forward to going again soon. The only problem is this location is on the other side of Boston from where I live. Sometimes it's easier getting to the moon than driving through the tunnels and highways around the city. I'll have to give the RB in Boston a try soon.
Mar 21, 2005
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Reviewed by hudsonvalleyslim from Massachusetts

4.7/5  rDev +20.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
Rock Bottom Braintree has become one of my favorite brewpubs in the Boston area. It's a roomy pleasant place, and always has some very fine brews. The smoked chicken enchilada is excellent, and the folks (especially the female bartenders) are friendly and attentive for the most part. (Sorry to say, in general service in the Boston area is pretty poor - and I grew up in NY!) So Rock Bottom gets high service ratings with the exception of an occasional bad apple.

Scott (their fine brewer) is often around and eager to talk beer. My 'go-to' brew is the Improper IPA, but a recent dry-hopped Anniversary Ale was to die for. Growlers are cheap and filled from the tap which I like. Wish they had their cask on more often - sampled it twice and loved it. Join the mug club (for free!) Thumbs up!
Feb 13, 2005
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Reviewed by warriorsoul from Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
I have been to the Rockbottom in Harvard (now closed) and the one in Braintree, MA....this is the location I have chosen to review.

The place is very spacious...I have never had to wait for a table in either the dining room or in the highly preferred Bar side of the restaurant...it is much more relaxed w/ plenty of tv's in sight.

The place is clean and lit up adequately for dinner and conversation. The tv's are set real low and it is very easy to catch up w/ friends.

The service, I must admit, is hit or miss. The general manager will usually come out to see how everything is, which I really respect, but there are a couple of waitresses there that are great and a few that I would rather leave than be waited on by....so they must lose points for service.

The selection of food is great and they have great early bird (4-6pm) and weekend specials on appetizers and main courses. I recommend the Brown Ale Chicken or Lemon Chicken w/ asparagus. The pretzels make a nice appetizer for two or three people.

Beers are fairly well represented here w/ your light beer for Bud drinkers, to your Scotch Ale or rotating dark beer for the more demanding beer drinker. The beers are always fresh and Scott does a great job of rotating their rotating/seasonal brews.

There is not always a cask on hand, but it is a possibility....be careful when you call in to find out what's on tap. The persons answering the phones are pretty clueless and rarely get it right. They actually had a beer on their board that wasn't even tapped and wouldn't be for a couple of weeks...but, you will find something you will enjoy. If you join their Mug club (FREE), you will get a 22oz. mug of beer for the same price as a pint. It's that easy...I swear.

I will continue to visit the Rockbottom in Braintree, as they always have an extensive menu w/ plenty of beer to offer any type of preference.
Jan 23, 2005
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Reviewed by fdrich29 from Massachusetts

4.53/5  rDev +16.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Review over two visits...Wednesday, November 3rd and Monday, November 8th.

Located in in the South Shore Plaza complex. Coming from 95 take the second left entrance into the Plaza for easiest access. Vallet parking available or park in the lot directly across from the restaurant. I was able to find parking in that lot, close to the street without any problem.

Guests are greeted by an event board upon entering the establishment, which tells them which beers are on tap (including cask) and upcoming events, which currently is the tapping of the Rudolph Red Thursday, November 18th.

Rock Bottom is seperated into two distict dining environments. Not surprisingly they are the "restaurant" and "bar". I did not venture into the restaurant area (don't like sitting that far away from where my beer is being poured). Upon several glances seating was ample, and very clean.

Seperating the two areas are the host desk, growler cooler, restrooms and ATM machine. Growlers are kept in the cooler and filled upon request, for a very reasonable price. Returned growlers get you discounts on your next purchase of a growler. Growlers are filled directly from the taps.

The bar area has more pub tables than I've ever seen in one place. An abundance of TV's for patrons to catch up on sports or the news, ESPN and CNN were alternated between all the sets.

The bar has three towers and one cask hand pump which pour whatever beers are being featured at the time. I was impressed with the bar and it's window into the brewing area/tanks. A large blackboard above the window tell you which beers are available, their "birthday", ABV, gravity and a brief description of the beer itself.

After a few sips of my first beer, their Belgian offering "Maximus" I knew I wasn't into it. I asked if they had anything on cask, and to my delight they had their Imperial Stout "Czar's Nightmare. My bartender took away the Maximus and gave me the stout in it's place. Love at first taste. Unfortunately on my second visit they had already moved the stout to tap and they had not yet had a chance to replace the cask with another beer.

I had remembered their Double Barrel IPA had received favorable reviews and was somewhat disappointed it had been replaced with a new IPA, their Improper Hopper. The bartender and manager assured me it was the same beer and explained the Double Barrel had been too balanced and had a malt character that was not desired in an IPA. This is how the IH came to be. I have hophead tendencies and this beer did not disappoint.

I chatted with several of the staff while I was there on both visits, including three different bartenders, Tim the manager and Anew (please pardon the phonetic spellling), the general manager. All were attentive, helpful but not invading, friendly and seemed to have a passion for beer. I was impressed Tim remembered me on my second visit as I tend to be leary of chain restaurants, especially one of this size. I was treated as well as I am at my local, much smaller brew pub and that left a very favorable impression.

Great beer, good food (Southern/Tex-Mex/BBQ theme) and people who love beer. I joined their Mug Club reward program on my first visit, knowing there would be many more in my future.
Nov 10, 2004
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Reviewed by mschofield from Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Rock Bottom standard atmosphere, pictures of rocks and old beer advertising, large 'posters' of their beer logos. Earthy colors and exposed ductwork.
The bar is set off to one side and the restaurant to the other, the hostess area makes a bottleneck between the two.
6 to 8 beers on at any time, plus usually one on cask. Currently the standards plus their Czech Mate Pils, and Black Dolphin Schwarzbier, last month they had a great strong Belgian ' Maximus'.
I find the service at this one is faster and a lot more knowledgable than the Boston location. And this one is right in a mall - great place to hang out while your SO is wasting money in the stores.
Sep 20, 2004
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Reviewed by quincyships from Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -7.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
This is the place to go for a homebrewer looking for a night out. Your AHA membership will get you a Rock Bottom VIP Mug Club membership that gives you upsized beers and a 20% discount on food. Happy hour food specials are like tapas - small samples of a wide variety of appetizers are available for $2, $3 or $4. Combine that with a $2 "beer of the week" (they're almost all good, so why not drink the special?), this place is downright cheap!

Rightfully, the beers are the star of the show at RB. If the Czech Mate Pils is on, go for it. Ditto for the prize-winning jalapeno beer - one of the few I've had that tastes like more than a gimmick. The head brewer, Scott Brunelle, is so well respected within RB management that he now oversees brewing at their Philly location as well.

Food selection is pretty good. In addition to the happy hour specials, there is a wide selection of apps, sandwiches, pasta, steaks and a few burgers. Food quality is generally pretty good, but can vary depending on the day of the week (head chefs can't ALWAYS be there, right?)

Service is the only area where this place stumbles. If you enjoy a pub atmosphere, stick to the lounge side of the restaurant. But if at all possible, try to sit at the bar itself. Service to the booths and tables on the pub side is sketchy, at best. Even at the bar, try to avoid the far end, as some of the bartenders seem to forget that it's there. Now that football season is coming, maybe the management will teach the servers how to change the TV channels (they have four subscriptions to NFL Sunday Ticket, so you can see those out of town games that aren't available locally).

All in all, a good place to have a better-than-good beer.
Sep 02, 2004
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Reviewed by UncleJimbo from Massachusetts

3.78/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4
We stopped in this Rock Bottom around noon during the "South of Boston" BA bus tour.

The layout and decor is very similar to other Rock Bottom locations, including the one in Boston. Very spacious and bright with some long narrow,high tables and some more standard low tables. The brewery is visible through glass. There are many TVs throughout the pub.

They offered 8 of their brews on tap during this visit and 1 was offered on cask as well as on CO2 tap. As in other Rock Bottom's, the beers are listed on a chalk board with their ABV clearly listed. I have always appreciated this information at Rock Bottom pubs. The beer quality was pretty typical of other Rock Bottom locations: average to good quality.

The service on this day was good, and I must give credit to the lone bartender as she was stressed to serve a large influx of BAs at one time.

I did not sample any food at this location, but the menu seemed typical for other locations.
Apr 04, 2004
Photo of travolta
Reviewed by travolta from California

3.7/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
I went to Rock Bottom in Braintree, MA and was plesently suprised. The atmosphere was nice and clean. It related to rocks and beer. A simple concept but pleasing to the eye. The service was normal. I was not swayed in either direction. The service I got here was the caliber I would expect from any and all restaraunts, however, this is usually not the case. The food was suprisingly good. I was pleased. I love cheese and large portions. The cheese was done well and it was not the greasy cheep stuff. It was served quick and hot. Now on to the beer:
The beer was nice. Nice is about it. The IPA was good. It was not anything outstanding, but it was a nice change than the usual restaurant brews. I bought a 6 dollar beer rack. It was about an ounce or so of the 6 of their beers. This was good in determining what you wanted to buy a pint of. The cool thing was just before the door there is a fridge with empty jugs. You take them up to the bar and they fill them up. I know most breweries do this, but I have not seen many brewery/restaurants do this. They were about 7 bucks. My girlfriend and I ate anything we wanted and had enough drinks to satisfy and I spent 70 bucks. It was a resonable price. My girldfriend and I drink a lot, so aside from that, the prices are decent.
Mar 15, 2004
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Reviewed by PatandDavid from Massachusetts

3.23/5  rDev -17%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3
Hmm, think I will stick with the Boston location. This came across as even bigger than the Boston location, with basically the same decor. They had about 6-7 beers on, but I guess they were having some trouble with the CO2 on the day we came for the SOB pubcrawl. I did have a Nitro draft of the pale ale, which was very soft and easy to drink, interesting. Service seemed a bit overwhelmed with all of us at once, but oh well. I think it just seemed uneven as it was the first stop of the day. One thing I like is their free mug club, yes that's right, it's free to join.
Mar 10, 2004
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Reviewed by ybnorml from Rhode Island

3.73/5  rDev -4.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
I walked in this place about 12 noon there was already about 6 people in the bar area. I was traveling with a group of about 15 people. There was only one bar maid taking care of this whole area ( which when full could probably fit well over fifty patrons) . She cheerfully took all of our beer and food orders and made sure we all got what we ordered. All this from a young lady quite obviously with child ( who noted that she was not feeling well now nor when she was preparing to go to work but came in none the less because she knew her place would be a little short handed at the start of the day and could not allow that to happen). I note this because I know that people like this are rare and any establishment that has workers like this are either very lucky or very smart.
Now the food was great I had Titan toothpicks which are undescribable. I saw a Ruben that was eaten with big smiles and great vigor.
Beer selection was interesting, one nitro tap, one hand pump and about 5 regular taps. I had an IPA and The cask amber. The cask amber was a bit of a dissapointment and the IPA was ok but could have used a little more hops aroma and bitterness.
Mar 09, 2004
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Reviewed by BeerResearcher from Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Since taking over from Brew Moon, Rock Bottom has managed to tone down a bit from the galactic space-aged decor. It's still sort of modern futuristic, but more earth-bound in style now. The beer selection is full and well rounded...something for everyone. Yet, Rock Bottom seems a little better suited to the mainstream and the newly initiated better beer drinker than to veteran beer aficionados. The beer is well made and fresh The menu wide and varied plus the food and service is very good. Food and beer pairings are suggested on the menu. This is a great place to meet friends to eat, drink beer and watch sports.
Nov 06, 2003
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Reviewed by ecoboy from Rhode Island

3.83/5  rDev -1.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Like reviewing Gordon Biersch, it's tough to add distinctive description to specific locations of the Rock Bottom chain. I've been to locations coast-to-coast and north-to-south, and have always been pretty impressed by the oversight and management that must go on, keeping an unwieldy-seeming sprawl of brewpubs in line.

This one feels more devoted to TV's than most (Ranking fun!: Braintree, San Diego, Bethesda, Minneapolis.) The leftover high ceilings from the Bru Moon days leaves more room for big screen, big screen, big screen! I assume with the location's proximity to the mall, this is for suburban football fan to take care of his jones while the little lady does the shopping. That's the non-PC assumption anyway. Heck, I've watched the Bosox here myself at least twice.

The beer is solid. BA's wary of dumbing-down at a chain needn't worry. The head brewers at each location know their stuff, and better yet, really care about it. The food is good, albeit on the pricey side.

Good solid choice just a few seconds off the highway.
Aug 29, 2003
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery in Braintree, MA
Brewery rating: 3.5 out of 5 with 8 ratings