Big Dog's Draft House

Big Dog's Draft HouseBig Dog's Draft House
Big Dog's Draft HouseBig Dog's Draft House
Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

4543 N Rancho Dr
Las Vegas, Nevada, 89130-3403
United States

(702) 645-1404 | map
bigdogsbrews.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.89
Beers:
67
Ratings:
586
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.97
Reviews:
49
Ratings:
65
pDev:
11.34%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Hoptoss:
Photo of Hoptoss
Reviewed by Hoptoss from Nevada

3.23/5  rDev -18.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Average looking bar with a limited beer selection. Showcased their in house brews. Many popular styles were represented. I tried the stout, my wife had the IPA. The prices were really reasonable. Stout was decent, medium bodied, lower alchohol, needed more flavor from specialty grains, very light on the typical toasted barley aspects. IPA was average. Very good deal on the food, we went on a Tue. and they run a BOGO on their burgers, which were good. Can't go wrong with a free entree. Overall a good bar, just needs more of a beer selection outside of their in house beers.
Nov 20, 2010
More User Ratings:
Photo of Ohknows
Reviewed by Ohknows from Nevada

4.78/5  rDev +20.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Cool place! The only think I don’t like about em is that they root for the Green Bay Packers. Lol. All jokes aside.... do yourself a favor and visit this place when you visit Vegas! The beer and service is awesome.
Feb 17, 2020
Photo of Radome
Reviewed by Radome from Florida

3.84/5  rDev -3.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.75 | food: 3.75
Located in a somewhat generic, old-school looking building, Big Dog's is not impressive from the outside. On the inside it is a bit heavy and somewhat old-fashioned, although clean and comfortable. Service was competent, but not great. Food was very good and prices were reasonable.

Given this so-so backdrop, the beers were an exceedingly pleasant surprise. They offered a flight of five of your choice, which came out in a handsome and clever, spiral-shaped, wrought iron rack. All the beers I tasted were good to excellent and I rated them all greater than 4 out of 5.

So, to sum up, the place is good and quite enjoyable by itself, but you should visit for the beer.
Sep 04, 2019
Photo of chrisakavern
Rated by chrisakavern from California

4.75/5  rDev +19.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 5
This place brews some really good IPAs, there food is outstanding "Korean Style Fajitas"!!
Sep 26, 2018
 
Rated: 4.4 by Betolito from Nevada

Aug 12, 2018
Photo of LXIXME
Reviewed by LXIXME from New Mexico

3.76/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 3.75 | service: 2.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Not exactly in my wheelhouse but anyplace you have to search for a empty seat is definitely doing something right. The beer is very drinkable to outright good and the food delivers for what it is listed. But, beware, a half pint is only 1 dollar less than a full pint. $6 versus $7 for the Underbite IPA.
Jun 16, 2018
 
Rated: 3.99 by Sellen from Connecticut

Nov 04, 2017
Photo of colts9016
Reviewed by colts9016 from Idaho

3.28/5  rDev -17.4%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 3.5 | service: 1.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 2.5
I was amped up to go and visit this place, I like the selection of foods and brews available. Around 3 in the afternoon, I made my way to Big Dog’s, walked in and just grinned. The place had a Great Lakes theme and sports on the televisions, who could not love that. I made my way around the bar and found a seat. About 10 minutes goes by and the waitress finally saunters my way and get my drink order. I inquired about the beer they made, the response I got was the beers are good. Thank you very much for telling me exactly what I wanted to know, that information is super helpful. She had no clue to what they were serving or anything. I waited another 15 minutes and finally got two beers, she took my order. I order pull pork sandwich with garlic fries. The order took 35 minutes to get to my table. In almost an hour, I got two beers and food, now I know what you are thinking, they were busy. It was quite the opposite, the place was dead, maybe 20 patrons. The Pull pork sandwich was just one sad dry pork sandwich, to which they tried to drown it in this god-awful BBQ sauce. They said it was Guajillo-coffee BBQ sauce but tasted like the 88 cent Kraft BBQ sauce at Walmart. The garlic fries were an upcharge, I was hoping there was something salvageable to eat there. It was a waste of an upcharge, there was absolutely nothing special, or worth the charge. The garlic fries were terrible, Betty Crocker could have done much better job. I decided to wait for one more to beer to wash the subpar food down. I ordered the English Brown ale, it was the best thing that I had ate or drank at that point. Service was terrible, food subpar, vibe awesome, selection great, and the beer was average. I would go again, only to drink beer.
Mar 14, 2017
Photo of flagmantho
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington

3.86/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25
Big Dog's is a neat old bar with dim lighting, Wisconsin sports memorabilia and a window onto the brewery in the back. That said, it's still a smoky casino bar with video poker at every seat. The beer, however, is quite decent, and with 17 house taps (!!) plus 16 guest taps, you probably won't run out of stuff to try. Service is pretty good; friendly if not eager to talk about beer. I would say Big Dog's is worth a visit if you are already in that part of town or really love visiting breweries, but it is probably not worth going all the way out there if you are staying on the Strip or even downtown.
Apr 28, 2016
Photo of atomicbeer
Reviewed by atomicbeer from New Mexico

4.45/5  rDev +12.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Love Big Dog's Draft House in NW Las Vegas. Wisconsin meets Vegas! All the beers are very good. My fav is the barrel aged Red Hydrant. Nice selection of house and guest taps. Many excellent food items: Big 10 pizza (scores a 10, my all time favorite pizza), Camp Randall brat, Pot Roast Melt, Walleye dinner. Great atmosphere. Packers fan hangout. When in Vegas I'm sure to stop at least once. Can't recommend highly enough!
Apr 15, 2016
 
Rated: 4.85 by Blcookies from Nevada

Apr 11, 2016
 
Rated: 4.14 by msumike89 from Colorado

Feb 01, 2016
Photo of Bruce5
Reviewed by Bruce5 from Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -14.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
This is the place to be if you are a Wisconsin or Packer fan. The original owner was on the Badger 1959 Rose Bowl team. If you are a fan definitely the place to be, otherwise not worth the drive on that its 20 miles from downtown,

Lots of food, definitely about quantity! Their brews are OK not great, but have lots of other choices.
Nov 07, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Oct 10, 2015
Photo of Thecalmdrinker
Rated by Thecalmdrinker from Montana

4.13/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I really like this place.
Aug 22, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by SCW from New York

Jul 29, 2015
Photo of WillieThreebiers
Reviewed by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

3.74/5  rDev -5.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Big old, spacious place on the north side of town. It must have been bad timing, but they were out of stock on half their taps. Otherwise the food was pretty good
Jul 07, 2015
 
Rated: 4.33 by GregJ from Louisiana

May 03, 2015
Photo of Sound_Explorer
Reviewed by Sound_Explorer from Washington

3.84/5  rDev -3.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25
This locale is a bit out of the way if you're on the strip but it is still worth it to take a break day out to it. Food was really tasty to me, though I was starving so. Nice rounded selection of in-house beers to enjoy and a few guests. Lots of TVs and is a Wisconsin fans hub so if you like the Packers, the game will be on. Like I said, take a day from the hustle of the strip and try the place.
Apr 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4.13 by PA-Michigander from Pennsylvania

Feb 28, 2015
Photo of TheMarkE
Rated by TheMarkE from California

3.25/5  rDev -18.1%
Food was expensive and mediocre while the beer was merely average. Seemed like they're more interested in being a BJ's Brewhouse than a craft brewer.
Nov 22, 2014
 
Rated: 3.32 by GT1 from Hawaii

Sep 16, 2014
Photo of MRJAZZ
Reviewed by MRJAZZ from Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -11.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
Got to go to this location as the Cafe & Casino location on West Sahara near where I was staying in Vegas was closed for renovations. This is the Main Brewery and is readily accessible from anywhere in Vegas. Tried several of their brews but the one that captured my fancy and would have gotten a Blue Ribbon in a judging was their Lake Mead Monster Imperial Red 9.0 ABV ! This is a style that I really like but is rarely found. Made my visit. Will definitely go back.
Aug 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.55 by BeerZombies1 from Nevada

Jul 31, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Tjlv from Nevada

Jun 21, 2014
Photo of richj1970
Reviewed by richj1970 from Alabama

3.98/5  rDev +0.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.25
Fairly typical brew pub. Around 15 taps with most of them being their own brews. A couple of guest taps but nothing I was interested in.

Tried the Dirty Dog which was a solid IPA. The Calrsbad IIPA which was outstanding and the Sled Dog Imperial Stout which was one of the 5 best non-BA stouts I have ever tried.

The food was average pub fare. Nothing special.

Service was good, but the waitress had to double check most beer related questions with the barkeep.
Jun 16, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Gobzilla from California

Feb 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Cory-WC from Florida

Nov 13, 2013
Photo of mjr2377
Reviewed by mjr2377 from California

4.45/5  rDev +12.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
This is hands down the best brewery in Las Vegas. The food always pairs well with beer drinking. Light or heavy. I highly recommend the Bratzel Burger and a Dirty Dog IPA. Great cheeseburger, brat, bacon on a pretzel bun. The Dirty Dog is a classic "west coast" IPA.
I have had several other beers there and most of the time I am COMPLETELY satisfied. They usually have great guest taps (Lagunitas, Ballast Point, Stone, Deschutes, etc.) and local breweries (Tenaya Creek, Triple 7s) on tap as well.
When in Vegas this is a MUST visit. I always get 2-3 growlers of their brews to take back to L.A. Love this place. Cheers!
Jul 12, 2012
Photo of VegasBill
Reviewed by VegasBill from Nevada

4.13/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I couldn't sleep yesterday morning and at the same time I had an urge for Chicken Fried Steak, and a few pints of course,its Vegas.
So I decided on Big Dog on Rancho. Its been years since I have been here. The atmosphere is like a farmhouse inside and a little like a barn on the outside.Its Vegas so smoking is allowed in the bar but at this hour there were three other customers and none were smoking.
For beer I started with something light,the Leglifter Lite, good lite micro beer, something one could drink a bunch of.Next was the Holy Cow Pale Ale, a very good Pale Ale.
The Chicken Fried Steak was very good but expensive $11. Every 24/7 sports bar in Vegas has this item on the menu and prices range from$5.95 to this price.The menu is sort of Wisconsin based, cheese curds, brats etc.
Apr 22, 2012
Photo of sholland119
Reviewed by sholland119 from Pennsylvania

4.28/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Big thanks to BA Destral for recommending this place. I have never met the guy but his posts about where to go when in Vegas are right on, in my experience.

Big Dog's Draft House was well worth the 20 mile drive from my hotel on the Strip. (Jesus H. Christ is Las Vegas big. 20 miles away and I am still in Las Vegas? I live about 20 miles from Philly and I am not even an adjacent county!). Located off a busy road out at the border of town, Big Dog's has the feel of a family friendly brewpub, much like Victory here in PA.

Well, except for the blight of video poker machines covering the bar. And the smoking, but smoking seems to be encouraged if not required wherever there is gaming here. I made the rare (for me) decision to sit at a table instead of the bar. The atmosphere was much better here.

Tap selection is huge, with about a dozen house beers on, plus about 4 guest taps. The beers were uniformly high quality, with the IPA being the standout for me. I had to drive back to town so I only had a little taste of the barleywine, but that was delicious as well.

Food was good pub grub. The cheese curds were fair representations of ones I have had in the Midwest, though I am no expert. The chicken sandwich was very nice as well.

Service was really good. I liked it here a lot.

HV
Jun 21, 2011
Photo of IPALOVR
Reviewed by IPALOVR from Nevada

4.33/5  rDev +9.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5
I visit Big Dogs about twice a month. The beer selection is always good with usually some good guest taps. Their burgers are very good but the service is slow. I always sit in the restaurant part as the bar part is filled with smoke and I can't stand to eat in a smoke filled place. The restaurant part is family friendly and welcoming for kids. Mine range from 18 months to 16 years and all 3 like Big Dogs food. The wait staff doesn't seem to be very knowledgeable about beer and their beer list is often out of date which is a little irritating.
Jun 13, 2011
Photo of RJLarse
Reviewed by RJLarse from Washington

3.9/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I stopped at Big Dog's for lunch and liked the place so much I went back for happy hour.

The place is a spaciousrustic barn style building. The restaurant is clean and smoke free. There is a country/farm/hunting lodge decour. The bar is much darker and smokier. Brewery tanks visible through a glass wall on one end. Seating for about 200 at high tables. Another 40 so at the bar. Gaming machines in the bar top.

Quality is good. BD brews and a few guest taps.

Service was good. Fairly busy at lunch in the restaurant. Not real busy in the bar at Happy Hour.

Selection included 13 BD taps, 6-10 guest taps and 25 micro bottles. There is a small selection of macros. Full bar.

Food is good. There is an extensive lunch annd dinner menu. Pulled pork sliders and slaw were good outstanding. $9.

Value is reasonable. $4.25 a pint. $2 off pints at happy hour 3-6 PM.

Notes: The restaurant and bar are separated. Major differences are smoking and gaming. The place has a Wisconsin connnection. Packer and Badger memorabilia around the place.
Jun 01, 2011
Photo of PhageLab
Reviewed by PhageLab from Virginia

3.65/5  rDev -8.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 2.5 | food: 3
Big Dog's Draft House is an interesting little spot. Large bar, well staffed, knowledgeable bartenders, and some great original brews populate the main area. Some circular tables orbit the main bar area, and to the left you can see the brew house through some large windows. To the right lies the restaurant area, which I never ventured into. Video poker games occupy most of the bar surface, although there is still plenty of room to eat and drink. The food was decent, and moderately priced, but other than their signature brews, don't expect to find many other beers in the selection.

Overall a nice place, I came here often during my stay in Nevada. Don't miss their Stout and Double IPA.
Jan 05, 2011
Photo of DeanMoriarty
Reviewed by DeanMoriarty from California

2.8/5  rDev -29.5%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 2.5 | food: 4
Living in San Diego, the wife and I visit Vegas at least twice a year and I have always meant to stop in and give this place a try - it's a bit of a trek from the strip so we always end up putting it off. We finally stopped in on our last trip there to have some dinner, drinks and fill a growler for the night.

Upon walking into this place, you're hit with a blast of cigarette smoke (still legal to smoke inside restaurants in Nevada) and sour beer/liquor smell. The place is dim lit and decked out with a ton of wood finish (old time western feel to it). The bar and the restaurant are split up into two sections and we decided to sit in the bar area, which may have been a mistake because there were cigarette smokers in full force - it was pretty intense.

It took a good 20 minutes to even get a drink order in, and then when I did try to order, they were out of the IPA and the Begian Witte (these were the two I came to try) and on a Friday night - what the hell!? I ended up ordering a Tailwagger Wheat that was pretty good and followed that up with a Red Hydrant Ale that was decent but not as good as the Tailwagger.

We both ordered food - veggie burger with fries and man, that was one of the best veggie burgers we'd ever had - no joke! After a meal and a couple beers the smoke and general noise were getting to us, so I asked for the bill and a growler of the Tailwagger and got the hell out of there.

We came back the next day in the hopes of the IPA or the Belgian Witte being back on tap (as they assured us it would be when we ate dinner there the night before) but no luck, so I figured i'd just get the growler filled with the Tailwagger again. Some nasty barmaid smoking a cigarette behind the bar took my growler and without even rinsing it, filled it with the Tailwagger and charged me $1.00 less than the price I paid for it the night before, which is pretty pricey if you ask me. Usually after you buy the growler, the refills are much cheaper - not just a buck cheaper. We left no tip and once again, got the hell out of that place!

Overall, this place is a conflict of interest - you have the locals who could give two sh*ts about craft beer, and then you have the owner who obviously knows his stuff, but has to cater to the locals. I'd like to see this establishment moved nearer or on the strip so it can blossom into what it should be instead of hulled up in a stinky-ass western bar on the outskirts of town.
Nov 19, 2010
Photo of Jimm2821
Reviewed by Jimm2821 from Ohio

3.88/5  rDev -2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
i had there sampler of beer, wanted to try as many as possible without getting tanked. bought some of there glasses and while waiting for the girl to get them from the back, the bartender asked me what beers i like and gave me 2 free half filled glasses of there ipa's. all in all liked there beer. I didnt like the dog tail wheat beer. but liked there Ipa's and there 38 special, the dog bollucks is a 9% ipa that has great flavor and aroma. If you are a wisconsin fan or a packers fan and live in vegas or out there during football season, you have found a packer backer bar and badger bar.
May 08, 2010
Photo of Beerandraiderfan
Reviewed by Beerandraiderfan from Nevada

3.15/5  rDev -20.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3
Things are a lot different now in North Las Vegas than back when Big Dog was on the strip.

Cool place now, but sadly, the beers, the most important thing, are still every bit of predictable as they were ten years ago. Nothing is terrible, nothing is outstanding, everything has that similar vibe going through it.

Service, staff didn't seem too knowledgeworthy. Pushed styles that certainly didn't match whatI described what I was looking for (Irish Red is really hoppy huh?). But she meant well. Food is standard pub food. Worth checking out, but not gonna blow the doors off you or anything.

Edit: dimly lit place is still disappointing ambiance wise, but the beer and walleye tacos are getting better. Bumping up what was all 3 review. Still, if the place wasnt the first stop i could make coming in from up north. . .
Apr 02, 2010
Photo of foamee
Reviewed by foamee from Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -11.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Big Dog Brewing is a brewpub in a stand alone building in the north Las Vegas suburbs. It is almost all bar with a large bar area and several alcoves with tables. The large brewing operation is behind glass on one side of the room. They have 4 year round beers on tap as well as 2 seasonals. I had an Irish red and an IPA both of which I though were very good and true to style. It was lunch time so I ate light. The chicken on green salad with a raspberry vinegrette was wonderful; ererything else on the menu seemed a bit pricey.
Apr 02, 2010
Photo of drabmuh
Reviewed by drabmuh from Maryland

3.8/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
This place looks awesome. Its a nice little brewpub on the outskirts of Las Vegas. There are about a dozen of their beers on draft at all times. I recommend the stout on nitro, it is very good. They sell growlers of their beer as well. Although when I ordered one the bartender was visibly angry and then did a aterrible job filling it. The growler was flat the next day.

Our service was overall average, the growler fill knocked them down a lot.

Selection is just their beers but they are good and its a great selection.

The food is standard bar food, sandwiches and so on, slightly better quality than a regular pub but still just regular American food, BBQ and so on.
Dec 24, 2009
Photo of KNORDSTROM
Reviewed by KNORDSTROM from Washington

4.15/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I have been to a couple of Big Dog's locations. I really like the draft house location the best on Rancho. Last night I stopped in to see if they had the USA IPA still on tap . I had a few months ago and it was was pretty tasty. They did not have last night, but they had there DIRTY DOG IPA 7.1% (heavy grapfruit and little pine)
. It is very tasty to. They had there usual BLACK LAB STOUT AND RED HYDRANT AL. Both a little better than good. The waitress mentioned that there BITCHES BREW PUMPKIN ALE beer will be out in a few weeks (OCT 14THISH). I will go back to check it out. It seems recently they added a bottle list. DFH 60,90 STONE IPA,ARROGANT, SN TORPEDO. SO WE HAD GOOD TIME!!
Food was actually very good . I had the big dog salad with cajun chicken and some kind of creamy lime dressing.

Will be going back soon
Oct 08, 2009
Big Dog's Draft House in Las Vegas, NV
Brewery rating: 3.89 out of 5 with 586 ratings