Syndicate Restaurant & Brewery

Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

6863 Lundy's Lane
Niagara Falls, Ontario, L2G 1V7
Canada

// CLOSED //

Formerly Niagara's Best Beer Ltd., brewpub was purchased by Taps Brewing and name has been changed to the Syndicate Restaurant and Brewery.
BEER STATS
Average:
3.36
Beers:
9
Ratings:
59
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.71
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
10
pDev:
14.29%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by OWSLEY069:
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Reviewed by OWSLEY069 from Pennsylvania

4.53/5  rDev +22.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
So I had to find this place, which is out of the way of the touristy area, actually right near the Beer Store. A smaller place, a nice outdoor seating area, and a small bar area. The dining room was two floors, which the top floor over looked the brewery. Somewhat industrial, but classy. I enjoyed all of their beers, especially the ESB. They would serve a 10oz half pint, which I thought was really cool. They do a fixed price menu, a salad, and entree, and a desert, $20. So Jonelle and I had a caprese salad to start, she had lobster ravioli, and I had the halibut, and for desert, we both chose the cheese plate, which had stilton blue, a white cheddar, a brie, and frozen grapes. We also added on the pountine, made with duck, remarkable. I enjoyed this place so much, check it out! Not touristy, good beers, good food, and a good price!
Aug 23, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.16 by Whatup14 from Canada (QC)

Aug 24, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by Electros from Canada (ON)

Dec 06, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Ultra-Plinian from Connecticut

Jul 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Jotora from Canada (ON)

Jan 27, 2014
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Reviewed by mrmanning from Canada (ON)

3.7/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
This review is for "Syndicate", the new version of Niagara's Best Brewpub. A small and new looking bar with a few seats greets you as you enter, with a fridge on your left for purchasing fresh to go growlers. 10 taps feature guest beers from Taps and then the Niagara core brands, with a couple seasonals. The dining room is medium sized, has warm colours and feel to it,with a focus on high end casual, and overlooks the brewhouse. An upstairs room for parties, functions or spillover is also available. Our server named Nick was great. He knew his beer and provided great service overall, along with friendly banter as they weren't too busy when we went. The beers are average to very good. I had the Taps Abbey Double and Niagara's Daredevil. I didn't eat but my partner in crime did and it looked great. Prices were great, lower than expected. I'll be back.
Feb 09, 2011
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Reviewed by cratez from Canada (ON)

3.7/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
RE-REVIEW, Feb. '11: came back with MrManning after Niagara’s Best was converted into its current incarnation, the Syndicate Restaurant & Brewery. Decor has improved substantially, the beer is much better (good style variation) and they now have guest draughts from Taps Brewpub. Server was amicable to Len and myself and I enjoyed the tomato soup for lunch. Growlers to go, tours of the brewery, you could even bring your partner hear for a nice meal. Worth a crawl these days.
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I stopped by Niagara's Best after spending a weekend in Niagara On The Lake for a friend's wedding. I was only interested in briefly scoping the place out and grabbing some growlers of their better beers as I was on my way home and didn't have much time.

The interior was very drab and bizarre with dark wood panels on bright white walls. A group of middle aged tourists were eating in the dining section toward the back of the pub but for some reason they weren't drinking beer. The brewery and bar were adjacent to the restaurant area and I spent a few minutes taking pictures of the vessels and eyeing the taps. A tiny store was located at the front of the brewpub where t-shirts and ball caps were on display and a small beer fridge had six packs of the light and regular lagers. I'm speaking in the past tense because the entire place is now going through a major renovation and will probably no longer resemble what I've described here.

My server was shockingly ignorant as she didn't know what an IPA was when I asked if the brewery made one, and she didn't seem to care that she lacked a basic knowledge of the beers. Should she really be working at a brewpub where customers might ask about the details of certain beers? At a minimum some better staff training is needed.

I grabbed a growler each of the Drummond Hill Dark and General Brock Oatmeal Stout, having already sampled the Blonde Ale and "Logger" that weekend. The growlers were somewhere between $13-16 a pop, with deposit. Upon tasting the Dark and Stout, my friends and I were impressed with the high quality and bold flavours of both brews. In all the pub offers about 12 different taps and at the time of my visit the rotating one-off was a smoked marzen, which I found a bit strange for the month of June (still good to see that type of experimentation though).

Didn't try the food and I'm told that Taps Brewing is the superior spot for a meal and drinks anyway. Overall, I would happily return to NB to grab a few growlers of their interesting beers but I couldn't see myself spending an evening here. Hopefully the renovations will inject some new life into the place.
Oct 28, 2010
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Reviewed by Boozebrewer from Ohio

4.78/5  rDev +28.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
We visited NBB on June 15, 2010, and opted for the beer sampler. Our server was very knowledgeable about beer styles. All the beers offered were properly brewed to style guidelines. The only style we would have liked to have seen was an IPA, but the rest were a good representation or the brewer's skills, albeit staying a bit on the lighter side. The darkest style was the Oatmeal Stout.

We had a pleasant brief talk with Ian Watson, the Brewer. He said the ale yeast he uses is Nottingham and the lager yeast is California Common.
Jun 22, 2010
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Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

3.64/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
Located in what appears to be an old house not too far from the main strip (probably a 5 minutes car rides from the Falls). The place appears to be brand new with a very relaxed atmosphere and some very nice modern design. The waitress seem a bit overwhelmed with the number of customer but still took some time to enquire if I liked the beer or not. The menu appears to be your standard pub grub. The menu also details every beers available. I should also mentions that they have a small bottle shop at the entrance and they fill growler which is quiet rare for Ontario. Very nice place that I will make sure to visit again next time I am in town.
Aug 14, 2009
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Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.29/5  rDev -11.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5
This brand new brewpub gets a very good rating on everything but the beer. Either the quantity of selection stretched their storage and capabilities, or the lines have the wrong mixture, but many were off, with sourness, watery, and tasting like club soda with some light flavouring. Only the oatmeal stout was drinkable, and even it tasted way overcarbonated. If the situation is changed soon, I am pleased to revisit and redo my thoughts. On the positive side, convenient touristy location, with good amount of parking. Nice looking restaurant, sizeable patio, soon to be opened upstairs. The pontential is there, and given Ian has brewed a competent blond commerically before, the future should be looking up. Very attentive service, with pleasant staff though they did not know the beers.
Jul 07, 2009
Syndicate Restaurant & Brewery in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
Brewery rating: 3.36 out of 5 with 59 ratings