River City Brewing Co.

I dropped in at River City while spending some time in Wichita a couple weeks ago. It definitely seemed like an older brewery, and the vibe of the location read “restaurant” more than “brewery” (although the brewhouse was in full sight right there behind the bar, which I like). Lots of exposed brick and wood made for a welcoming atmosphere, and the service was good and friendly up at the bar. I had the “bacon-wrapped meatloaf” for dinner, and it was just as good as you might imagine.

As for beer, they had 6 flagships and 6 seasonal/rotating beers on tap: imperial stout, IPA, Belgian golden strong, hefeweizen, hazy IPA, and session IPA, brown ale, and American stout among the core beers, and Czech pilsner, Irish red, another juicy IPA, Czech dark lager, fruited sour, and American porter as rotators. The quality of the beer was decent enough, if not outstanding.

 

 

The menu is varied enough for the whole family (kids menu, many styles of food, etc.) as well as a varied beer list. The atmosphere is what you'd expect in Old Town Wichita -- brick walls, old wood floors, while still having typical modern amenities. Beers are all around $4 for 16 oz pours. The second you walk inside you can smell wet malt and barley.

My favorite place to drink in Wichita. Always have a good selection of house brewed beers. Good flagship beers and seasonals. Also brew a lot of one off beers, so there is something new to try every time I go. Have always had good service. They also host Theology on Tap once a month, which is a group that meets to drink good beer and listen to a good talk on theology. I'm a big fan of both. They also serve their beers in the appropriate glass styles corresponding to the beer style they are serving, rather than just pint glasses. A nice touch.

 

Stopped in here while in town for work from OKC. Great place to grab a beer. I had an IPA that was stellar. The brewer, who was very busy at the time, even took time to chat with me about a watermelon beer I was making and gave me some tips on how to make a great pumpkin beer. Really cool place with great people. I highly recommend stopping here.

I'm really trying to understand why our bartender on 6/5/15 was so dry with us, while being so vibrant and bubbly with everyone else at the bar. Otherwise an excellent place for delicious food and extraordinary craft beer.
So decided to give this place one more shot at redemption, excellent service today! Great place

 

I go for the beer not the food. 12-15 locally made beers on tap at all times. I can always find two or three that I like. Best of all, you can try a 4 ounce sample for a dollar and get it many of those as you like. My favorite place!

 

 

 

 

 

Honestly, this has been a very surprising brewery for me. I come to Wichita for work once or twice a month from KC, and I always try to stop by here and some of the others in town (this is the best, if you ask me). Recently, I was delighted by some seasonal offerings that included a wheat wine and a peche saison. Both were very good, especially given how difficult these styles are to pull off. Food is decent but well priced and portions are large.

 

 

 

 

A day off played out with a trip up to Wichita today. The wife and daughter couldn't decide where to eat so naturally I took us to River City Brewing Co. since I'd never been there in all my trips up there.

The small brewery is in what is known as "old town." This area has that old charm about it with renovated old red brick buildings and renovated brick streets, lamps, and signs. It's also littered with drinking establishments. Parking was pretty easy since it was Monday after 2pm.

The brewery has an old western saloon feel about it with large natural wood beams and posts. Tables, chairs, etc follow the theme. The stainless mash tuns and fermenters can be seen through the glass behind the bar. There is a collection of malt bags on the walls and some metal sign boards with quotes you may have heard before. Also a sign about no slamming craft beer allowed. You'll see oak barrels scattered around the place with signs on them that tell what beer is being aged in them and when it will be finished. There are a few TVs, but very many so you don't feel like you're in a sports bar. It was fairly quite at this hour.

Service was fast, friendly, and efficient. We were asked what type of seating we liked and were seated accordingly. Our server knew the beer menu of about a dozen house made brews. He was very attentive and pleasant. Couldn't be better.

They pretty much have your beer mood covered here. Since I was driving I couldn't taste it all, but I decided on their "Fresh Cut IPA", a sessionable 4.5%er loaded with citra hops and a bit minimalist on the bittering hops. It was served in a nonic and, man I loved that beer! I also had their "Blonde Bombshell" Belgian style blonde ale which was served in a stubby tulip glass and had that great Belgian yeast profile along with plenty of Belgian candy sweetness. Another winner.

They have a pretty large selection of food so everyone finds something they can live with. I highly recommend the spinach/artichoke dip as an appetizer - wow! My Cuban sandwich was great, my wife's fish and chips were fantastic, and my daughter's mac and cheese was really good too. Plenty to eat! Everything fresh and hot. Ticket was $60 - about what I expected.

I'll definitely be back. Maybe on a Thursday when it's cool on the outside rooftop deck and they have some live music.

 

 

 

 

It's been a while since I've visited the River City Brewery, but what a place. Down in Oldtown Wichita, this place is absolutely awesome. The interior looks like an old time saloon. Lots of brass and atmosphere.

We ate and drank on the second level out doors. Nice and quiet for downtown. Couldn't ask for a nicer place to spend quality time with friends!

 

Located in the wonderful downtown Wichita this brewery is a great stop.

The atmosphere was quite fun, from the staff to the decorations. The brewery is step up with a sort of old saloon feel. Everything is old worn hardwood, which is nice. Throughout the bar there are decorations that mock lite beer, which is also nice.

The quality was excellent, everything seemed very well in order. From the food, to the beer, the cleanliness of the establishment.

Service was good, pretty typical. You wouldn't expect anymore, and you wouldn't expect any less. We never longed from our waitress.

The selection was more than outstanding. We had the sampler, 8 beers for 10 dollars, and we were able to great a broad view of their selection. The offered over 12 beers at the time. Extra samples are of course a must. The beers were served in their proper glasses, sniffers, tulips, etc. The had a range of beers from typical to high ABV special seasonal ones. Each one was a treat. Too boot, they had growlers for only 15 dollars for their lower ABV beers.

The food was outstanding for sure. We had Beer Bread, Buffalo wing dip, and some burgers. I had the Adobo Burger, which is a burger that is marinated in wheat beer and drizzled with special sauce. It was wonderful. The food went very well with the beer.

Value was quite reasonable. Like any brewery you could spend way to much, put theses were Applebees prices. Easily affordable.

I highly recommend this brewery!

 

My wife and I took a spontaneous road trip from Enid, Ok to Wichita, KS in search for different beer. We came across River City in the old town area of Wichita. The place is all wood with scattered Bourbon barrels filled with beer. Its a very warming cozy feeling inside. The beer selection was very good for a brewpub. Their bourbon barrel stuff is very potent, some of the strongest oak/vanilla flavor I have ever had from a barrel aged beer. The food was decent, typical pub food. Our bartender was very knowledgeable. We ended up getting a growler when we left. I will definitely return to River City Brewing.

I had the half rack of ribs with were good along with the chipolte shrimp. The server was very nice and attentive. I tried the Tornado Alley IPA which had good flavor and aroma. The beer was a typical IPA, with about 7.2% alcohol content. The building is downtown in old brick town area with great atmosphere.

This brewpub located is located dowtown. In an area that has seen a resurgence. The old brick building has spartan decorations. The brewing equipment is the star here.

They had a couple interesting beers on tap. Of note, was the S.M.A.S.H. (single malt single hop) beer. Golden Promise and Citra were on the menu that night. The beers were well executed, but could use some work.

The service seemed to be an issue. Having all drinks poured by one bartender seemed to be the issue.

The food was average brewpub fare...and so is the vibe.

Overall, this would be a great place if you lived in the area, as choices are limited. An out of town guest might want this as number 3 on the list.

Cool location in an old building in the "Old Town" area downtown. The menu says some of the building materials are original or repurposed which adds to the ambience, but still feels a little too mainstream/run o the mill.
The house beer lineup was pretty standard also, they had 2 special/seasonal brews in addition to their regs. Nothing really stood out, but the single malt/single hop special beer they had on was nicely balanced.
Service was average. Can't really complain, but there were multiple waitresses serving the smallish bar area and they still weren't overly attentive.
Full food menu, but very regular standard fare. Menu itself is cluttered and hard to navigate. The story about the history is great, but needs to be broken up or displayed differently. The beer descriptions are mostly fluff and don't include any details on abv, ibu, og, etc.
This place could be awesome if it was updated a bit and broke out of its "1990s beer stylings".

atmosphere - so seemed a bit obnoxious for my liking. such a sign hung up next to me "definition of a nancy boy: someone who twirls his beer in a snifter". you wouldnt even get that sort of macho bullshit in texas.

quality - so all of the two beers i tried were decent but neither were very flavorful or bold.

service - guy was nice, seemed a bit odd for the direction as he was pierced ears and acted somewhat feminine. he was quick, got my fish and chips and beer within 10 minutes which was nice as i was just driving through and trying to get home quick.

selection - there normal line up is unspectacular, their seasonals looked nice but the two of the three i had were just mediocre.

food - fish and chips was huge and delicious.

value - the food was excellent value but 2.50 for a sample is ridiculous. especially when we are talking a 5% beer. i get bigger samples at avery at 10% for a buck and theyre amazing.

dont really recommend stopping here, wish i wouldve stopped at a good tap house instead.

Went here for dinner. The brewpub is situated in the Old Town district of Wichita, in an older brick building with two levels. The inside is a typical bar, with lots of tvs, seating, and loud music.

The quality of the beer was fine, decently brewed but not spectacular. I tried both the Lemongrass and the IPA, and while both were fine, they had nothing to make them stand out.

The service was good, very attentive and made sure glasses were full and plates were cleared/brought in a reasonable amount of time.

The selection was okay, not much to speak of; there were six beers on tap, and the menu had little variety.

Food was also average. It was decent, but had little to make it stand out.

Overall, this is a fine place to go for dinner, just don't expect anything spectacular. I believe that this is a place to take people looking to get into beer, but not really a place where you'll find creative off-the-wall brews or food.

This is a nice brewpub in the Old Town district of Wichita. Built in an old warehouse, it has a very cool brewpub atmosphere. Tons of seating for dining and a good sized bar area. The beers are pretty good. I've never had a bad one. Service is very pleasant and quick to help. The wait staff is knowledgeable about their brews. They never have alot of different beers on tap and what they do have is rarely adventurous. I think they are catering to the clientele that is not ready for big, high gravity brews. The food is good but fairly typical for a brewpub. There's nothing on the menu that will jump out at you. I like River City. It is a good option in a part of the country that doesn't have many great beer options.

The atmosphere here is exactly what I expect from a brewery of this size. The building itself is an old brick warehouse fitted with old wood furnishings and a bar that look like they belong there. The brewery itself has recently been remodeled and renovated bringing the whole place more up to date.

Their normal everyday beers are decent with no glaring deficiencies and they are clearly brewed for the masses. They accurately represent the style without taking any chances. The better beers are brewed as seasonals and are often saved back for their annual anniversary party.

I have never been disappointed by the service here. The staff is friendly and helpful and the brewer Dan is often around to help answer questions.

The beer selection is less than stellar with their 5 regular beers and 1 seasonal normally available. I wish they would bring in a rotating guest tap and bring some beers we don't usually see to this area.

The food is very good but most everything is the usual pub fare.

Was here on business and stopped in for a beer while we figured out dinner. We ended up eating here. The place was busy for a weeknight due to the Billy Joel concert. We sat at the bar and were served by a very loud bartender. She seemed to always be yelling. It's kind of a loud place. Without the house brews, it seems like a BMC joint. I had the stout and it was very good. My friend had the wheat and she liked it. We sat at a table for dinner and I had a burger. It was fine. The menu is kind of chain like. Not bad though. I would not seek this place out if I were in town again. We went to a wine bar the following night where I enjoyed Saison Dupont on tap...In Wichita! There are better places for sure.

I was born and raised in Wichita, but I never made it to this place until recently. I had just never heard anyone really say anything good about it. I decided to try it one night so my girlfriend and I sat at the bar and got a sampler. The place is actually kind of cool. It is located inside an old brick warehouse in old town. There is a nightclub directly above the restaurant that made the place pretty noisy.
The bartender insisted on giving me a description of the beer, and he basically told me exactly what was written on the inside of the menu. He also told me, "the red tastes like a fat tire, the brown tastes like a newcastle, and the stout tastes like a guinness." Their beers tasted nothing like the beers he mentioned. The red had no flavor to it, and the brown and the stout had the same bitter, coffee aftertaste. The IPA lacked hops and tasted pretty much the same as the wheat. The seasonal beer was the Razzberry Wheat which I had no interest in trying. Overall I was pretty disappointed.

Stopped by a weekday evening. Hotter than hell outside so this was a nice oasis. Large bar and a large seating area. Sat at the bar and ordered their brown ale. I thought the brown was excellant. Also had the red but was less impressed with that. The bartender was very friendly and chatty. She gave a couple of guys crap for ordering Bud Light by saying, "You do know you are in a brewpub." I thought the food was also very good. The crowd seemed to be a mixture of local families and wayward travelers like myself.