Boom City Brewing Company

Downtown, by a bunch of hotels and the river.

Smaller place, with two distinct dining rooms and a smaller bar area….I found some street parking. Friendly staff is always a plus.

Extensive food menu, lots of pizzas, Italian focused dishes, salads and burgers and all sorts of other tasty stuff..

They had 8 of their own available on tap and in a bunch of cans to go.

Kind of beat up feel to the place, but comfortable and inviting. I enjoyed a tasty hazy IPA, and enjoyed the canned beers and tasty chow later in my room….worthy spot to check out if passing through the area.

 

Downtown location, short walk from Bullfrog. Very bare bones compared to Bullfrog. Short bar, smattering of tables. Food available. Limited tap list on my visit (4). Good service though.

 

Vibe: Dark atmosphere, the dining area consists of about 10-12 rustic style wooden picnic tables, some were overly small for 4 people seating, while others are overly wide. The bar area was situated towards the back, though not sure if you are able to sit back there. The area was rather cramp and dense in relation to seating, elbow room, and trying to navigate through the dining area. Reminded me a bit of a dive bar type setting, dark and dingy. The rustic cabin like decor was minimalist at best in relation to the theme they were trying to establish with no other supporting character.

Selection/Quantity: In terms of variation of styles I have to give them some credit. With about 7 beers currently on tap, they had a fruit, porter, pale ale, ipa, pilsner and hefe. Its nice to see a place not heavily reliant on having ipas being 75% of inventory. While the variety within styles was good, I currently was unaware they had guest offerings or wines, not mentioned on printed beer menu or blackboard above bar. They did have one or two interesting drink mixes.

Quality: Of having 3 of thier beers, I was not overly impressed with the quality. Between the pilsner, pale ale, and ipa, all seemed rather boring, and bland with no bright spots or moments. Generic will be a good description. The pale/ipas did not make use of hops and were muted/muddle in flavors, while the pilsner lacked a crispness, or earthy/herbal hoppiness and was rather sleepy. I am usually forgiving with beers as long as it is true to style. There was just no inspiration to make these beers stand out or give it some character, just to be safe and ordinary.

Service: was good. accommodating due to some kitchen mishaps.

Food: The menu was american cuisine, comfort food. The prices were rather high per quality standards. There was one example of a dining partner who had to have his food returned for reason I rather not get into, but not hygenic. My burger was under cooked, asked for well, got a medium. Also the fries were soggy/stale garbage, no crispness or flavor, tasted like cardboard, a sign that the frying oil has not been changed for some time. Another patron had the salmon, at $19 which he had no complaints about. The selection of food was wide, giving you options, just after dining at other fine establishments in Williamsport over the years, the food quality here just didn't stack up.

Overall: I always love giving new breweries a try, its like a kid at Christmas where you always hope and expect the best and newest videogame console, but there are times you get the underwear and socks, bare necessities. This was that time. Dull uninspired beer with no flavor, a dark and dingy atmosphere, and dive bar quality food along with a confusing identity that did the minimal.

Boom City is in a neat area of downtown Williamsport. It has a café like feel with small bar. The quality of beer was ranged from average to good. The saison was my favorite. The service was very kind and attentive. They had 6 of their own beers available. They had homemade Italian available and it was good. I have the ravioli. Worth a visit.