Dempsey's Brewery, Restaurant & Pub

 

Was there on 9-13-2020

They do have outdoor seating, though there were some wasps in the area, so I sat inside.
There's a large amount of indoor seating. It has a feel of an Irish pub. There were several beers on tap, though I do not remember as I'm writing this. They do have 16 oz cans to go, they also do growler fills. They also make their own sangria for to go.
I had a pizza there, and it was damn good.
Highly recommended when you're in Watertown.

 

Decent food and service but absolutely terrible beer.

 

 

Excellent sweet Sicilian pizza! Small brewery large bar area and even bigger restaurant. Some seating outside. Relaxed family style place with classic rock on the radio. All beer made on site, which was average at best.

Oh man.... Where do I start with explaining a place that I firmly believe set the Northeast South Dakota beer scene back 10-20 years with it's horrendous beers? The beer is just putrid, everyone that I have brought with me to Dempsey's or talked to that has gone to there agrees. Their beer is simply undrinkable. You hear about how a rising boat of craft beer lifts all ships? I'm sure the exact opposite has happened in the area because of this place. I'm sure several people were introduced to craft beer by this place and therefore went right back to their domestic light lagers instead. There are no other places in Watertown that have become a loyally craft beer bar like in several other eastern SD towns of similar size. Luckily the Watertown Brewing Company is coming soon so hopefully that ship will be able to help shift the trends in Watertown back to the beer bliss that the rest of South Dakota seems to be embracing.

 

 

 

More an English Pub feel than a brewery. I don't know if hops are hard to come by in these parts but the brew master (owner, bartender and sometimes cook) does not seem to use them in his brews. If he does they are very mininal. My in-laws live within walking distance from this place so when I found it I was excited. Now it's just somewhere I go to have a quick bite to eat and maybe a BMC or cocktail. They do have a small casino in the back.
I would not recommend unless you happen to be in Watertown SD and want to hang with the locals.

I was able to visit this place while in SD meeting the newest grandchild. My son-in-law knew my love of beer and wanted to treat me by ringing me to a brewpub.
Firstly, the food was good. There was a great deal of standard bar fare, by mixed in there were some very good traditional Irish foods.
Now, the beer. I ordered a sample flight to see what was available. I was immediately told it would only be $3.00 since they were out of 3 of the 8 beers they offer. Ok, I see. Each sample was flat and way past it's prime. To see if this was an issue, I ordered another Pale Ale and it was flat. If they are brewing, they are not brewing very often.
Great Food, but order something in a bottle. Hopefully they let someone with more passion have their brew equipment.

In the middle of a long, hot day hauling ass on the Dakota interstates, Dempsey's was a great little break. We didn't spend enough time there to enjoy the food, which looked great. Our bartender was the brewer/owner, and was very happy to talk to us about his place. We had four beers, the Battle Axe Blonde, the Valkyrie Red, Banshie Pale Ale and Black Bear Stout. They were all decent. I don't know if they were Gold Medal winners, but for a little place in South Dakota, you can't go wrong. It's not too often that I find myself in Watertown, but I will certainly track this place down again the next time I'm anywhere close to it. They get two thumbs up for bringing good beer to the wild frontier.

Visited on a Friday night around 9 PM. Place was located on an off-street. From the outside, the building wasn't much to look at. Gravel parking lot and just a plain looking building. Inside, the place looked nice enough, with flags hanging down from the ceiling. Band was playing, and it wasn't too loud like it can be sometimes. Food was decent bar food. Service was really good, as our waitress was friendly, prompt, and even gave our group a free round plus a shot. Beers were all decent beers. Nothing outstanding, but nothing that was undrinkable. Maybe not worth the trip just for the beer, but worth a stop if in the vicinity.

Traveled north up I-29 to the smaller community of Watertown SD. Located near the down town area, was easy to find and plenty of parking. I guess that is one of the advantages of a smaller town.

Once inside, Dempsey’s is a well-spaced area with a strong Irish/Scottish feel. Paintings of castles and bagpipers covered the wall and framed pictures of tartan’s (Scottish plaid) representing family kilts were hung up. Also there were a variety of foreign flags hanging from the ceiling Apparently the owner also played his bagpipes and opened up the floor for dancing, but not on the day we were there.

The menu was consistent with Irish food. Ranging from bangers and mash, box-tees, and corn beef and cabbage. There were also basic American food and a decent kids menu. The food was pretty nice and not too bad on our wallets. The staff was not very tentative at all. They had two young girls and a bar tender keeping busy behind the bar. The food took awhile to get out, so not a great experience with the staff.

The beer was not good. Not horrible, but their selection at the time was pretty bad. Its nice to know they had a sampler but they were out of some beers and one of the beers that they had was a black and tan mix of two beer that was already part of the sampler. Also there was homemade root beer that was really good. Actually the best drink of everything we tried. Although we just tried the sampler, the prices were relatively cheap.

For the future, I would suggest not to make a special trip just for Dempsey’s, but if your traveling on I-29, it’s a opportunity to try.