What makes a good beer restaurant?

Also, great food is a must.

A lot of times I'm in the mood for good food and a place with great beer wins out. On the flip side, when I want a good beer I also want a place with great grub when I get hungry.

Don't overlook the simple staples like fries (smothered) or nachos. Nothing worse that a place with terrible Appetizers. BWW's has terrible (I mean god awful) nachos and their French Fries are meh. Yard House has some good food but they too have terrible nachos and boneless chicken strips. I mean dreadful.

 

I think they want to stay and eat as well...at least a lot of them. Problem here in PDX is that there are too many beer bars offering bags of chips, or allowing you to bring food into their place. I dont always want wings...Im 30. I also dont want to sit down for fine dining when Im out drinking beers. Sort of a pipe dream at the moment, but....

 

My biggest concern (that hasn't been mentioned yet at least, because everyone seems to have covered this subject pretty well) is temperature. Keep your kegs at the proper temp, keep the bottles at the proper temp, and please don't serve beer out of frosted mugs. The other day I was at a place that claimed to have an excellent beer selection, and they did. I ordered a dark Belgian, and they served it to me in the bottle, warm. No glass, and not even room temp- it was WARM. Like it had been stored under a heating vent. Eeek! Won't be returning. Anyway, beer temp (and I suppose storage) really make a difference. The frozen mugs may look cool, but they impede taste.

 

In my opinion I think that a good selection is important and having someone who knows a little about it as well... but only to the point where they are helpful in making a selection. I am not particularly bothered by glassware because that seems like an astronomical amount necessary for a good selection, but it is a nice touch.

I am out a lot (5-6 nights a week) and typically only go to places that have something I'm going to like. In my seemingly small town that means that I visit about 10 restaurants very regularly... some twice a week. A couple that I visit are very good at trying to do the right thing and overall I'm pleased that they are around and I thank them for doing it right. However there are a couple things that I think are important that can easily go wrong without some attention.

Once place I visit has 36 taps and sometimes a great selection. They are obviously busy and I understand that keeping a selection available takes some space and thought as to plan. The problem sometimes occurs is that they seem to be at the distributors hand when it comes to the things they are pushing and some seasonals do not move all that fast. Add to that when a keg blows someone without a lot of knowledge in beer will grab the closest one and tap it. What happens is that the 36 taps will be heavily weighted with pumpkins and blueberries and breakfast stouts and barleywines and there isn't an IPA in sight. For a hophead (I enjoy 65-90 IBU's mostly) there can be very little to choose from. Other times there are 5-6 IPA's on there and I know I'll miss some of them.

Another nice touch is to have what's coming up listed somewhere (big screen TV with the other selections is best) as I have on more than one occasion made repeat visits on multiple and consecutive days as a result of knowing.

But the one thing I think is important is the tiny plastic sample cups to not only help decide, but they are good to plop in front of a regular and get their feedback or to try something new.

 

I spent many years in the restaurant business [Before Craft Beer] but the formula doesn't change.
As long as a place doesn't think it can please everybody, because as the old saying goes - when you try to please everyone, you please no one, it's a simple formula:
For the beer - Good Selection [styles & beers], Presentation, Sanitation and Rotation.
For the food - Good [but limited] Selection, Sanitation and Preparation.
For the employees - knowledgeable with good attitudes.

And to be long-term successful, having all 3 is a must.

And when it comes to knowledge, I really don't mind if the server/bartender doesn't know the pedigree of a beer. I know at least some of that. I just don't want to hear some bullshit answer. If there's a new beer I haven't heard about [it happens, but rarely] I'd rather hear I don't know but I'll find out than a quick and incorrect answer.

 

As nice as it would be, I just don't think it's feasible. Having multiple keg coolers set at different temperatures for different styles would be great, but I don't think the money is there. I'll just have to settle for warming my stout up in my hands. Or ordering two drinks, and saving the stout

 

An online beer list kept up to date is something I feel like a lot of otherwise great beer bars lack. Especially for places that are active on FB or Twitter I'd want to know updates on the draft list.

 

many good suggestions here. others i would add:

-offer a selection of selection of glass/mug sizes and keep the price per ounce the same. Essentially a flight of 4 oz's pours would cost the same as a pint. Haymarket in Chicago does this, and i love them for it. i think they offered 4 to 5 different serving sizes, though you couldn't gett he largest size for higher abv brews.

-if you have the space, multiple bars with different handles. even just two bars is enough. a couple of bars i frequent have a bar on the main level and upstairs or in a back room. i guess i like to change scenery sometimes...

 

1) Knowledgeable staff
2) Tastes
3) Flights
4) Food pairing
5) Local Craft
6) A nod to "place" because so much of craft is about origin.
7) A nod to 'time of year' because so much of craft is about season.
8) Cellar and cellar temperature selection.
9) Great glassware.
10) Perfect pours.
11) A log-in for users
12) A better, larger, aromatic glass for premium beers (as wine restaurants do)

 

^this pretty much sums it up for me, I'd only add proper glassware (or at the very minimum have tulips in addition to the pint glass).

Also, living in LA I'd like to add PARKING also thanks

 

The only true beer "restaurant" I know of, not just a craft bar with good food, is the Birch & Barley in DC. I'm talking gourmet, 5 star cuisine with beer pairings, appropriate glassware, and great waitstaff. They basically treat beer just like most upscale restos treat wine. And Churchkey's just upstairs, with killer bar food to boot. Plus they hold special beer dinners from time to time. Mekong in Richmond, VA, is a killer Vietnamese place with an awesome taplist, but you gotta know the food and beer and do your own pairings, so not really a "beer restaurant". But it was a restaurant before it was a craft mecca, so it's not just a craft bar with good food. There's a difference.

 

I work in Boston so I feel your pain. But I live up north and I luckily have three outstanding places in town. Very lucky.

 

I would agree with all of the above and add good specialty local taps. When I go out to eat, I like to try new foods and new beers.
I would also place emphasis on knowledgeable staff. There is nothing worse than a server who doesn't know or care about their selection.