Most restaurants are terrible at curating their beer selection

Preach it. Every once in a great while, I go to a non-brewpub restaurant that has an excellent, if small, beer list. But it happens so infrequently that I pretty much go in anywhere prepared to drink wine.

EDIT: I mean other big cities: NYC, L.A., SF, Philly.

 

Wow, this discussion sounds like 1990 all over again.

I have found a lot of restaurants (high end and otherwise) with decent beer choices over the last 10 years or so. My gripe seems to be how well they take care of their tap lines.

For instance, I recently went for dinner to a place that advertises itself as a beer bar with multiple taps -- along with upper level tavern food.

I have been to this establishment before, so I knew they had a local Kölsch that tasted pretty good the last time. Not so much this time -- near to sour.

My second choice was a local Helles that I really enjoy -- same trouble. And yes, my sampling was pre-dinner, so clean palate.

I think the place just has too many beers to keep them all flowing at the same time and, thus, fresh.

Another local (high end restaurant) has a much smaller, but very good tap selection (always rotating) and I've never had a bad beer there.

 

Same here. When possible I usually try to look at a restaurant's beer list online if listed. It's amazing how often they don't even bother to list beers, and of they do how bad the list often is, especially when so much care is taken in the food department. It's like the beer selection is nothing more than an afterthought.

And I've been to some higher end places that say on the menu "Ask server", and when I ask them what beers they have the waiter will say "IPA. We have IPA". Uh ok, do you know what kind you have? "We have IPA".

Sheesh. Us beer drinkers are treated like the red headed step child in a lot of places.

 

I am fortunate that in Philadelphia and surrounding counties there is ample opportunity to enjoy very good food along with very good beer. These dining establishments are sometimes referred to as Gastropubs.

A favorite Gastropub for my wife and me is Standard Tap in Philadelphia. I have discussed this place in past threads:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...commendations-2024.675729/page-6#post-8033487

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...commendations-2024.675729/page-5#post-8023864

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...commendations-2024.675729/page-4#post-8002225

A place closer to home with very good food and very good food is a brewpub: Troubles End. The food there is comparable to the food at Standard Tap with one of my favorites being their Pork Schnitzel. I discussed one visit to Troubles End in a NBW thread:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-57.660906/#post-7327761

I also enjoy drinking wine with my meals so if we go to a fancier restaurant with a less stellar beer selection, I personally have no problem ordering a glass of wine to complement my meal.

Cheers!

 

That’s why I always pick where we go, and I always check out their menu before going. Good beer is as important as good food. When you have both it’s worth going out for. My in laws always comment I always pick good places and I am good at finding new places. What they don’t know is I do so we don’t end up eating at places with crappy beer tap lists.

there are occasions where there is no good Option so lucky I do like whiskey so I’ll get some type of cocktail.

 

It depends on location I suppose. Around me, even the chains have local/regional offerings of decent beer.

 

When no tap is listed I’ll go to reviews or pictures to see if it looks like they have something decent. I can kinda get idea if it’s just big beer and their “craft” beer. When there are no mentions of good beer options or pics of beers usually means it’s not going to be good.

 

Most restaurants usually have terrible everything

 

Even at places that aren't beer focused, and serve food that isn't really thought of as "beer" food, Philly restaurants tend to have a good selection. They know what town they're in.

When I was there, I worked at a place that was a very popular "Mediterranean" place (three bells, was in top 10 of best Philly restaurants while I worked there), and there was always something on draft that I had to get as my shift drink.

 

Seattle, both Portlands, SF, Denver, SD, Chicago, GR, Asheville, RVA, Philly, what others? Can the state of Vermont be considered a city for sake of argument? It has a smaller population than DC. Any others? I don't count LA or NYC because while they have some great places, but it isn't really a city-wide thing there, just a function of having a large population.