Not just the micros (Union and Trinity), there are plenty of places to get good food and great beers. Harry's Burger Bar, What Cheer Tavern and Track 84 (Warwick 10 min drive) are just a couple. What places get your beer off in the Ocean State?
Not that there's a ton of craft there, but my friend took me to the Hot Club on Sunday for the first time, and that place seemed awesome. Right on the water, seemed like a cool vibe. Had a Revival Larkin's Double Black IPA. Good times. Also went to a store called "Bottles", that was decent.
Was in town visiting a friend. had lunch and the sampler at Trinity, then a pint at Hot Club, then Bottles to shop.
If I go anywhere for beer in Providence, it's to Julians. Only a dozen or so taps and they usually keep it solid and with a good mix of local and European. The Avery also has consistently good stuff on 6 taps. Mostly I do my beer drinking at Track 84. They are easily the authority on craft beer in the state. Regularly have their 20 taps crammed with A+ beer. Sometimes you'll find a great cask or a monster beer. Right now they have Firestone Walker Parabola. Not to mention their pours and prices are very fair. As far as liquor stores, I got to Thorpe's in EG because it's a quarter mile from my apartment. Kingston Liquor in NK has a great beer guy. He let me buy 4 4 packs of KBS. They always get the good release stuff. If you're in Providence, Campus Fine Wine and Liquor on the east side also has a really good selection and good prices. Got 6 Parabola there for $15 a piece. There's not too many great great spots but they are out there.
Here's my semi-standard answer (I update it as need be) when people ask about the Providence beer scene: Bars in Providence proper:The Scurvy Dog- This place is flying under the radar right now, but it's going to explode soon I am sure. I love this bar. It's a place to go to for sure. Great taps, free pool until 10 PM, old school video games in the corner, decent prices. Place gets a little packed after 11:00, but it's a great spot nonetheless. Taco truck usually parked outside on Friday nights. The Avery- Go to this place. They only have like 7 taps, but they are normally very good.Harry's- Small, but good tap list and great sliders.E & O- Hipster central, but some good craft offerings. Within walking distance of the Avery listed above and Julian's (listed in my section on restaurants). What Cheer Tavern is worth checking out if local beer is what you want. They are located a good bit from downtown but are still in Providence. My all time favorite bar in Providence is Nick-a-Nees. Unfortunately, it's not a craft beer place per se. But, your bound to get some interesting stuff in bottles and there's usually a a solid craft tap or two on the line. 10 songs for a dollar in a double juke box packed with great music is an amazing thing. Places to skip are Wickenden Pub, The Apartment and English Cellar Ale House. All try to be craft beer hot spots and all fail. Also, Trinity Brewhouse is worth skipping in my opinion. If you do want to hit it because it's the only RI owned brewery located in Providence, then go for it. But be aware, the beer is so-so and the food is poor.Bars just outside of Providence:Track 84. 15 minute drive south on Rt. 95 to Warwick, RI. It's right next to the airport. They have the best tap list in the state. Prices are good too. Place looks like a dump, but don't be scared off.Doherty's. In Pawtucket. Tons of taps (like 80+), nothing super special, but they usually have some damn fine cask beer.Beer friendly restaurants in Providence:Julian's. Don't be fooled. Julian's is not a bar, it's a restaurant first. They happen to have a kick ass tap list though, so it's worth a trip (although the food is so-so and the beer prices are high).Louis Fullers. Much better food than Julian's in my opinion, but not as good on the beer front. But they are close to Julian's so you can do beer there and dinner at Fuller's.Nick's. Also near Louis FUller's and Julian's. Quality craft and best food of the three. They have awesome brunch and a coffee stout with brunch is a good thing. Local 121. It's a restaurant downtown. They usually have 5 brews on tap and one of them is always Trinity IPA (so if you MUST try the cities one noteworthy brew you can). The food is way better at Local 121 than at Trinity. Plus they have other breweries on tap A place a lot of folks forget about is The Ivy on Hope St. A few beer offerings, but all quality. The food is good too. The real expensive places like New Rivers, Farmstead and Chez Pascal have great beer selections as well. If you're going big $$$ hit New River's. The food is unreal.Bottle shops:Nikki's is actually in North Providence. It's excellent, although right now they are planning for a big move to a new location. As such, I think the selection has dropped off recently (just my opinion).Eno is smack downtown and actually has a solid selection.High Spirits is in the plaza with Whole Foods (the large one, not the small one) has really stepped it up and is worth checking out. They have less of a mix a six selection than Nikki's, but more refrigerated sixers.Last but most certainly not least is Bottles on the East Side. They have a solid selection and prices are good.If you can, take a spin to Yankee spirits in Attleboro (10 minutes up I-95 in Mass.). Huge amount of beer and they get the stuff that RI doesn't.I am sure I am missing some stuff, but that's what I recall for now....Salute!
