Cool atmosphere but food was just ok. Not many healthy options. I had their Elderflower Gin cocktail which was good.

The menu is pretty meaty. Nothing for vegans but salads. We tried an herbivore flat bread pizza. It was really well done. They claim to prefer locally produced ingredients. I had been here before and had a bleu cheese, apple and walnut salad which I enjoyed a lot. But this is a beer factory, so that's the draw of this place. I'm a lager man, not fond of dark beers; but I enjoyed all that I tried, including pepper infused stout (interesting concept). Waitstaff was very nice. You are never ignored here. Got a chance to peek into the brewing room. Nicely done and well equipped. If you find yourself on College Avenue in Appleton, you would want to check this place out. Nice atmosphere, great beer, and good food makes this a place not to miss. read more

Appleton Beer Factory is a neat brewery downtown Appleton that has been around for about five years now. They have an awesome space as the front room has a big bar in the middle, and tables around on the side if you're going to eat. A lot of natural light comes in from the store front glass windows. The back room is a big open space where you can see all the beer tanks and makes a great event space. You can probably have around 50-60 people (with tables and chairs). I think they should host some local music as I've been there for Mile of Music and you can easily squeeze a couple hundred people. When you visit, you want to try the food. Years ago, I had their mac and cheese burger and still rave about it. Other highlights are their flatbread pizzas (Herbivore and Carnivore), which are great to share with some friends, and their cheese curds!! Their beer has been hit or miss with me. I specifically not liking the lager, but the APA. Black ale, and their stout were decent beers that are worth trying. Hey, it's local craft beer, so I'm always willing to try anything new. It's a good spot to start your evening before other downtown shenanigans. read more

Slow as possible. Waited 45 minutes for food while watching kitchen employees playing with their phones. Place was half full at dinner hour. Don't bother read more

This place really has some kinks to work out before it can be a 4 or 5 star restaurant, but other reviews are proof that if you serve beer, burgers and marshmallows with french fries (ew) you can be successful. The ABF was only about half full on the Tuesday my group of 7 dined there. Started with drinks at the bar. Their website states, "Our wine menu features 12 wines from around the world." Ummmm...If California is "the World," then, yes, yes it does. They also dont make their own bloody Mary mix. Boooo :( Patience seems to be the key when eating here. Which if fine, unless you are hungry. The kitchen was slow, very slow, but the server was apologetic and kept us up-to-date on the continued delay. The hummus was a little on the dry side and could have used some more blending/smoothing (perhaps they used chickpeas with the skin). A little extra cumin and olive oil would have spruced this dish up. The mac and cheese bites was mac and cheese served between two slices of toast. Not what I was expecting, but maybe I should have read the menu more carefully. Dinner took over 45 minutes and the server brought out one salad without the chicken because it was, "still cooking." perhaps they should have served the salad and chicken together- kinda like it is described on the menu. The flat bread (herbivore) was served on focaccia bread. Note to ABF- this is not flatbread, but it was flavorful and contained a generous amount of goat cheese, mushrooms and onions. The veggie pita was brimming with a nice mix of veggies and seemed to be a success with two of the people I dined with. Overall, I think ABF could improve their menu and once the kitchen gets up to speed it will be a good high-end bar food type of place. I wouldnt rule this place out and hope they work hard and succeed. read more

1st night in Appleton we stopped here for a quick beer. Ended up having dinner,drinks, and a pleasant conversation with Matt the bartender who gave us additional restaurant recommendations for our stay. Great service! The food selection was also delicious, we had the caprese chicken sandwich and pulled pork. The pulled pork was prepared with the sauce on top instead of mixed in the pork. Still delicious but not what we're use to being from Los Angeles. The mac n cheese was also yummy and worth trying. Gave 5 stars for the food but most importantly for the friendly service from Matt. Thank you!!! read more

Appleton Beer Factory - Breweries Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

Drinking a freshly brewed beer while looking out onto the brewery is an exceptional idea for a pub/eatery. First the beer, outstanding. The APA, oatmeal stout, blonde and hefeweizen are all brewed on site and excellent. They do feature certain other local micros as guest beers, so there is a decent selection. Add in hard liquor and wine, a little something for everyone. Next, food. The slider trio is an excellent way to sample most of their sandwiches, sans the burger. My favorite is the Reuben, tender and fall apart good corned beef, perhaps house made braised cabbage, and some aioli, it's the best! The fries are good, nothing special, but definitely hits the spot after a few too many beers. And lastly, service. Beyond excellent. Very attentive wait staff and bar tenders make sure your drink of choice is always full. And my experience, I didn't like one of my sliders (shredded chix) it was too dry. They replaced it with another Reuben, no questions asked. That kind of dedication and attention to service are what a great pub should have. And Appleton Beer Factory delivers! read more

Don't normally write reviews but was compelled to after the experience I had. It was a regular Saturday night for College Ave, arrived at 7pm and fully expected a wait. We were promptly greeted and were informed of the 1/2 hour wait for a table. Not bad, and also gave us a chance to sit at the bar for a pre-dinner beer. A table opened up and we were informed it was open, the place isn't big but the host just pointed out the table instead of showing us to the table. Ok, so instead of writing the remaining in a narrative i'll bullet point the positives and negatives Negatives: - after our table was pointed out and we sat down, we waited 30 minutes and NO ONE CAME TO THE TABLE! Seriously, servers went to the two tables next to us but we had to flag down the host to let him know that no one had came. Even after that it took close to 10 mins for the server to arrive. - we ordered an appetizer and it was dropped off without any silverware or napkins - if we wouldn't have asked for a free round of drinks our server would not have offered anything - our server barely apologized for the wait and mostly just sad "this isn't even supposed to be my table" - no manager in sight ever came to check on us or to apologize for the wait either - half the fun of microbrews are taking some creative chances with the name of the beer. Don't sell your customer short that they won't be able to figure out what style of beer it is, even though it's named something different. Positves - the beer and bacon mac & cheese bites are enough of a new twist on an appetizer and they tasted quite good - ABF Hangover burger was a classic fried-egg-on a burger, but the hashbrowns was something i'd never had before. Well done - the Hefeweizen and Amber ales were both solid It appears that this place consistently has communication issues with who is responsible for serving the tables. I wouldn't recommend this place for a group for dinner, but if you need a place to pony up to the bar for some solid beers and some good food, I would maybe head back. read more

This place is truly adorable. The beer is great and the food is amazing. The food. I had the pita bread sandwich which was fantastic. All the veggies were very fresh and well put together. The fries were really good. The rest of my party had a pork sandwich, hamburger, and the Reuben soup. All were singing praises by the end of the meal. The beer. We had 3 of the 4 beers that were made in house. The hefe was really good with a true authentic hefe taste. The oatmeal stout was smooth and creamy. The American pale ale which they termed APA was crisp and delicious. The service. This place just opened and for a bottoms up made hole in the wall they seem to be doing amazing. They could use some more staff as it took us a while to get served but I say it was well worth the wait. The atmosphere is a very young crowd kind of noisy with a great appreciation for micros brewed beers. Keep it up. I will be back next time I am in the area. read more

First impression, is that this is a brewpub for beginners. They brew an American Pale, Hefeweizen, Blonde and an Oatmeal Stout-- and only the Stout was available on this night. Troubling that they were out of 3 of their 4 house brews. Thankfully, they had some guest taps-- New Glarus Moon Man and Ale Asylum Hopalicious and Madtown Nutbrown. Not terribly exciting choices-- but solid brews. Problem is, this is 2014-- and even factoring in that NE Wisconsin is generally a couple years behind the times-- there is an expectation that a brewpub should be offering some interesting seasonals alongside their staples. I mean-- no IPA? Seriously? The food looked good-- and the pretzel bites we snacked on were tasty. I will give this place another couple months before returning. Hopefully, they will have stepped up the game on the beer. read more

Terrible! No focus on customer service. We had 6 in our party. We waited 15 minutes before waitstaff came over...only because we asked. Ordered drinks and food right away. Drinks delivered 16 minutes later. 40 minutes for food to be served. Seafood mac & cheese was tasty, but cold. Other entrees and beverages were good but too rushed to enjoy. I understand being shorthanded, there's no excuse not to greet guests. It wasn't that busy. Acknowledge the customers and don't forget about them. As long as you update, pay attention and attend to the customers, lengthy waits can be tolerated...especially if offered a free soda (maybe a appetizer). The restaurant is located close to PAC which is convenient...but plan ahead if you're attending a show. read more

Declined dramatically. 30 minute wait for super turned into 2 hour ordeal. The menu is very basic so not acceptable. Too bad. They need to turn this around or risk going out of business. read more

Meh. This is my overall feeling after eating here on Monday night with my husband. We ordered sandwiches hoping that we would get them in a timely manner since we were heading to a concert. The sandwiches arrived an hour later. Never have I had to wait an hour for sandwiches. I had the reuben and my husband had the pulled pork (both came with coleslaw). Nothing was memorable about the sandwiches and they were both barely warm. I will say that the slaw was really good. We also ordered their seasonal beers and they were also just okay. We left feeling like the place was nothing special which is sad. Overall the only reason this place received three stars was that the servers were extremely kind and kept checking on us even though no food was coming out of the kitchen. read more

For tonight's Family dinner my Son In Law picked Appleton Beer Factory. When I called yesterday and made reservations for our group of 16, I was told that there was another party of 30 doing buffet and a few events downtown, so service may be delayed. That is the way it is suppose to happen, I really appreciated the heads up. And as it turned out service was very good. Our waitress was very attentive, and my beer glass was never empty. Speaking of beer, they had an awesome selection of beer. Everything from a tasty scotch ale to a very hoppy Rye APA. We ordered appetizers right away. The Poutine with ale pulled pork was really good. Just the right amount of gravy over a bed of French fries, with cheese curds and a good amount of pulled pork on top. The pulled pork was really good. We had ordered cheese curds, but they were gone by the time they made it to me, but the ones on the poutine were excellent. With the two Bavarian pretzels, we asked for the ale house mustard. The pretzels tasted very fresh, but the mustard was more beery than mustardy, (if those are words). As I said the cheese curds must have been good, they did not make it around the table before they were gone. The Vanilla Sweet Potato fries were some of the best I have ever had. They came with maple syrup for dipping, but they did not need it. They were super crisp, just short of over crisp, Perfect.. My other son in law ordered the Hop Pickle egg, he did not share, and it was gone pretty quick. So it must have been good. For dinner I ordered the Cuban sandwich. It was ok, the ingredients were very good, but it is not really a cuban unless it is on pressed crispy bread. The pork was great, the ham was packaged and the pickles were cubed. I did not taste any mustard, and since the sandwich was not pressed it all kind of fell apart as I ate it. Next time I would try something else. I tried the onion soup and it was really tasty. It was more of the sweet variety, and it came in a really big crock. The people who ordered the build your own hamburgers all really liked the way they were made and they would order the same thing again. My daughters ordered the Herbivore flat bread pizza. It looked really good, and it was huge. Even after they both had their fill and they shared with others at the table, they still had leftovers. A friend of the family that came along ordered the Rueben. He said "The cheese was rubbery The thousand island didn't taste very thousand islandly, other wise meat was good 7 outta 10" My wife and my oldest daughter ordered the Brewer's Cobb salad. They loved them and the both have leftovers for lunch for tomorrow. Over all, I really liked eating here. The appetizers came out really quick, and the food was not nearly as slow as we were warned about. The only thing that was really annoying was the noise, it was really loud! The 30 person party up front had music was just more noise on top of noise. They put us in the room to the west and that helped. And last but not least, The server we had (I forgot to get her name) was really great. Never once did we feel rushed or forgotten. I would go back again, just not with the kids. read more

They spent way too much time on the building and not nearly enough time on the beer. If you like tap water you'll love their beer. I can only hope that someone who knows how to use their equipment buys the place when they eventually close their doors from lack of sales. Shape up or ship out guys!!! P.S. Don't ask the customer what they think if you don't want to be receptive to what they say. Very rude response to my critique. read more

I had high hopes for this restaurant, and was very disappointed after last nights visit. None of the bartenders would even give us eye contact or offer us a drink. The staff was very unwelcoming, and because of the lack of hospitality I will not be back. read more

I was up in Appleton on business travel and I usually like to find the local brewery. I like getting to try new local beers and the food is usually pretty good. I was not disappointed with Appleton Beer Factory! I was in on a Wednesday night, so the place had some people but wasn't packed by any means. I ordered the Hefeweizen to start, along with a cobb salad and some cheese curds. The beer was good - pretty much your standard Hefeweizen. The cheese curds and the sauce they came with were great! One was a kind of beer ranch and the other was some sort of spicy dip. The salad was your average salad. Something about the chicken tasted a little off to me but I was more into the cheese curds to begin with. The food was out within 15 minutes, so absolutely no complaints there. In my opinion, one of the best things about this place was the service. Larry the bartender was very nice, even refilling my beer (for free) when I knocked it over like a klutz. When I told him I was interested in getting a growler, he let me sample a variety of their beers to see which one I liked best. I ended up loving the stout they had on tap, which is exciting because usually I don't like stouts at all! I'll absolutely be back next time I'm in Appleton. read more

So tonight was my sons bachelor party We planned to have the rehearsal dinner at this venue for several months and I had some trepidation about using such a venue for the occasion but I must say they knocked it out of the park The event was lead by Sara and supported by Kari. The level of service was amazing Every guest had a full plate and never had an empty glass. Nothing but complements from our 50 guests They did this while supporting the regular guests in front area. Thanks crew and especially Sara, you made a special occasion extraordinary read more

Our visit was on a Wednesday evening around 5pm and the restaurant was about 1/3 full. My fiancé and I arrived and were immediately seated by a hostess/waitress/bartender (neither of us could figure out what she did there) given menus and then the waiting began. I wish to commend the waitstaff on their prompt service, provided to the two tables seated after us. It wasn't for lack of staff, I had the opportunity to make eye-contact, flag, and be ignored by all of them. The first employee (now suspected to be a bartender by her shuffling of glasses and her iPhone behind the bar) was very good at looking busy for the 15 minutes we were ignored. I'm not sure there is much else to say, the one star is merely for the cool atmosphere...that is where the positives end. read more

We visited in their first couple weeks. They had a lot of kinks to work out like service and seating. The food was good but there was a lot of cumin used in many items on the menu. There was no place to sit and lots of empty space they could put tables but they tweeted back that new tables were being delivered. Huge potential so I will give it another try. Just seems like they opened before they were ready. read more

Went in during a weekday with the expectations of a few regulars and about 50% capacity. To my surprise, there were only 2 tables filled. However, I had high expectations after hearing about the greatness of the beer and burgers. Ordered a customized burger and an Oktoberfest beer, which was strange (since October was months ago). After having a taste of the beer, the flavors were not vibrant and the beer was missing the wow factor. Another taste from the house's IPA, I realized that this place was just okay. The 2-star rating is an understatement, since this place deserves 2.5. I lived and died by the hype. read more

I've been here twice before. Both times were about the same experience service wise. Attentive waitresses and fairly quick overall. The beer - especially their Amber - is very good! They have quite a few to choose from, so there are different options. The first time we went, I got the Cuban. It was pretty good, but nothing special. The second time I got the portobello mushroom sandwich in wrap form. Hands down excellent! They put the balsamic sauce on the side, which made the wrap even better since the inside wasn't coated in sauce. I could decide how much I wanted to put on the wrap. The flavor was amazing. I would go back just for the wrap! Between the beer and the food, I will be back at some point when I'm in Appleton. I would definitely recommend trying it out if you get a chance. read more

First time here.. Bartenders were friendly love the open layout and that u can see the beer being made. I am not a dark beer fan but found myself drawn the the brown ale for seconds. I recommend the flight to get all the tastes it has to offer! Food was delicious and just the right portions. I had the beer Mac and cheese sandwich.. Yum! Definitely coming back! read more

Appleton Beer Factory - Beer Mac and Bacon and pub fries - Breweries Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

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3 stars if 3 1/2 were possible I would have done that...but...Stopped into Appleton Beer Factory Sunday afternoon after Art in the Park - we were looking for a bloody mary and an appetizer at somewhere other than our usual go to places. We've been here before and weren't wowwed but wanted to give them another try. Overall experience was good but just missing that "sparkle" that would put it out in front of what Appleton currently offers. Surprisingly they were moderately busy for a nice summer Wisconsin Sunday when you might expect people to be outside and enjoying the weather. Service was attentive and knowledgable - bartender hit every "to do" perfectly (menus, drinks, followups etc) The Bloodies were full flavored but a bit too much horseradish for my spouses taste. Chasers were a choice of the menu - I had the Blonde and hubby had the boondoggle brown - both were tasty and good examples of their on site brews. For appetizers we ordered the Bacon Mac and Cheese bites and the hot pretzels with ale mustard. Bacon Mac and Cheese bites were basically their mac and cheese grilled cheese sandwich (quartered) very buttery but not very bacony (is that a word) Some bacon jam as a side might have improved. Tasty but a bit pricey at $9. Presentation was stark on a lovely white platter but I have to wonder what they could have done to love it up a bit to make me happier about the $9. Pretzels were more like pretzel breadsticks than NY soft pretzels. Again, OK but the Ale mustard was good (and the mac and cheese bites were good with that as well) Would go back to this place for some comfort apps and a brew on a lazy afternoon - but would this be my go to place to take an out of town friend to give them a piece of Appleton - probably not. read more

After at least a year and numerous trips to Wisconsin, the new brewing operation I read about, and waited to try, was finally open. That was where the good news ended. The oatmeal stout was awful and not anything resembling an oatmeal stout. Hope that was a bad batch. It was like a soy sauce syrup. My wife thought the hefeweizen was average at best, and I consider her a wheat beer connoisseur. That was enough for us and we left for another craft brewery. I won't name names for ABF's benefit. Much work to be done on the product at this place. 2nd star only because it's new and it should get better. Interior was kind of neat with bar top made from reclaimed floors from upstairs and my favorite was the ceiling but too trendy in too many ways for a craft brewer. P.S. Please give back to brewers - how about an AHA discount? read more

We stopped here after a shopping trip and had an awesome experience! I got the pulled pork sandwich and my husband got a sandwich with bacon, Mac and cheese and chicken-- all amazing! Seriously. The fries were awesome, the sandwiches were fresh and tasty, all accompanied with cold craft beer. We also appreciated that they kept the integrity of the previous building by showcasing the old brick. Will definitely be making a trip back! read more

Appleton Beer Factory - Umm... YUM! - Breweries Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

Food: Pizza bland, portabella sandwich bland, fries bland. Cheese curds were good. Service: seated by bartender, waitress didn't show up until a while later to serve. Not sure where she was. Atmosphere: good building and seating. read more

Appleton Beer Factory is exactly the kind of Place that Appleton, WI needs. I love this place and have enjoyed watching their growth over the past few years. They serve great beer and the food is equally great using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. The owners and staff are very open to suggestions and truly do seem to care what their customer's experience is. They had slower service at first due to being busier than expected but quickly corrected the problem and staffed more bartenders and wait staff along with increased kitchen help. Appleton Beer factory is a classy bar with good food and in my opinion a great place to grab a drink and dinner with friends or even to go to before a show at the PAC right down the road. Give them a try, you won't be disappointed. read more

Loved the beer selection and the Mac and cheese bites were amazing! Will definitely be going here again when I'm back in town!

We visited at 7 pm on a Saturday. We sat at the bar. Had to ask for menus and service. It was moderately busy but not packed. The bartender was VERY rude. In 30 minutes she never checked in. We watched her treat other guests poorly. People had to flag others for service but no one was attentive. During the 30 minutes we sat without being able to order they put up a sign stating the kitchen was closed. (Before 7:30 on a Saturday) We brought a steel growler we had purchased there intending to fill it after dinner. My husband put it on the bar. No one offered to fill drinks, fill the growler or take our order. We left and will not be back. read more

Terrible experience. Went at 7 pm on a Saturday, and the restaurant was not very busy (side and back room were empty). The service was terrible, and our food took over an hour to receive (not to mention some offerings on the menu that we wanted were not available). Our waitress was not attentive, either. The manager apologized for the wait, but that was about it. Ended up being nearly $40 for two of us (one glass of wine with a chicken sandwich, and a beer/plain burger), and that was after they removed the extra random beer that they tried to charge us for. They didn't even apologize to us at the end, much less offer a discount on the meal or anything. Disappointed. read more

Missing the ball. Loved this place previously and want to continue, however they run out of the beers we favor all too often. Great eggs and flat bread Pizza and curds. read more

The service was so bad!!!! We walked in with 12 people early on a Sunday. Wanted a drink at the bar and then wanted to order food, it was such an inconvenience for them to serve us, we were treated like absolute shit!!! I have never been treated so poorly our entire party was so dissatisfied with the was we were treaded, and the kicker was the waitress was sitting in the back room with her feet up watching the packer game! But we were an inconvenience!!! read more

I went to Appleton Beer Factory after reading reviews on yelp. I was not disappointed. Great old building, and great beer selection. Had a wonderful discussion with Ben about his love of brewing beer. We can't wait to come back on motorcycles in a month to enjoy this place again. Thank you Ben and ABF for a wonderful evening out, see you soon. Mike read more

Last night, we had a bad experience. We meet there for Paint Nite, which they failed to serve to us, we had to go order at the bar ourselves. We ordered sandwiches and they were horrible! The Cuban had more bread than anything else which made the sandwich super dry and made it impossible to bite into because it was too tall. The meat was very dry and it just didn't seem fair to charge what they did for it. If you are not a craft beer person, stay away. We ordered a chicken sandwich minus some ingredients and they managed to mess up that simple sandwich. I will not recommend going there, but I will to stay away. read more

The service was God awful. Food took 1 hr 15 min to arrive and the server sullenly argued that we had only put our order in 20 minutes previously. Lies. Chicken sandwich was a charred burned dry mess. Manager did not have the decency to even stop over when we compjj kk is Ed about the wait. Don't waste your time read more

We love going here, great beer the food is always good. The fish fry's are great on Friday. Can't wait until we can go there and enjoy the great atmosphere! read more

I've never written a review on Yelp before. That's how bad our service was. Arrived at 6:30 on a Friday during Lent. Had a Groupon for beer flights, which are 6 ounce glasses of beer. Fourteen of these glasses were on our table, which was a good value for the price paid. However It was a small, square pub table. We were not sure if we were going to eat here or not, but decided around 7:00 to give it a shot. Waiter informs me they're out of fish. He happily offers me fried shrimp in lieu of the cod. I asked if they had cocktail sauce. He had to check. Turns out, they didn't. Who has fried shrimp with no cocktail sauce? We ordered at 7:15. I ordered a cheeseburger. At 8:00 the waiter informs us the kitchen is running behind. The restaurant was about half full. There were 2 large groups, so I'll give them that. In addition, we had to ask our waiter to clear our tiny table of the 14 beer glasses. He never once did it in the first 90 minutes we were there. Our food FINALLY comes out at 8:30. My burger has no cheese on it. My husband's sandwich is cold. When the waiter stops back, I inform him of the missing cheese. He takes the burger back to the kitchen. He brings it back with a piece of cold cheese on my burger. Seriously, not melted or anything. Ugh. Burger was fine - nothing special. Husband's mac and cheese sandwich was good, but cold. My friend had a bowl of mac and cheese and ordered a side of sweet potato fries. I requested sweet potato fries as a side with my burger. When the bill comes, I notice I was charged an "upcharge" of $2 for sweet potato fries. She was given a larger appetizer portion of the very same sweet potato fries and was only charged $2. How is that fair? Never ever going back. read more

Amazing beer. Great atmosphere. Sweet potato fries with marshmallow dipping sauce. How could you not love this place?

The food was decent...once it finally came. Sat for 30 min before having our drink order taken. Then another hour+ before our sandwiches came. Very disappointed after all the hype. read more