Waterloo Illinois has a vibrant downtown area with many great choices for dining pleasures. Since our daughter and son in law live close it is always a treat to try something here. Today we visited Hopskeller Brewing. We opted for wood fired pizzas. My wife and had Smoke on the Water Smoked salmon with goat cheese onions, capers and a balsamic reduction sauce. To start we had the sausage cheese bread. They have several signature drinks along with an extensive craft beer selections. My wife liked her margarita and I enjoyed the Bloody Mary's. The Bloody Mary mix is almost as thick as ketchup, with the addition of sriracha sauce it was a nice compliment to the sweetness of the balsamic on the pizza. We dined outside and the patio is dog friendly. It was a wonderful fall day to spend with our children and their spouses. We are looking forward returning soon to try some of the other menu selections. read more

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It's the busiest bar and restaurant night in Waterloo, IL, because of the Queen of Hearts drawing on Tuesday, but Hopskeller reserved half of their tables. If it was busy only because of the drawing or the rain, I'd say, "Good for them," but they made it worse through a bad business decision. read more

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I can't get over how lucky I feel that my husband and I just wandered into this place. We live about an hour from Waterloo but were passing through town and just needed to grab lunch. We eat a LOT of pizza in our house, and my husband said that this was hands down the best pizza he's had. I had the grilled chicken caesar salad which was also wonderful, and we split some delicious pretzels. It is housed in a beautifully restored historic building, and the environment is very relaxed and friendly. The service was fantastic as well. We will make it a point to detour through Waterloo to stop in whenever possible! read more

Wow! What a surprise! We came here to drink a yummy beer and have a bite. The Maple Pecan Marzin beer was AMAZING in the yummy way. The pizza, we got the Instant Karma pizza and added red sauce and damn.... I wanted to take some home but it was too good and we ate it all and licked the plate. 10/10 Maple beer, drinks (salted carmel ehite russion). And PIZZA hooked us up, and this will always be a stop when we visit this area The Stubborn German was a good pre-game fo sho read more

One of the most charming places in all Monroe County. The home brew is just amazing, the staff is helpful and friendly, and upon Kaylynn's (who works there) recommendation we tried the (fat bottom girl pizza) which is as funny a pun as it is delish. Also the local band out back was great. They added to ambiance and it was truly a memorable experience. I can't recommend this place highly enough. read more

Great atmosphere to watch a sports event!!! Great beer and good food!!! Service was good mostly self serve as far as food.

Cool building and great staff. So many good pizza topping combinations, but I would ask for the pizza a little extra done. They may be known for the beer, but their custom cocktails are wonderful. Highly recommend the Stumpy's Basil Lemonade. read more

Best microbrewery we have ever been to. We drive from st louis to enjoy their beer, cocktails and food. Evan is the absolute hands down best bartender we have every experience. I love the place bc they don't just have craft beers (which my husband likes but I don't care for). He can get his craft beer and I can get a cocktail or a domestic beer which is rare for a microbrewery. The pizza is great and they also have salads and other really good menu items. It's a must try!! read more

The pizza and salads are amazing. The drinks are the best in town. The staff is super friendly and on top of it. It's the perfect place to gather without the usual bar scene atmosphere. Plenty of room outside as well. Highly recommend! read more

Had a great dinner here. Pizza was hot out of the brick oven, the Candied Bacon Bites appetizer was delicious, and the beers we tried were delicious. Very cool location and atmosphere. Would definitely go back. read more

Went here on a Friday night and the food was good. Staff was very helpful and super nice. You order your drinks from the bar and your food from the kitchen. There is plenty of seating inside and also on their patio. Nice family atmosphere. read more

Good and drinks are great. Sometimes food can take a long time, but it's worth the wait. My wife and I frequent this establishment.

We really like their pizzas and the variety of hometown brews that they have on tap. We also enjoy the establishment. read more

Great place to chill. Great service too and just all-around awesome. Highly recommended!

We were out for a Sunday adventure and landed in Waterloo. What a find!! I really enjoyed all of my tasting choices and even came home with a growler of a great peach beer! If you are hungry the food looked great too! We had a pretzel with some delicious cheese and drizzled with honey. A perfect choice with the wheat beer! read more

The pizza is worth the wait and travel! The open atmosphere was great! I think people will love the experience.

It's fun, comfy and cozy. It's a good time. Try all the beers! BTW I like the "Zero" beer the best! read more

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The Pizza is so good and the pretzel sticks!!! Wish we lived closer to get them more often:)

We're from Colorado and love craft beer. Glad my sister and brother in law brought us here. Good beer and pizza. We'll definitely be back next time we're visiting family. read more

Great craft beer selection. had the wood fired pizza which was delicious! Beautiful building with a great ambiance. Our bartender Evan provided great service and made a couple of superb speciality cocktails for us! read more

Like a Phoenix rising from the flames.....Hopskeller Brewing Company returns! FOOD: Fairly limited menu. Which I like. Too many places try to offer everything on the menu and it's all just okay instead of specializing in a few items and making them great! If you aren't in the mood for pizza, cheese/garlic bread, sausage, or hot dogs (yes, no kidding, hot dogs), then don't come here hungry. We had the garlic cheese bread to start and it was excellent! We also had three of the pizzas and they were all excellent as well. DRINKS: The beer is......eh. It's not great but it's certainly not terrible either. I would be willing to give it another shot, however, considering they just opened and they might still be working out the kinks. They do sell other brands of beer, though, so they just aren't shoving their product down your throat. They have a unique cocktail selection in addition to a full service bar. AMBIANCE: Wow! This place is gorgeous. They did a beautiful job with the renovations. This place just has a great vibe. Two stories with the second story overlooking the bar. Limited seating. It is a very loud, bar-type environment so hard of hearing patrons might find it difficult to converse here. KID FRIENDLY? Not really. It's basically a bar-type atmosphere. Most of the limited tables are high tops which would make it difficult for younger kids to sit at but they do have high chairs. read more

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I like the feel of the place and it's cool it's in a very old building, but I have yet to have their food because each time I visited, the wait time was too long. I went this past Saturday and it was extra busy due to the Stubbornfest going on down the street. We waited in line to order and were told 2 hours for any food so we went elsewhere. Why not offer a limited menu during extra busy times? Who waits 2 hours for food? Anyway, I plan to give it another try during the week when they shouldn't be so busy. read more

This place absolutely rocked. The beers were good. The pizza, we had the Beast of Burden, was wonderful. We had a bacon appetizer that was out of this world! And what a nice town. We will be back. read more

What's not to like at the beautiful brewery? Tasty English and Northwest American style beers. Food cooked in a wood fired oven, creative cocktails and a very experienced staff. read more

Great craft, local and seasonal beer, be sure to try the pizza and pretzel as well, one of the best bars in the area. read more

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Only been a few times, but have enjoyed every pizza we've gotten. The pretzel with beer cheese dip is delicious as well. Good selection of beer. read more

Looks nice from the outside. Appears clean inside. If you're going for a quiet dinner, forget this place. You have to yell at each other to have a conversation. No wait-help because you order drinks from the bar. Order food in another area. Our salads had to be eaten out of a box. Flimsy plastic utensils, no refills, limited seating for couples. If you need anything, get it yourself. I could go on and on. Almost forgot... both salads were lousy and have never seen or eaten what they called lettuce that was difficult to chew and tasteless. We won't be back. read more

Great apps, good drink selection. Bar is beautiful. Just hate the taps blocking the bartenders.

This place has not only awesome beers but great food as well!! Super impressed with the pizzas, garlic cheese bread with big chunks of roasted garlic on top and the smoked chicken Caesar salad. We loved the Brown Ale and I also tried their Salted Caramel White Russian which was amazing!! Service was friendly and fast which made it all the better. We'll be back for sure!! read more

Excellent choice of craft beers for every set of taste buds. Pizza is fantastic, best in Waterloo, in my opinion.

Hopskeller finally open after a few bumps in the road and it was worth the wait. I felt like we had stepped back in time to an old time pub when we entered the building. A great big bar when you enter. You order and purchase your beer at one counter and then you go to the back part to order your food. Not a fan of this process and hopefully they will streamline things. One hiccup was they had only one bartender, sadly I felt that she wanted it that way because she appeared a little greedy for the tips and she seemed to serve the younger male patrons over couples and females. However, they had about 8 beers on tap and many whisky choices. We grabbed an Brown Ale, apparently the bartender did not think that women should drink the dark beers because she asked me if I was sure and told me it was dark, yep I like the Porters so bring on the brown beer. We moved to the back to a brick oven with pizzas being pulled out and shoved into through out our ordering experience. We choice the LA Times, it was chicken, garlic, artichokes and sprinkled with lettuce when it was served. This pizza was amazing. They also offer hot dogs and sausages. We sat outside on the back patio with featured a fire oven and of course smoking at every table. This is a must stop in Waterloo. Nice job and it was worth the wait. read more

Hopskeller Brewing - Brewpubs Near Me - Waterloo, Illinois

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Great food and great beer! Neat spot with a nice patio. We come here often! Good hometown bar.

This place is awesome! The ambiance is delightful. Pizza is excellent. Wide variety of drinks, if you are not into the brew. Beautiful! Clean! They did a great job restoring! Worth it! read more

Finally got to Hopskeller. This place is awesome. Their beers are the real deal. Really good diverse flavors. And their pizza is the bomb! Staff are so fun (and patient- it took us a while to get our sampler chosen and they were very helpful). We shared a sampler and midnight rambler. Sooo good. read more

Hopskeller Brewing - Midnight Rambler/ outstanding! - Brewpubs Near Me - Waterloo, Illinois

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First time dining here. It is one of the best pizzas I've had. Very thin crisp crust. Delicious. Drinks were good too! Will definitely be going back. read more

What a unexpectedly cool place. Tons of their own brews & great small bites. I'd normally not have any reason to go to Waterloo but I'd go just to visit this place. read more

Hopskeller is amazing!! I recommend getting a flight of six beers so you can try as many of Matt Schweizer's inspired and delicious house-made beers as poss. The new / seasonal Spruce APA and the Zero IPA make me want to sell everything I own and move to Waterloo so I can hang out here every weekend. The place is a beautifully restored brick and wood building in a historic part of the town with an outdoor beer garden, an upstairs balcony with seating overlooking the bar and main floor, and live music acts many nights. If you have a stomach and taste buds, I highly recommend literally anything they sell here, especially the hot pretzels with whole grain mustard and beer cheese or a few oven-fired, freshly assembled pizzas to share. Seriously, this place is amazing!! read more

Hopskeller Brewing - Brewpubs Near Me - Waterloo, Illinois

Great beers, great place to hang out, and also great food! Come and have beers here! Plus on Wednesday it's wine and whiskey Wednesday! Great pizzas too read more

Hopskeller Brewing - Brewpubs Near Me - Waterloo, Illinois

This place is so cool. The vibe of this place is electric! The craft beer is good but I am not really a beer drinker. I will say that the Raspberry Ale is pretty darn good. I would highly recommend doing the try 6 Ales because it is worth it. I also tried the Red Cream Hurricane and it was phenomenal. Gone is 1 min! The pizza is the best I ever had. Extremely amazing and super filling. This place is a must! read more

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I was actually there yesterday and loved it. I had the nachos and they were deliciously different. Most of the beer was quite good and the staff was very friendly. I didn't like having to order my food separately from where I was seated and pay separately. There were lots of TVs, I just wished they'd had one on college basketball (not that I would have probably watched anyway). The restroom was quite odd......heavy dark wood and doors and no ability to tell if in use. It was nice, just I found it different than I had expected. They did tell me that Thursday would be 50 cent beer night!!!! read more