I put 4 stars because "Yay- I'm a fan" works. Does it need more work? Yes. I noticed that a lot of people who slammed it are not from town. Let's be honest, Monroe doesn't have a lot of bright stars in the restaurant category. SO- I'm giving it 4 because they are off to a good start. For all the haters who slammed the paper plates and plastic ware- thank the city (or county?). Some stupid regulation denied them the ability to have a commercial dishwasher. (Thanks government- let's make it as hard as possible for entrepreneurs to start businesses here....) The service was generally friendly but borderline among the people who are not serving your table. In other words, the atmosphere among the servers is borderline, but everyone who actually came to our table or served beer was very nice. The staff needs to be reminded that everyone's attitude affects the overall atmosphere. The decor is great- the multicolored wood is simple and beautiful. It has a bit of an industrial feel. The patio needs some greenery- it's a bit asphalt-overwhelming. But it's nice to have and cornhole (a game... calm down) is a nice touch. The beer selection is great (we are in MONROE, after all!). Lots of options including some local breweries. If you need more than the selection they have, open your own taproom. The food is probably the area that needs the most attention. I have eaten there twice- the tacos were great, the pulled pork a bit dry and ..... bland. The sauces need a bit more consumer-testing also to fine tune. I think with some honest reflection on the feedback, the food can come up a notch with probably little effort and no cost (ask the customers directly! WHAT DO YOU NEED CHANGED?) Overall, I'm stoked that it's here- we need more variety, we need more restaurants and culture and places to hang out. I hope that they will be relentless in listening to feedback and force themselves and their staff to improve, improve, improve. And not getting it totally right? That's ok- just be honest and work at it. Go Tap Room! read more

Food is fantastic and beer is great! What a great local hang out! The fire pits are the highlight of the patio and karaoke makes it a fun, yet relaxed place to hangout with friends. read more

Pros: Atmosphere is great. Our server was friendly. Scott's Tots and Baked Beans were delicious! 2 of the 4 beers we tried were great. Cons: Took 10 mins to get our beer sampler. Server forgot to put our order in. Waited over 40 mins to get food. We were only given $5.50 off of our order for her mistake. Feel like we could have been compensated a bit better. Husband was bummed that the $14 brisket sandwich was smaller than the $9 one at the other BBQ place in town. On the fence on whether we will be back. read more

A hidden gem in Monroe! We caught some cabin fever and came out of the woods to grab a bite and a beer. The food was good - the clam chowder was incredible - apparently award winning. The beer selections were lovely and the staff was super friendly. I'm looking forward to the summer patio. I took off a star for interior design. They had one of those blow up lawn ornaments in the corner so there was a constant whirl of a generator/air pump and the place could use some carpets or noise control efforys read more

My wife, 1.5 year old and I ate here and had a blast. They have a nice dining room, low light, and the ambient music is classic rock/country like The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Willie Nelson - very relaxing! We ordered "Scot's Tots" and some wings along with our beer and it was all VERY tasty. I am really not a fan of wings that are overly chewy with squishy, fat skin all over them and so the extra crispiness of these wings was perfect for me. The Tots were covered in cheese and pulled pork (which I had never combined myself before) and I am already a fan. Service was lovely and our waitress was personable and checked on us often. She was also really nice with our little boy (as were all of the customers and other servers). Needless to say, we all felt very welcome and will absolutely be back! The only downside that I could give (and the reason why my "real" score would be a 4.5 as opposed to 5) is that the outdoor seating counts as part of the bar, so unfortunately we could not sit out there with our son as he obviously isn't 21 (hey, doesn't 21 months count? haha). So that kind of bummed me out, but I understand why it is laid out the way it is and rules are rules. The dining room was still great and the fact that I can get some good beer with my awesome food AND not have to leave my son at home is a good thing. With Red Robin really dropping in quality in Monroe, this is a nice change of pace for family outing. read more

I go places for the food, and the 4 alarm wings and the fantastic tender slow smoked ribs did not disappoint! Add some delicious fries and slaw, and a great host of microbrew beers and I am sold! This place was delicious, fun, and plenty of kinds of beer for any fan to choose from (and select wines as well). Friendly servers, chill atmosphere. Great for a BBQ and beer date, groups or parties. Mom ordered the cheese plate and loved it. Dad got the BBQ pulled pork and enjoyed that too. read more

I'm giving 4 stars. main reason being that it's a fantastic beer bar. If you think of it as just a taproom/watering hole to get good craft beer in a great place, they are doing it right. The food, however, is sub-standard. I wouldn't go back here for food But I'll absolutely be back for the beer and big screen football games. read more

Fun place to go on a local date with my hubby. Good beer and really nice staff. Karaoke, good food and a fire pit.

I was thrilled to see a new restaurant come into town after Sockeye's closed. I have to say I was let down. My rating is just...ok. They did not hit it out of the park for me. Tried it for the first time last night (Sunday). They were out of ribs (3 hours before closing). The pulled pork sandwich was not great, untoasted bread, dry with not much meat on the sandwich. The smoked mac & cheese was oily, not cheesy, the coleslaw had too much pepper in it, and I didn't love the BBQ sauce, although my partner did. I can forgive a lot if the beer is cold, but it was barely chilled. Very important on a hot day! Perhaps, that's my personal taste. My friend and I agreed we might come back and try an appetizer like chicken wings and some different brews, but doubt we will have dinner there again. They do have outside seating (picnic tables) on an asphalt patio, but sadly, no dogs allowed. At least not yet. Disclaimer: I like healthier options and places that don't look so industrial, so you can take my review with a grain of salt if you wish...or pepper, your choice, just not too much. ;) read more

This place is awesome and affordable. My favorite thing is that every plate that goes back is empty and the products they use are compostable or reusable. read more

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We wanted to like this small place because it is centrally located for us. During the 1st visit, the food was good, but the service was slow. I'm guessing they are understaffed as many restaurants are, however, the waitress could not get our bill right and after working on it for about 20 minutes, she finally took it to her boss to fix. The second time we ate there, the food was not at all as good. Must of had a different chef. Same slow waitress. Probably won't go back. read more

We went out for the firs time since the shutdown, The wait staff and management were all wearing masks, the door was wiped down as we entered. The table spacing was acceptable. I felt totally comfortable with all the precautions. The best part is Mr Mardini was in the kitchen, OMG he has to be the best chef ever in my book. I miss his restaurant in snohomish. The food was fantastic tonight I heard he will be bringing his old menus to the 522 tap house in Woodinville. I am hoping he brings back his crab stuffed chicken Wellington.. We had the French dip and the chicken Dijon. Absolutely fantastic, I cant wait to try his other items, Had we known Mr Mardini was in the kitchen we defiantly would have tried something fancier. We will be going back a lot more for the food. A great place to have a beer just got a whole lot better. I am just worried that once people find out Mr Mardini is running the kitchen we wont be able to get LOL read more

Stopped in for the first time. Great root beer! Service was quick, prices reasonable and the food was good. I live locally. I'll be back Food is provided by locals to. I love supporting local business ! read more

My husband and I stopped by for a good lunch on this Sunday. We just left and I'm very disappointed! #1: Out of pulled pork and cheddar cheese. When everything on their menu requires both or one or the other. #2: Wasn't sure who our server was at first because 2 different people helped us. #3: Waited almost 25 minutes to get my one beer! #4: The waitress always had an excuse when she would stop by. Which was only 2 times. When we were there for a good hour. #5: Got the Loaded Tots which were mediocre. Didn't have pulled pork so asked for chicken instead and she was snappy when we asked if there was any other options for meat. #6: I had to track her down to close our order. She walked by us close to 7 times without asking us if we needed anything. My husband had an empty beer even for 15 minutes. It's too bad that the service was so bad. The beer was good. And the concept of the place is cool, but we will never go back. read more

Route 2 never disappoints! This is one of our favorite places locally. The food is consistently good, love the rotating taps, staff is friendly, and it's a pleasant atmosphere (especially on the back patio). Thanks to the Route 2 ownership and staff for working hard to keep the doors open during these hard times - they are an asset to the community! read more

We didn't even get the chance to eat here, as we were denied service. We weren't allowed outdoor seating because we had a dog. What kind of establishment doesn't allow pets in the patio. I think they have never seen dogowners eat at restaurants with patios. Hopefully they will learn from this review. read more

Pretty much agree with fellow yelper Shannon. Monroe sucks ass when it comes to places to eat and drink. Why the hell did I move here? Anyway, props to R2TR (trademarked by me) for giving us a new option for great beer and outdoor seating. We've only had the food once. Wasn't good. Hope to see that improve. Once winter arrives and outdoor seating isn't a draw I can see my desire to stop in will diminish unless the food gets better. Here's to hoping these folks keep improving and stick around for awhile. Monroe needs something more than god damn red robin. read more

Great atmosphere and good food! Beer selection was amazing. Wait staff is very pleasant and helpful. read more

Route 2 Taproom - Thai Sriracha Peanut Chicken Wrap - Pubs Near Me - Monroe, Washington

It's awesome to finally have a BBQ place in Monroe, and to make it even better it's a tap room. 27 beers on tap, a non alcoholic root beer and 2 wines. The food is amazing. It's so good! The BBQ reminds me of the south and the prices are reasonable. The reason for the 3 stars is the service. It was horrible. We went on a week day, not busy at all and there were 8 servers. The place is not that big! They stood around and talked with each other the whole time. I wanted to try 3 or 4 beers, but after the initial order the waitress never came back. So I was able to drink only 1 beer. The food will bring me back here! It's new so I have an open mind, but really blown away by how terrible the service was. You would think that a new establishment would be hungry for money. read more

I have been meaning to try this place since it opened a short time ago. My daughter and I decided to go on a weekday afternoon. Not many there as it is a taproom but the short lunch menu looked inviting. Mostly bbq and some well chosen sides like bbq beans and coleslaw. The special was a smoked chicken Caesar salad which I had and my daughter ordered the pulled pork sandwich. Both were delicious. Obviously fresh and just the right size for lunch. Neither of us were in the mood for beer but there are 30 on tap along with cider and Pellegrino sodas. Service was friendly and efficient, just what you would want if you were in a hurry on a lunch break. Decor is minimalist but comfortable and perfect for the type of atmosphere they are going for. Different than our usual Monroe establishments and that is definitely a good thing. Looking forward to dinner or a meet up after work. read more

Take this review somewhat with a grain of salt since this was their first week open, but I wanted to get some reviews up here and will update my review as we go there more. First note, we WILL be going there more as, bottom line, it's a great place. Opening Day: We went on opening day and it was definitely a soft opening. They had a limited menu and what seemed to be a limited staff. Service was friendly but a bit slow. They seemed a little frazzled, but that's normal for opening day (in my opinion!). They were very customer-focused and when a server accidentally knocked over my husband's beer, they ended up comping the entire check. They didn't have to do that and we tried to pay but they wouldn't have it. We had the pulled pork sandwiches which were delicious and the beer menu was very large. They even had craft root beer on tap. We went again on Thursday (nearly a week after opening) and they had twice the staff on hand. Our experience was still one of a "new" restaurant with some areas for improvement, but they still deserve a four star because the food was great, service was friendly, and potential is there. Food: Delicious. They had a full menu this time around and my husband got the pulled pork sandwich again with baked beans. I had the chicken wings and french fries. All was delicious. Their BBQ sauce is awesome. Food was hot/straight off the grill/out of the oven. Loved it all. Can't wait to try more. Drinks: My husband had some comments on the actual beer selection. Lots of IPAs (too many for his liking) and not a huge variety when it comes to other types - stouts, ambers, reds, etc. They have a few but we're excited to see what happens as they rotate their taps ... hopefully a bit more variety will become available! They do have cider and wine on tap as well. Service: Was slow but super friendly. We sat out on the patio (12 picnic tables outside, great area!) and the servers seemed to be working both inside and outside. They were slow to get to our table and slow to get our drinks out to us. The food came out rather quickly though. However, the servers were knowledgeable and very kind. Random Stuff: Just a few other comments. I really like the outdoor seating area. It's definitely a hot spot this summer. They have cornhole and lots of space for large groups to mingle. The only additional negative is that they have a great beer list inside on the TV screens but that isn't viewable from the outdoor seating. You either had to go inside to see what the beer list was or look it up on their website on their phone. However, from the looks of it they are working on somehow making a TV screen visible in the window for outside viewing which would definitely fix this issue. Oh, and because its BBQ they use paper plates, napkins, etc. Totally goes with the vibe but next time I want to ask if they are recycling all that trash because it's a LOT of paper. All that being said, we look forward to making this one of our staple go-to places in town. We really liked it and firmly believe that all the issues we encountered are just first week bugs they are working out. read more

Pluses. Nice selection of draft beers. Helpful, friendly staff Tater tots. Good sauces Minuses. Hard, tough buns Dry pulled pork Limp, greasy French fries Greasy pulled pork tacos. Smoked Mac and cheese was swimming in grease Tap lines for Nitro beers need cleaning Plastic silverware....really?? Aliminum trays instead of a plate.... Decor looks like the place is designed to be hosed out every night at closing. Took my wife and daughter there on 8/14/15 for lunch. It was, by far, one on the worst meals we have eaten in a long while. For $77 including the tip, I expect a heck of a lot more. We wish we would have went someplace else. Don't make the same mistake we did. read more

Stopped in for a beer.. staff is very un friendly and beer is warm...didn't have the food... but judging on the servers im glad i didnt read more

Route 2 Taproom - O - Pubs Near Me - Monroe, Washington

Killer beer selection!!! Nice barbecue!!! Took my girls here a few times already and love this little local downtown gem off Hwy 2 Woot Woot read more

Stopped into this place on the way to a camping trip because we were looking for a place to hang out with our dogs. Our group arrived and although they do not allow dogs in their restaurant or in the outdoor seating area, they set up a spot for us in front of the shop and served us there. They were very accommodating and friendly to our entire group, despite the 3 dogs getting in their way constantly. Really diverse selection of beers on tap and everyone really seemed to like the food that was served in large portions for a very reasonable price. Will be sure to stop here again on our next adventure out Highway 2! read more

I'll be brief, much like the service. Let me summarize, 100% completely inexperienced waitstaff, small portions at high prices, warm food, and a chef that proudly said "I don't eat beans, so I never taste anything with beans"....which explains the beans. read more

Just stoped in for a snack and beer. I like the place, seems well run. Great selection of NW brews. Seems pretty busy for a Saturday, but it's quick service. Decent menu. All their appetizers are made from scratch. They also use the digital pour app for their beers. It's a good idea to check it before you come, so you're ready to order. read more

Stop here if you're driving around with a carload of discerning out-of-town guests, each of whom is hungry/thirsty for something different, and you want to show off a non-touristy example of a great Pacific Northwest pub. The selection of beer, cider, and wine is extensive, and the menu offers variety without compromising quality. They've brought tater tots to a whole new level, and you can balance the fried-food splurge with a still-substantial dinner salad. Fun atmosphere--we sat outside on the patio and moved over to the fire pits once the sun went down. Talented live music and not too loud for conversation. Also on my list of places to stop for après-ski. read more

We went here spur of the moment yesterday to watch the Seahawks game. This was our first time here. I was really impressed! They had the game on a big screen, wasn't too crowded ( we got a seat right in front). The beer select is great, and they also have a nice bar inside. The decor is nice, and staff are friends and attentive. The food was very yummy! I got the French dip, hubby got Philly cheese steak, bro in law got the grilled cheese on crack, and mother in law got the fish and chips with jalepeno poppers to share We all loved our meal. Will definitely come back read more

Hey all , route 2 is a super cool family friendly kind of food and beer stop with benifits kind of place. I once did beer yoga there on a Saturday AM. It was fantastic . read more

Good food and a great line up of beer! The onion rings were crispy and my sandwich was good. We will back!

Great place, tons of local micro brews on tap. It's almost your standard pub style food but with a unique spin on it. I had the lumpia and pork tacos and they were delicious. Will definitely come back when we are looking for food in Monroe. read more

We had a very good experience here , after a day of exploration we came to have a beer and some food. Beer and food were very good as was the service. A place I would recommend a stop in. read more

OMG. Great beer. I think. But I don't know any better. The real gem of this place, for one, it was once a joint for breakfast and old people to share coffee, is the TOTS. I may be a little too judgy, because they we named after my great name. But dayum, slather some mo' sauce on my front. read more

Great gastropub in Monroe. They tots so I was sold! Nice bbq menu. I only had apps but they were great and the beer was delicious. I'm sure this is the hot spot in town! read more

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My husband & I stopped in before going to the Hell on Hooves in Sat. 2-16-19. Aimee our server was very friendly and informative about the tap selection. I ordered the steak/bleu salad which came to me with very bitter watery iceberg lettuce no flavor and very tough flank steak. Which I gave back to Aimee after 3 bites. My husband ordered the chicken/bacon melt sandwich which was tough like that it had been microwaved. Aimee did remove the charge on my salad. Good place to have a beer if you are driving by. read more

So much potential! Beer selections and atmosphere is great! Wait staff is great! The food is not great! I have tried eating here twice and each time was disappointing. The misses got a Reuben and the meat and fries were way over cooked. I got the pulled pork tacos. The meat and tortilla were dry and were swimming in way too Spicy sauce to attempt to cover up the dryness. Pretzel appetizers were microwaved way too long!!! Might be back for drinks, but that's it! read more

I was recommended to try this place. The started a new menu recently, it was ok. The surroundings were kind of cold, including the staff. The could really have a course in customer service! The beer was good thou! read more

Awesome visit! We came in late night after a movie and had some stellar beers. Our 5-star server was kind enough to give us a tablet menu so I didn't have to stare at a TV screen for the rotating menu. Had the crab Rangoon and a bacon burger...solid offerings and will definitely return when we are in the area. read more

Horrible! Walked in a little after 6, few folks at the bar & approx 5 tables full, waited & no wait person brought menus, 2 groups came in after us & were prompted greeted by a wait person with menus.....we left, obviously you need to be a regular to get service, they must not be interested in new customers!!!! read more