My friends and I all love this place. It's so refreshing to have a pub away from the downtown area. Great selection of beer, and delicious food. It would be nice to switch the menu up a little, it's pretty small and the foods are very heavy. Otherwise, everything I've had is delicious. Love the beer cheese, and love the turkey sandwich. Maybe a little pricey (about $10 per person for food). Definitely worth a try! Great dog-friendly outdoor patio. read more

This is the cutest little bar/restaurant. They serve a variety of German food like bratworst et al. Cozy and very nice staff. Looking for a light meal and an import? This is the place to go! Love it! I got the curry brat delicious! read more

We tried this place after reading reviews here on Yelp and were extremely pleased! This is a nice little pub bar. The service was excellent, the beer selection great and the food very nicely done. Will happily try it again INSTEAD OF the Sierra Nevada Taproom - that place is always packed and their food is marginal. Anyway, if you're on the market for a nice quiet bar to watch a game, enjoy some good food and really nice selection of beer and wine - try the Handle Bar! read more

Not a fan. Came in to get lunch on my break and kept being told someone will be with. Me. After 15 minutes of being ignored I just left.

This pub has very friendly, attentive servers. The Spaetzl was unbelievable! They also have a wide variety of wine. The imported and local beer selection is great and I like the imported cider. read more

Good beer selection. Ok service. But it feels like this place could go from the Handlebar to a hair salon in about thirty minutes. It has a really sparse feel to it, it's not very cozy or inviting. Feels kind of cold and sterile. Also wish that they'd go more with the bike theme, maybe put a bike rack out? Have specials if you ride your bike there, or something? The only bike-related thing in there is a cruiser on the wall. Very odd. Really want this place to do well, as there isn't much on that side of town. It's worth visiting, but I definitely hope the owners choose to continue to develop the business. read more

The brewben, potato salad, and beer selection get me coming back for more. Best Rueben sandwich I've had in town for sure. Service is always really good considering that they have just one or 2 people at the bar or taking orders. They have a great vegan option for my lady too with the Mushroom burger/sandwich. - I will note that they may want to start asking if you want cheese on your side salad if you ordering a vegan option. We didn't realize but it's not a big deal. I'll be back! read more

My new favorite place to have a moms night with the girls! Nice laid back atmosphere and great customer service! It's nice to have a clean bar away from downtown! read more

Food is okay to good. I had the meat and cheese platter, which was a little expensive because it seemed like it was just nice deli meats and some cheese, not really worth the cost IMO (15USD). The sausage platter is better for the price, comes with three different sausages and some kraut and olive relish (16USD). The Burgers here are worth the visit, a little on the smallish side but boy are they a nice patty, the bun was fresh too(@13usd)! There are plenty of beers on tap, heavy towards the IPA style. At the time of my visits there were no Lagers on tap(wth?), and a limited amount of saison/sour type beers. Don't get me wrong, what they do have in the sour category is very good...and some of the IPAs on tap are wonderful too. Service is Friendly and good to great in my experiences, depending on where I sat. Atmosphere is laid back and friendly, so start up a chat! Restroom, kitchen and general restaurant is pretty clean, although I think their water may be too hard in the glass washer. Have been making it here a couple times a week while I'm in Chico. read more

While the beer selection is good I wish they had a better selection of wine. Both the house and step up chardonnays are quite icky

Tried it for the first time today and was impressed. Great food and an even better selection of beers. Jamie was bartending and she was very knowledgeable about the brews and friendly. I highly recommend it! read more

I discovered the Handle Bar about a year ago, even though it has been open for several years. It has become my pub of choice. It has a good menu of beer, and a variety of foods. In my opinion, it has the best salads of any pub in town. The service is always good. read more

This place is for beer lovers who want to eat great food. Tap turnover is frequent with a core 4 or 5 always here. It is a mistake not to come herel...but then again, more beer for me. read more

I've now been to the Handle Bar several times, and have enjoyed my experience each time. While I'm admittedly a little bit spoiled coming from Davis (with a bar that has 60+ beers on tap and a huge bottle selection of rarer beers), I am still excited every time to see the nice, rotating selection of beer at the Handle Bar. On my most recent trip i was able to enjoy nice pours of Tart of Darkness, Hoptologist and several other samples (free of charge for the samples). My only complaint was that there were very few stout or belgian options on my most recent visit (though I could see they were just recently out of a delicious sounding 12% stout). Prices are mostly pretty reasonable for the beer and volume of pours. Service is adequate though not spectacular. Seating is average but not uncomfortable. Sitting outside is pretty great if its a nice day. Parking is fine. The food has been surprisingly good on each of my trips. The pretzel and beer cheese is a delicious starter. My go to main course is the Turkey Sandwich. Sounds plain, but the additions of arugala, bacon and a special mayo make all the difference. If you're in the area and are looking for some harder to find beers, or just some variety from your typical local SNB fare (though they have, on each of my trips, understandably had several SNB beers available as well), check out The Handle Bar. read more

My wife and I love this place. Beer and food are always top notch. Sometimes the service can be a little slow, but everything else makes up for it. read more

The Handle Bar is easily my favorite bar in Chico. Their beer selection is always amazing, and you'll always find something you haven't had before. On top of that, the food is delicious bar food, pairing perfectly with you drink. Plus, the prices for what you get are very affordable. Great beer, great food, great music, great environment. read more

Let me start this review by saying I don't drink, especially not beer! However, I did hear the German fare was delightful so that's exactly what took me in! I shared the beer cheddar and pretzels and spaetzl which were both very tasty, not necessarily authentic but great nonetheless! Ambiance is minimal very open space, outside seating is pleasant. Staff was pleasant and prices were on point so all in all a very good experience, I'd go back! read more

Fantastic bar great food especially the polish sandwich yum I go to this bar every time I'm in Chico love it As I'm from Australia there's not to many bars of this nature back home read more

Took the family for a night out. Food was okay. Burgers were kind of dry but tasted good. Waitress was polite and attentive. Overall, okay experience. read more

One of the best places in chico. The brewben is delicious and i really like the greek salad. They usually have a tasty special and I've also heard the serrano chicken is good. Good beer selection on tap and a chill environment with friendly workers. read more

First off, Jess needs a raise. Simple as that. Jess is literally the most amazing person I have ever met! Like I love her. Give her a raise I am a rando. Like I love Jess. tip her.! read more

Awesome beer at great prices. Love their impossible burger but the extra five dollars for vegan cheese that's about a quarter retail, that's a hard pass from me unfortunately. But hands down, best beers in town. read more

What an awesome place! Great atmosphere, great service, and most of all, great beer! Excellent selection of brews on tap and bottled. Patio is dog friendly, shaded, and quiet. Definitely recommend this place! read more

This place is great! Low-key, but has great energy... PLUS, 1/2 bottles of wine (you can cork & bring home!) Sun-Weds!!! Definitely a place to check out! read more

Always excited by their beer menu, but usually the air feels slightly moist inside & it smells strongly of sausages. When the weather permits, an evening on their patio is just lovely. read more

Great beer and great food. It's in a mall but lots of stuff is. A little hard to imagine a pub crawl but parking is easier than downtown.

The service and food was amazing! The Basic Burger was a very good burger! The service was quick, and restaurant was very clean.

Nice casual place, not too crowded . Friendly staff n good place to go when you can have a conversation with a friend as it's not too large or loud. Fun selection of various beers and food to compliment. We had a good time . Helps to be away from the downtown crowd sometimes. read more

We heard about the remodel so were curious to see the changes. The first thing we noticed upon entering was how crowded it was! This had to be a good sign right?...Much more seating, another room had been added with windows opening up to a new bike shop (which has nothing to do with the bar by the way) and the bar is now an L shape allowing many more to be seated there. Keeping in mind this is a bar (not really a restaurant) we probably should not have ordered salad. The Greek Salad was supposed to have included mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, kalmata olives, artichoke hearts and feta cheese with a tangy vinaigrette. There's nothing worse than biting into lettuce that hasn't been washed completely. You wonder if you just bit into a bug or dirt...not a great sensation. There were no artichoke hearts on either of our salads, and maybe 3 or 4 very small crumbles (not chunks) of feta cheese with just a few olives, cucumber and tomatoes on each salad. The full size was basically 90% lettuce and most of it was left on the plate when our server cleared the table. The Beer Cheese & Pretzels appetizer was not as good as we remembered. The cheese sauce was much thinner and not nearly as tasty. The best part of the meal was the wine and beer we ordered. If we go back we'll stick with their standards.. German food-Bratwurst or Brewben. Disappointed but willing to give it another shot as long as we're not in the mood for salad. read more

Food was great. However as we only ordered water to drink, once we rec. food had to run down someone for water and knives and forks

Great selection of beers. Stopped by to watch U.S.A. play Belgium in the World Cup. Was surprised to find only one server, he was busier than a one legged man in a a** kicking contest. This is reason for only four stars, wait for service was a little long at times. Other than that great food, love the polish sausage with kraut and the beer cheese and pretzels and again great beer selections. read more

Second time visiting, not a good experience and won't return. We ordered a beer and when the server came back to take our dinner order, they advised that it will be a LONG wait for food. He could not even provide an estimate of how long we would have to wait for any food - more less discouraging us from ordering food! Granted, the place was probably 2/3 full, but surely not packed at 7:30 pm. Because we were hoping for dinner as well, we opted to leave if a dining establishment cannot serve customers in a reasonable time frame, especially at dinner time. Sorry Handle Bar, one failure like this and we wonder what else is lacking in the overall management of the operations. read more

The Brewben sandwich and the Spaetzle are delicious. Fastest cooks in town-Bam! Kind wait staff, and great place to chill and watch a Giants game. Nice patio! Great experience every time. Highly recommend! read more

I went in Thursday 9/24 evening for a drink with a friend, beer cheese and pretzels are amazing! Super casual yet nice environment the bartender working was very knowledgable and friendly! read more

Oh. My. God! Get either their pretzel bites with beer cheese, their ruben, or bratwurst (local tip: get some beer cheese for this to)! Love this place, great selection of craft beers. The only negatives would be 1. no mixed drinks & 2. not the most comfortable seating. But- they do have a rockin patio if it's not already full! Other than that- great place to grab a cold one and put yourself in a "carb coma"! read more

Came here the other night with some coworkers. I'm 20 weeks pregnant which means that while everyone else was able to enjoy some amazing beer, I was just there to get some good grub. I ordered the grilled cheese and chose to pay the extra $2.50 for Chili on the side. I was extremely disappointed, however, when I tried my chili to realize that it resembled an ash tray, it was extremely overpowered with chili powder. I really wanted to eat it since I was paying an extra $2.50 for it, but I couldn't do it. I took two bites and left the rest on my plate. I will say that the grilled cheese was good, but honestly as long as you have good ingredients, it's pretty difficult to mess up a grilled cheese. I was also disappointed by the pretzels as they were pretty dry and tasteless. I remember trying them several years ago and they were much different (I enjoyed them back then). read more

Best beer bar in SoChi. Casual friendly atmosphere. Always a great beer selection, good food too. Serrano chicken sandwich is delicious!

Very quaint atmosphere. The staff doesn't pester you the entire time but they make sure you have what you need when you need it. Great beer selection and even a few wines. The food was delicious and very reasonably priced. read more

Get the Brewben! A great take on the Reuben sandwich (but I leave off the beer cheese). Service is first class. The patio is dog friendly and you can ride your bike within a half block by Chico's bike trails. read more

Went to the Handlebar with my husband and our family with the impression that we were going to get some bomb turkey sandwiches and some beers. HOWEVER, the experience differed starkly from this. The woman at the bar greeted us right away with "OVER 21 IDS PLZ" yeah...hello to you too. So we sat down the woman came over like 2 minutes later took our drink order and food order blah whatever. Than several minutes I'm talking 20-25 we are waiting and waiting and waiting and fucking waiting. No one comes over to ask if we are doing well. No one offers us more soda. I don't know what this woman's problem was but i don't care. I just wanted to have a good meal with my husband and family but no. Long story somewhat shorter, food is being served to every other customer except for our table. My husband finally manages to wave the lady down and she informs us they are "super crammed" and the food will be out shortly...right. The place wasn't that busy haha. When I told her that I noticed a table getting food before ours, she retorted back that they had in fact been there before us. BUL SHIT. She knew it was bulshit and I knew it was bulshit. Yet she felt the right move was to be defensive. Slapped six bucks on the table for the drinks (that was being very generous) and left without food. I'm not too angry because I feel that time will take its toll on the handlebar and all of the competition closer to downtown will squeeze this pimple of a restaurant. It's obvious it's already happening due to the lack of customers in the actual establishment. IN CONCLUSION GO TO SIERRA NEVADA IT'S MUCH BETTER. read more