The Vanguard is always a mixed bag. Ordering a drink on a busy night is the worst. They need a dedicated order line. No idea why they don't have one. It's just a horrible experience as is. They need to go to Precarious and see how they do it. Their food is generally good to great. They have a $5 before 5 app and drink special menu that is a really good deal. Nice spot for adults to have some drinks. Just be patient as service is generally slow. Now onto my recent experience.... I suggested it to some friends who wanted to grab some beers on MLK day which was a Monday. There were 4 of us guys and 7 kids. It's a lot. I get it. They weren't overly busy. Maybe a quarter full. I tried to keep the kids away from other tables by giving them boundaries. They were not happy with us. They didn't like the kids being outside in their patio (freezing, no one out there) etc. The one server was getting destroyed. She had just like 6 tables, but a 16 top. I felt badly for her. Our drinks correspondingly took about 20-30 minutes each time we tried to order. She was nice when she could get to us. At one point a person who said they were a manager, I think she said her name was Hannah, came over and said the kids couldn't be going around (again, I had boundaries not by any other patrons etc. from what I could see they were honoring them, but who knows), anyway she asked if we could keep them by us, which is fine. I then asked her if I could put in a beer and app order as I had been waiting for our server with an empty beer for at least 20 minutes. Instead of taking the order and ringing it in, she said she'd send the server over and disappeared never to be seen again. 5 minutes Iater the server was able to get free from her big table and get our beer orders and food in. Several items were forgot, but at this point we were kind of over it. Just not really your typical relaxed brewery vibe. Felt like they wanted it to be more of a sit down restaurant. That big long story to say it's not a spot for kids. Overall food and drinks are solid. Beer is solidly middle of the pack for Peninsula. Management needs some work. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Jan. 2026 $5 until 5 PM menu. - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

Hadn't been here for a while and we decided to stop on our way home. We didn't order any food items because we had just finished eating but they have some interesting items on their menu which I hope to try next time. We were greeted immediately as we entered. You have to wait to be seated but there was no wait. Our server was so nice and friendly. She took our drinks order and answered all our questions. This place should be on all locals list to check out. The vibe is very chill. We have stopped by when it's been busy and they've had live music and also when it's been on the quiet side like today. Every time the service has been superb and the staff go out of their way to make you feel welcomed. I only wish they were a little closer to home since they are located in Hampton but don't let that stop you. It's not a bad ride. read more

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Vanguard Brewery Is a great spot in Hampton. The vibe is like being in an old factory, I love an older historic building being repurposed as a great brewery & restaurant. I stopped in for lunch with some co-workers and was greeted by a nice and friendly staff. The main parking lot is kind of small and was pretty full during lunch. It is easy to get in and out of. I ordered the G.O.A.T. burger which revved up all my tastebuds. The blueberry jalapeno BBQ sauce on the burger combined with goat cheese was a great balance between sweet, tangy and spicey. The fried jalapeno and bacon added some extra spice, crunch and saltiness. This burger is righteous. To wash down my burger and fries I selected the red ale, which is balanced and not hoppy tasting. I am a big fan of red ale if you are not a fan of overly hoppy beer. read more

I held an event here on Saturday evening and let me tell you they rolled out the red carpet for us. My sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was in Hampton to see a performance by Wanda Sykes a world renowned comedian and graduate of Hampton University where we all attended and graduated from as well. The placement where they sat us up was wonderful. The food was amazing!!!!!! Our server was fantastic. The manager was so accommodating giving us forks and plates for a birthday cake we brought in. I have heard so many wonderful things about this place and they did not disappoint. The place is huge and on the weekend even has a band!!!!! Everyone was so pleased. It was at least 40 of us and they handled the entire group. Food served piping hot and nice quantities. read more

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Ordered takeout from Vanguard and was unfortunately served raw meat in my bulgogi tacos. Taste was decent until I found the meat had an unusual texture which caused me to check and it wasn't just one piece, it was the majority. I took it back and they offered to make something else which was nice but just opted for a refund after the experience. Just check your food! read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Raw meat in tacos - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

Our service couldn't have been better. Our server was so helpful and seemed like she truly loved her job. She made small talk and made some great suggestions. Inside is massive. I love the old building turned into something new vibe, and while it seems weird to mention, the bathroom was big and really impressive! I got the soup special of the day, which was buffalo chicken and SO good. It was like a wing in soup form. I also got the pretzel with cheese and while it was good....it was absolutely covered in salt. I had to spend a good amount of time desalting it to make it even close to edible. It once again was tasty after I did that, but I shouldn't have had to. The server was super sweet when I mentioned it, and said she would tell the kitchen. I was only in the area visiting, but I'll make sure I mention it to anyone I know will be in that area. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - So. Much. Salt. - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

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I went for "The Prince Project" (summer, 2024) and paid extra for the VIP section, only to leave after 2-3 hours of no Prince project. The seating was not great (we were in the first come, first seat balcony/VIP area), and the only good thing about it was we had our own walk up bar. I'm not sure what was going on that night, but I couldn't get ahold of anyone about my tickets before or during, as I was wanting to know if we would ever see the Prince project for the $100 I spent. There was never a response, and I was highly disappointed. We got there around 6 and left around 8:30/9. I've been to the vanguard before, but this experience negated any good things about it, as it seemed chaotic & unorganized. Very disappointing & unorganized, and I'll be hesitant to pay for anything here again with the lack of communication. I will say we did end up ordering food and at behind the bar, which was a fun experience (even though not $100 worth and never seeing anything Prince related). That's the 2 stars- bar staff was nice & the food was good. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Behind the scenes foto (very cool!) - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

I rarely ever leave bad reviews, I'm someone who will try a place that missed the mark 2-3 times to give the benefit of the doubt & today was my last time trying Vanguard. The attitude & blatant disrespect we received today by our server/bartender is an embarrassment to this business. We showed up today for a retirement celebration of someone in my old unit, most of us are active duty military, GS or veterans who have been to Vanguard before (mostly for drinks). The last two times, my food took well over an hour and we had to get it to go which wasn't an issue at the time since we weren't in much of a rush and I didn't make a big deal about it. Today's visit was absolutely brutal, I made sure to place my order as soon as I got there to prevent history from repeating itself on the time it takes to get my food. However, it seems no matter what I do I find myself with everyone at my table eating while my food is no where to be seen. This time our CMSgt who just got back from deployment was with me & she didn't get her food or appetizers either despite us asking if it would be much longer. Everyone finished their meals & when it came time for us to have to leave & get back to our unit we walked up to the bar and spoke with the lady with long brown hair and a baseball cap. Our goal wasn't to get a discount or ditch out, we actually were just wondering if we could get it to go so that we could eat it after our meeting in our office. We asked her if she could check to see if that was possible and she came back up and let us know our food wasn't ready and it would be another wait (it had been now an hour and 15 minutes since we placed our order). We expressed to her that we had to get back to the office & couldn't wait so we would need to cancel our order. She looked up at us rolled her eyes and said yep. When our Chief tried to tell her what her order was she interrupted her and said "I know!" Then completely dismissed her. No apology, no anything. If this is the standards for how customers are treated I will gladly go elsewhere. We are taking Vanguard off our unit outing list after this experience, we truly love the area, and space but it isn't worth the headache & leaving without the food you ordered. I'm not sure what time limit the server thought was appropriate for us to wait but an 1hr 15 mins wasn't it. I really had high hopes for this, but it truly fell flat. read more

Great intro to an amazing music venue which serves excellent food and quality brews. We visited Vanguard last night for a blues show featuring local talent Jason Cale and the amazing Selwyn Birchwood out of Florida. The stage setup provides a great closeup view of the bands and tho the historic brick structure bounces the sound a bit, it also adds a raw element to the music. I liked it... a lot! Room to dance or get up close as you wish. Food was surprisingly topnotch with the jambalaya and Bulgogi beef bowl rated 5stars for quality ingredients and nuanced flavors. Way above average for a micro brewery. And the beers were excellent, but that part we knew coming in from the Vanguard's active role in local events and award winning offerings. Def worth the trip from VB. Get you summadat! read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Selwyn - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

Never been here before. Glad I came. Learned about the place and all they had to offer. Live music , brewery, food , and a distillery. Sort of a one stop shop in a historic beautiful brick building I believe the building was a armory I'll go back read more

6 years later and finally came back to try the food! The food was pretty tasty. We had the Pickle Chips, Chicken Spinach Mushroom Alfredo flatbread, and the Short Rib grilled cheese, and the Vanguard burger. I ordered a fish n chips to go (and my ol man really liked it). The server was very friendly and pretty spot on. There was a band that was playing which was a nice surprise. Will be back sooner than later to try their brunch menu! read more

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Got to try a advanced shot sample And really like the bourbon so I bought one The bartender and waitstaff provided excellent service Will be back when in town read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

The Vanguard is located in historic downtown Hampton and has a large room as well as comfortable lounge, sitting area behind the bar and an extra room with tables and chairs. The food was good and plentiful. Ashley, the event planner, worked with us and helped to make the party a great success. A bar was provide with two bartenders who served beer,wine, alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks. I can't give enough praise for this establishment. Everyone had a wonderful time. read more

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This is such a nice find. Simple, casual and affordable pub fare. They produce their own beers and spirits. My husband really loves their Bourbon. Live music. Great atmosphere. Always a nice experience. read more

- Had to track down a server to get our order in - No server around, went to bar to get second round - No server around, went to bar to pay, found server at the end of bar on her phone - They used to have attentive servers... read more

Great place to see live music. The service, food, and spirits were all fantastic. Don't sleep on this spot! If ever I find myself back in Virginia I will DEFINITELY be back. read more

This brewery is a pretty large building in downtown Hampton. I came here to meet a friend and try a new place. There is no happy hour here. So keep that in mind when you come. There was a cornhole tournament going on while we were there too, which was kinda cool. We decided to order a couple apps to share. We were interested in the salmon bites and the house wings. 6 wings came in their house bourbon sauce for $13 and they were pretty good. The salmon bites were disappointing to say the least. We thought we'd get more than three tiny balls for $10. We just stared at them when they got to the table like...wait is this it? lol. They were pretty good but I wouldn't order them again. Their sour beer on tap was pretty dang delicious. I'm a sour beer fan and that was one I'd go back for, if I were just going to drink. Other than that, it was a fun outing but we'd go elsewhere for apps. read more

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Today we decided to try something new for dinner. The service was great! Our food came out very fast. Very spacious on the inside, and they must host some sort of dance classes as Salsa was being taught today. There is a good amount of bar space, tables, as well as a stage and dance floor. Food: butterfly shrimp and fries were amazing. Seasoned well. Country Fried Chicken was really good. How ever, the green beans could use a little salt, and the potatoes were over cooked. The green apple cobbler stole the show! It was sooo good. I would definitely return. read more

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The outside of the place is awesome. Get inside and it's nice layout but that is where everything changes. The food is disgusting, like really bad and overpriced. I like everything but the Brussels were more steamed then fried, the French fries were soggy, the pickles tasted frozen. The dinner was a joke!!! Never ever again! The only reason for two stars was their service which was impeccable. read more

Great selection of beers to choose from. Service is always solid as is the food. Get the pretzels! Only complaint would be it's a tad expensive. read more

Back in October, a buddy, my boyfriend, and I decided to try The Vanguard for brunch before homecoming. We picked this location since it was still close to campus but we expected it to be less crowded since it was also gameday. We were, indeed, correct. It wasn't very crowded while we were there. The venue is huge! Before they acquired it and transformed it into a restaurant, it was an abandoned military bunker. Bottomless mimosas and fried pickles were our first course. Both were fantastic, and I think I had three rounds of mimosas. Our waitress was quite kind and helpful, and she made several visits to check on us. I had a Vegi omelette, which was average and could have used more flavor. My friend had fried chicken bites with fries and my partner went with the grilled chicken sandwich with fries; both were happy. I'd love to return on a night when they have live acts because I'm sure the place gets busy later on such occasions. read more

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My friend and I were looking for a place to eat for dinner that we had not tried yet and we were starving for some delectable food. I've had this establishment on my restaurants/bars to visit list for a while and I wasn't disappointed. Upon arrival I could tell they were busy based on their main parking lot being completely full, but we parked in their overflow parking lot located directly across the street. The hostess kindly greeted my friend and I and guided us to our table. She told us that the live music would be starting at 8pm. Yay! I was pleased with our waitress who was very knowledgeable about the food/drink menu. She informed us that all of their beers they curate and brew in house. They also offered free samples of their brews! I ordered the Bourbontini and my friend ordered the Strawberry Lemonade Fizz. If you like a strong drink I highly recommend the Bourbontini. It will definitely get you to your destination. Although it was strong, the cranberry was a great touch of tartness. The Strawberry Lemonade Fizz was lighter in the flavor of alcohol, but still enjoyable. For starters we ordered the Smoked Buffalo Lemon Pepper wings, fried Brussel Sprouts, and the Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom flatbread. The wings were fried to perfection! They weren't too spicy or salty given the Buffalo and lemon pepper flavor. The brussel sprouts were seasoned well and I enjoyed the sriracha aioli they were topped with, but I wish I would've gotten it on the side for to-go purposes. The flatbread was my favorite. The cheese pull was out of this world! It could've used a bit more salt, but the Alfredo sauce made up for it. These are all perfect for group sharing. By this point, the live music started and I'm enjoying myself with the delicious food/drinks and groovy tunes. My friend and I moved forward with entrees in which I had the Jambalaya and he had the Gouda & Steak Mac and Cheese. For my Southern folks, this is not your standard Jambalaya. I've never had Mahi in a jambalaya, but it was surprisingly tasty. I just wish there was more of the Creole sauce! I probably would not order again because it is not the style of jambalaya I prefer. Nonetheless, this dish was packed with flavor. I had a bite of the Mac which was creamy. That Gouda definitely made a presence! If you're looking for a place with great service, live music, and pleasing food/drinks check this place out! I had a fun time here and look forward to revisiting! read more

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Bad service. Asked if they had a brown ale was given some random beer with out any discussion. That floppy-footed bartender in his clown shoes is slinging nothing but beer while this damn shitty Mexican music screeches, and this place stinks like a festering pile of Brussels sprouts--no pie to mask the rancid torture of this fart-filled cantina! I'm about to gag, smash a bottle over his honking toes, and scream for a sweet, flaky savior--ditch the brew and the stench, you sprout-soaked clown, and get me my pie! read more

I come here at least once a month. I was here for a Latin social event. They are an hour bachata class the. Dancing till 8pm with BachataVida held the event. I didn't drink this time around however I tried their pork rinds and it was tasteful. Home made rinds. Total worth for a little snack or appetizer. I also had a burger on a pretzel bun. My favorite burger so far. The string fries alone were cooked perfectly. There is plenty of parking outside and if it's full there is extra parking across the street. There is also an outdoor patio and an upstairs area. read more

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I came here to get out the house and to get some food and drinks. It was a very cool vibe. They had music playing and seemed like I got there right before a night crowd. I sat at the bar. The bartenders were really nice and super busy. At times I could get their attention even though I was sitting right there. The food was pretty good. I had the steak and Mac dish. I definitely would come back here. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Bourbon martini - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

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Recognizing that post Covid everyone is struggling I still need to ammend my previous reviews. Friends in the know had warned me this was not the same quality place I had held my retirement party 3 years ago. My son chose this establishment to celebrate a special event with friends and family. It did not meet our expectations for many reasons. We had a reservation and were seated in the back next to the brew room. We needed a high chair which we had to search for ourselves. Our waitress was inattentive at best. When she came to our table for drink orders, she asked did any of us want anything besides water. After about half of us gave a drink order she left without getting the orders of the rest of us. When she finally returned with the drink orders we were able to complete the orders. She didn't apologize for that or any other service mishap, of which there were more than a few. She never came to offer refills and gave the wrong burgers to the wrong people. When we showed her that one of us, who ordered well done had instead gotten rare, she offered another burger at the point we were done eating. Then she switched to telling us some idiocy about the meat blend of the burger resulting in a red appearance. I think we can recognize raw meat from red colored meat. If she had bothered to check on us at all we could have asked her to rectify the situation so it was slick of her to only come back when bringing the check. The menu is changed with previous favorites gone, including the steak from the previous review. There is no children's menu. I got shrimp tacos that were meh at best. I still tipped 20% instead of my normal 25%, which angered my family who wanted to stiff her for bad service. With the bill well over $100 she made out ok. The Vangard still has alot going for it, but today, service and food was not. We will likely choose someplace else in the future unless we hear it is significantly improved. read more

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0 stars if I could. After 2.5 hours for food, we cancelled. Everyone left in our party. drinks were served in shooter glasses for a whoppin' $10 AFTER paying $25 to get in for this "show". Manager offered to comp food which we never got. This place is a joke. I said after last bad experience I'd never come back but we had a birthday girl that really wanted to come here. Absolutely terrible experience and I can't imagine why anyone would come here. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

When the Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery opened in 2018, it brought pieces of Hampton history back to life. This vibrant restaurant, concert venue, and distillery occupies a historic brick masonry building that was built in 1936 and listed in 2016 on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places. Built between WWI & II, the building was the site of The Hampton National Guard Armory for almost six decades. It was vacated in 1993 and fell into disrepair; now it has a new life. I first visited in March 2019 for a lunch special and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time they were offering fresh mussels - I can't recall the preparation style, but they were delicious, and flecks of garlic and herbs are visible in the pic. I also ordered a buffalo chicken and bleu cheese spinach wrap, served with a huge helping of hand cut fries. Everything was delicious, and the portion sizes were huge, leaving plenty to take home. I love historic buildings, and the sky high ceilings and light pouring in added a lot to the experience. As The Vanguard is not just a restaurant, but a brewery and distillery, I had to go back and try one of their brews. I tried a Jamaican jerk inspired brew, just because it sounded so unusual. The flavors actually worked! In 2020, the FDA allowed craft distilleries to make hand sanitizer, and I purchased some from them. I'm glad my purchase helped the venue to stay open through the pandemic and beyond: On Saturday I experienced my first live music event at The Vanguard. The Bay River Band was awesome! This venue is a community gem. A beautiful historic building that once served to house military arms and hosted national touring acts that performed for segregated audiences, it now hosts regional acts for integrated audiences, and has even served the community during a pandemic. Next up, I'll be reviewing their brunch! read more

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I can't believe this was my first visit the Vanguard Brewpub! Unlike a lot of brewpubs in the area, Vanguard has a lunch and dinner menu with appetizers on top of their craft beer selection. Wife took me here for my Birthday Dinner Monday night. Vanguard is housed in a historic building (I forgot what it use to be) that is made of brick. The brick gives the place a really cool rustic look. I can tell this place is popping in the summer time cause they have a stage outside in the parking lot. I'm looking forward to that this year. Now the inside is very roomy. Seating is spaced around the place. Additional seating and lounging area is located upstairs. There is a big stage inside for concerts and entertainment. I was so excited to be here. Our server was more than AWESOME! She was very nice, attentive to our needs and consistently check on us through out the evening. She made a few recommendations, gave excellent explanations of the menu and beer items and just made feel over all comfortable. Now, the beer. Now I have been to other Brewpub that had hundreds of different kinds of beer and more than half of those should be thrown in the trash. Vanguard does have a smaller selection BUT, everything they have is GOOD! Did I try them all? No, I have the $15 sampler BUT each of them (for what it was) was absolutely DELICIOUS! Now I'm not a IPA fan, to me its too dry and bitter. But I tried one of Vanguards and it was not as bitter, Melo and sweet. I still don't like IPA but if I had to drink one, this would be it. Now the food. The Fish and Chips for some reason just jumped out the menu for me and my wife. so we ordered two. We also had the the Haus Pretzel with beer cheese and brown mustard. The pretzel was three to an order. It arrived to our table fresh out of the oven with nice chucks of either sea salt or kosher on it, what ever it was, it was delicious. The beer cheese was warm and gooey, the mustard was grain and tasty. Now for the Fish and Chips; again served hot and fresh! Lightly battered and deep fried. The fish seemed a little dark, like the oil was too hot, but the inside was moist and flaky, cooked to perfection. The fries would have been better but the oil from the fish, soaked into a lot of the fires and made them kinda oily BUTY, they were still good and I ate everything on my plate. Look over at my wife, I had to tell her to breathe between bites. AWESOME EXPERIENCE, I can wait to visit again!!! Happy Yelping ! read more

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Came in for lunch a bit before noon on a Saturday , and we were some of the first ones in the door. The initial service was prompt, but not great. We were promptly told that they were out of our first choice in appetizers. My wife asked to sample one of their beers, which is exceedingly common and in brewpubs, and were told that they charge $3 per sample. Not wishing to pay the cost of one pint for two samples, we made our choices and lived with it. The beers were perfectly fine, though honestly a bit unrefined. Ordered the food. It took 50 minutes for 1/3 of the order to show up at the table: the panini was lukewarm and the fries were cold and hard as a rock. I spoke to the manager on staff, who was very pleasant, and she remade the sandwich for us. Frankly, it was all simply lackluster. The food was okay, but not really good. The menu descriptions were incorrect even as compared to clarification for which we had asked when ordering. The location is pretty cool. It's in a former National Guard armory, and the stage looks like a great place to see a local band. Perhaps I was simply expecting too much. read more

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Horrible came for music found a table 2 waitresses I stopped asked FOR SERVICE!!! CLEARLY DONT WANT OUR MONEY been over a hour still nothing I should not have to track down a 3rd server after the show and our hungry belly's and dry mouths we won't be back I'm not begging them for customer service! First time here as well read more

We all got food poisoning from the Chicken Mac and Cheese. I would have gotten over it, as the food tasted good, but we had to catch a flight the next day which was miserable. We also had a Strawberry fizz, which was delicious and made the otherwise heavy meal better. Service wasn't great, but I'm not from here and it seems like it's just different here so I'll let it go. read more

I had high hopes for this. After reading the reviews, beer maybe the only thing to go for. The waitress was trying her best, it seemed like she maybe have been the only one maybe another was helping, wait tables. Either way 1 or 2 that is not enough. I'm not sure if this is COVID related or not. I know restaurants are having to close for the day or early because they just do not have the staff. If this was the case, it was not worth being open because it left me writing this review. The Korean BBQ Pork was extremely spicy. I could not finish it. There was 2 others in my group who also ordered it and could not even finish it. We either made it 1/4-1/3 of the way before giving up. No one liked their food. My salad was not too bad, but I could not finish it because it came out about 10 minutes later than my meal. It took about 15-29 minutes for the waitress to give us our bill. Just very slow. I apologize if they are truly under staffed due to covid. I just hate this for businesses right now. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

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This place was really cool! It's a bar but they have their own distillery which is really cool!. My friend and we just hangout for a little bit and watch their corn whole tournament! Their drinks was actually good and bar tender was so knowledgeable and so friendly. read more

Both the service and the food were great. Flavor was fantastic. Highly recommend the mimosas. read more

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery - Beer Brauts with spicy mustard and sauerkraut. Hand-Cut French Fries - Brewpubs Near Me - Hampton, Virginia

We came out tonight for a friends birthday and had a good time. They had a 90's cover band playing and the music was great! We ordered appetizers when we arrived, pretzels with beer cheese sauce, and Brussel sprouts. The appetizers came fairly quickly and were good, although the brussel sprouts were kind of heavy in the oil and the sauce drizzled on the top the flavor was good and they were well cooked. It took the waitress a fair bit to come back to take our entree order (like 45 minutes) and then another 45 minutes to an hour before the food came out. It came out warm at best, to the credit of the staff and management they apologized for the delay and removed the food from our tab because it was not even warm enough to eat. I feel the size of our party and the mayhem with the event going on contributed to the mess up with the order and i appreciate the lengths the staff went to to make it right. The food would have been amazing and we will likely be back to give it another try as we are new to the area and exploring fun places to hang out. read more

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2nd post: dinner review. Poor service. Decent food. Do not order the Tuna appetizer. I wanted to do 1-2 stars but the steak Mac and cheese was superb. One of our three meals. Only on happy customer. read more

Was looking for a good beer selection & a proper burger, The VanGuard came up in my search. It looked like everything I was looking for. The venue itself is intriguing & the little bit of history I've heard about makes it all the more. Warmly greeted on a Friday evening I decided to sit at the bar. An ample beer selection kicked it off. After sufficient pondering I decided on a burger. It was every bit as good as I had hoped. After dinner I enjoyed a flight of spirits. Didn't find one that I didn't like. When it came dinner time Saturday I was thinking fish fry. Remembering VanGuard had a fried fish I decided to try again. Glad I did. Fish was hot & flakey with no excessive breading. Great food & drink both nights. read more

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Quick and easy lunch date with the wife. A lot of seating here. They have an upstairs area but it was reserved for a private event. Menu had a wide variety of items. Had the shrimp and fries which was decent. Our server was nice, but was extremely slow. I asked for hot sauce and she gave me a bottle that had like 3 drops left in it. read more

Having had nothing but positive experiences at Vanguard, I was excited to bring my out of town guests to dine here for lunch. Our experience was *very* disappointing. I was embarrassed at having brought my guests here. Granted, the poor level of service was likely affected by another party consisting of about 40 guests who were seated when we arrived. The wait staff was *drastically* under-manned to handle this large a group, plus all the other diners. While I can understand why food would have been slow coming from the kitchen under these circumstances, having to wait more than 15 minutes before our first order of drinks arrived spoke to the poor service. The first trays of food were delivered about 45 minutes after we placed our order. The salads were not delivered until about 20 minutes AFTER the hot food arrived. That really puzzled me. I looked forward to enjoying a Reuben sandwich because the last time I had one here, it was the best I'd ever had. This time, the sandwich was a flop. The bread was greasy. There was an ugly slab of corned beef fat, about 4 x 1-1/2 inches large, in with the meat. Yuck! We had to ask for our second round of drinks three times before they finally arrived. It will be a long, long time before I return to the Vanguard after this experience. read more