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It has been a year since I ate there, and I was looking at pictures and realised I never yelped them so here goes.
I was with our family and a few friends, so there was a lot of us. We got there early, as to avoid the rush. They were able to push two tables together for us. I had the Tarragon Chicken dinner. with one of the pints of Pomponio Pale Ale.
They were good with getting the food out to us, and we were lucky, as the place started to fill up as we were being served. I did not look at what all the others got, but one of my brothers got the fish and chips I believe.
I liked the food, I could have gotten a bigger chicken piece possibly, but the vegetables that came with it were fresh.
I hate to say, this but even though I liked the beer, it was not enough like the Pale Ale beer that is my favorite, Sierra Nevada, I just thought it was missing something, or the amount or type or hops was different. Also it was a little bit on the flat side, but that was the server's fault, as they caused that, as they filled the glass. I know I am wrong, by a beer experts point of view, but I like to pour my beer slow, so I do not loose all the bubbles, and I hate it when a person pours it to get a head on top. My brother insists this is the "Right way", and I say Rubbish, it is how the drinker likes it that counts. Some people like to drink coke warm, and others want it ice cold.
So, since this is a Brewery I guess I was expecting a perfect beer. I guess it is all in what you are used to, as an Ale is too hoppy for some other beer drinkers. For this reason they get 3 Stars, possibility it was a 3 1/2 Star night out, but who knows, we were all happy, as it was a birthday night out.
The owner of the Brewery contacted me after my last update to tell me that they are serving their own beer again. This is good news, and some friends and I will go check that out this weekend.
He also said that they have always had two restrooms, but I know what I saw, and one was closed last time I was there. The sign to the ladies room said "out of order". He thinks it may have been closed for maintenance at the time and told me that both restrooms are open.
People thought this was:
We don't really go to the brewery anymore. They stopped making their own beer, and the place is… Read more »
I can't for the life of me understand how this place got four or five stars from _anyone_. Three is quite a stretch, at least at this time. Maybe in the past it deserved more.
Food - OK. Menu is limited and most things are pretty ordinary, but our choices were OK. Exception is the sweet potato fries, which I thought were excellent.
Beer - Somewhat less than OK. Again, limited choices as I think there were just three of their own beers available. The E.S.B. I tried was really not very good, and I quit after one beer which is a first for me at a brewery. Just wasn't going to throw good money after bad. It was indeed bitter, but that was really the only discernable characteristic.
Experience - Nothing good to say here. The place was very stuffy, and we were seated on that little elevated area near the window and it was way too hot there. The music was way too loud, and there was an old freestanding air conditioner that was severely overmatched chugging away and adding its own brand of noise to the mix. We actually had to ask to be seated somewhere else when the flies (who I think were after our water in a desperate effort save their lives) descended on us in overwhelming numbers.
Staff - OK. Our guy was pretty bad, but the young woman serving the tables in the area we moved to seemed great. Luck of the draw here, I guess.
I'll consider odering the fries for takeout in the future, but that's it.
Food is consistantly good...I like their turkey burgers...the beer is excellent.
Great staff!
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Well friends and neighbors we seem to have some progress on getting the brewery up and running. There has been some work on the kettle that blew up and from what I see it's a complete pain in the wazoo to work on a stainless steel, natural gas powered monster in such a small space. I don't envy the job.
They've been working with the good folks at Santa Cruz Ale Works to produce beer for the Pub but in this humble reviewers opinion it's just not working. Maybe it's the water, maybe it's trying to transfer a small recipe to equipment much larger than the original. I'll just have a Boont Amber Ale and leave the academics to the professionals.
I'm still parking on 2 stars until they get it fixed but there is hope on the horizon. In closing I'll say.....
GET TO WORK YOU LAZY BUMS I WANT A LOMPICO GOLD IPA!!!
People thought this was:
After some equipment failures and the managements unwillingness to deal with them they no longer… Read more »
Food: I ordered the standby cheeseburger & fries. The burger was definitely "meh," slightly overcooked and sitting on a dry, cheap bun. However, the fries were quite good. The whole meal was served on a piece of wax paper sitting on a little wicker basket.
Service: Our waitress was nice but definitely seemed overwhelmed. This suprirsed me because the place was less than half full and there were six other servers present.
Ambience: old-timey bar. There's an ancient, broken-down player piano by the restrooms and an exposed "Desserts" refrigerator sitting in the corner of the main dining room. (Seeing the meager selection of little plastic-wrapped plates of food sitting in there under florescent light did not make the prospect of dessert too appettizing.) The floors were also pretty thin; I could clearly feel the vibrations of each passerby's footsteps and couldn't help but wonder just how much hollow space was underneath me...
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The wife and I braved the dangerous Highway 9 this lunchtime, our goal in the mountains being this outstanding spot. We both had the "grain patty", hers slathered with mushrooms and cheese. Straight cheese "burger" for me, and the food was filling and tasty.
The beer was excellent, the Peaceful Porter being labeled "Panic Porter" because of its coffee flavor...so nice I ordered it twice.
The staff chatted about absent staff members, the recession, neck rubs...the atmosphere was one of general tomfoolery.
Laid back, good food, excellent beer served up with gusto and discussion of last night's Daily Show. So what if it looks a little run down? So what if the lunch is on paper plates? What matters is who is there, the food and the beer. And BCB delivers the goods on all three.
There is not a lot of reason to totally go our of your way to come here.
If you are IN Boulder Creek or passing through after hiking or visiting friends...then, I say check it out.
It has a great "feel" to it. It is like a Northern Exposure vibe mixed with Santa Cruz laid back and progressive at the same time. The wait staff is super friendly. The price are decent enough, and the beer (while far from the best brew I have had) is not bad at all.
The food is decent.
The pub style fish and chips were OK. Not the best I have had. The fries would have been much better if they were thick cut and not skinny. This is no Rosie McCans! The fish appeared too little for the $12 a plate IMHO. But it filled me up reasonably well.
My friends all ordered a large Caesar Salad that they shared amongst 3. The cheese was plentiful and really complimented the dressing well. Worth it.
I have had a "good" veggie burger and the curly fries were well seasoned and had a nice consistency as well.
Again....it is the atmosphere and sharing a pitcher of the brown beer that makes this place cool. Come to be with the locals in this cute Mountain Town.
Just dont expect the best of the best pub food. Just "adequately good enough".
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I had their sweet potato fries, pretty good.
The food is alright given the price, but the biggest draw is their home brewed beer. I tend to only… Read more »
OK, my hometown establishment deserves better that one star. However, I am very angry and embarrassed with my last experience here. I brought some dear friends, from Santa Clara; to the place I had been bragging about for years. The food sucked! The beer wasn't very good and my credit card never returned to my wallet...It will be a while before I leave $80 here again.
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Frick'n punk bartender stole/lost my credit card, last time I was there. I am done with this place.… Read more »
This is my second post on the place. 1st one was glowing!! This one, no I don't think so. I went here for beer. I brought my growlers to have filled up. They have stopped making beer. This is a brewery? I'm not going to drive to Boulder Creek Brewery for standard beer that I can get at Monty's or DQ's, or for that matter - Cowboy Dinner. I'm now going to Santa Cruz Brewery on the West side. Good beer, good prices. That is all I will say about this matter for now. 9 year customer that is very disappointed in BC Brewery.
People thought this was:
We always have a great time at the brewery. Excellent variety of beer. Try the Lompico IPA. Buy a… Read more »
I've been going to the Brewery for almost 20 yrs now (and this year is it's 20th anniversary), and for the most part I've had good food, good service, and good times.
First, the food was great tonight. If it wasn't I would have rated it zero. Tonight, I had the worst waitress I've ever experienced in my life. Warning... if you go to the Brewery, and they want to sit you at Judy's station, run to the other side of the room. She is the invisible waitress; except if you are that lone guy at the bar, in which case she's the "bartender'. She'll hang with you all night. Wanna do shots? The Mexican guy who's really nice that sits you finally realized that we had been sitting there for like 20 mins, and got our soda & beer. Another good part is Judy is such a pit head, she didn't include the beer I originally ordered from her (that she didn't bring but the other guy did) never appeared on the bill. We waited, and waited, and waited, (for our BURGERS!!!! off the MENU!!!!!) and the only time I saw good old Judy was when I went outside to have a cig, so I didn't go off. At that point she decided to take that cigarette she had in her mouth in the bar area, and come out side to smoke it. Afterwards,she finally staggered by our table, at which point I asked for another beer. She managed to bring that and FINALLY brought our food (at this point, I've seen at least 4 other tables that came in after us get their food). Like I said, the burgers were really good tonight. Waiting for our bill, another round of going out for a cig to keep me from going off, and who should show up again, but the hostess with the mostest, Judy. Long story short, we finally get our bill (not in a bill fold or anything, just receipts dropped in a wet spot on the table) she takes off forever with my credit card (don't think I'm not going to check for "bad" charges") and out the door we went. I've never tipped less than I did tonight, but I hope good old Judy got the hint........don't wait tables-you suck!
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Yikes yikes yikes.
I'm totally with Amalia K. For some reason I mistakenly thought this was the same as the "Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery". Let me assure you, these two are NOT the same place.
The beer was pretty good, but everything else about the brewery just plain sucked.
This place reminded me of one of those seedy restaurant/bars in a town of 200 off a dirt track road in the middle of South Dakota. Stepping inside, it was like walking into a time warp. The staff all looked like they had some kind of substance abuse problem. Convenient, no? First of all, there were a whopping 4 patrons inside. It felt like we were in some kind of dingy cave, with tons of empty space, ancient video arcade games that probably didn't work, and a general feeling of blight.
The place was vast, with high ceilings stained by roof leaks, and complete with creaking floorboards, ripped up vinyl booths, and a menu that was more depressing than anything else. I ordered a cheap hamburger lunch special and it tasted like a piece of meat-flavored newspaper.
NYF ordered a bbq pulled pork sandwich which was equally disappointing, considering that it wasn't really BBQ -or- pulled pork. She didn't order beer either, so I guess she really got the short end of the deal.
Needless to say, we won't be coming back.
People thought this was:
Boulder Creek Brewery is not an ultra-classy five star restaurant with award winning chefs and medical grade cleanliness. It's a brew pub, and it is everything you would expect a brew pub to be. It's greasy, poorly lit, they brew their beer right behind the counter, you sit in archaic wood furnishings, slightly salty-looking regulars glare at you from the same corner they've been visiting for decades, and the staff is quite friendly. You can't really ask for anything more in a place like this.
I tried the Ancient Oaks Wheat and the Summer Wheat, two very decent brews, although they served them in a regular pint glass with a virtually nonexistent head. I couldn't complain though, as this seemed like a place where people come to get drunk, not to discuss the intricacies of flavor in their beer.
The food was not bad either--greasy, filling, made to serve in large quantities--the perfect thing to eat while drinking beer.
I'd recommend this place, just don't expect it to be glamorous.
People thought this was:
We eat there pretty regularly despite neither of us drink beer. Instead we have nice cool glasses of Coke that are refilled with conscientiousness by our usual friendly male waiters. And darn they are friendly! I guess they like tips. And this is a place where you can be specifc with your food. If you want it special, do yourself a favor and tell them what you want, and they will do it.
You mean locals eat at a local place? Horrors. Here there are lots of mountain people weirdos (which I might be one come to think of it) but why the heck do you travel if you don't expect to have adventures? The early you come, the less weirdos. In fact we find it kind of entertaining to get a corner booth and stare at everyone. I am sure they are staring back.
You can't beat the burgers if their made on a good day. Buns are toasty with a nice angus patty and the avocado is perfectly ripe. The Brookdale Burger with carmelized onions and gorgonzola is a real treat when you are feeling peckish.
The Chimichanga Grande is the epitome of California Mountain fare; deep fried, drenched in enchilada sauce, and full of tender carne, beans, rice, and served with generous guac and sour creme.
On a bad day with over-loaded wait staff, your burger can end up a nasty mess which was obviously forgotten about then tossed back on the grill (can we say hello food poisoning?) We stayed away for a month or two after that one and chose our visits tat a time when it was on the off-hours.
Onion rings are good. The batter them themselves and will give you mid-westerners sides of ranch if you ask .
Now on to the fries.
Garlic and Parmesan Wedge-cut potato fries were EXCELLENT!
Except they seem to have stopped serving them! Holy crap! Yesterday we had our usual nummy burgers and there were these crappy shoestring affairs right out of a Costo freezer. Bland and disgusting, thats all I can say. Plus my Blue Cheese dressing tasted as if someone had mixed it water to thin it out.
It might be part of their attempt to spruce up the place because the depression is hitting them hard. It still has this marvelous retro-70's feel to it mixed with a touch of the old west. It's been painted a complacent sunny beige now and the redwood door white. Who paints a redwood door in the redwoods white?
Overall I think it is a great place to eat! The char-grilled taste of that angus beef keeps us coming back for more.
People thought this was:
It would seem as if the other Yelpers and I are not talking about the same Boulder Creek Brewery.... I am not sure how anyone would give this place 4 stars let alone 5???
We just finished a meal there this afternoon and it was unremarkable, you have to serve your own water, the prices of the beers varied on each menu and on the chalk board (what's that about?) and it was hot and smelly. We spent $36 on two burgers, onion rings and 2 beers. Totally overrated and the food was mediocre. To be honest - it is what I would have expected of the place when we pulled up but it was the Yelp reviews that set the bar too high.
The Trivial Pursuit cards at each table are a nice touch....
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I drive all the way from mountian view to come eat burgers at this place. I've seen mixed reviews from people. Maybe i think so highly of this place becaues i come by in the evenings on weekdays when they are not too buisy.
I love the burgers, i order the lomond burger which has gorgonzola and caramalized onions. Haven't had a burger quite like it before. The beef is always cooked medum to medum well and of good quality. I don't really drink much beer but what I've had has been good. Granted im no expert.
The place isn't the cleanest or most well lit but I won't hold it against them.
I saw this brewery (or burrey as I like to pronounce it) as I was driving on a nice Sunday drive on the 9. I wanted to see what it was all about. Felt like getting a burger. As soon as I saw some weird-looking mountain folk enter the bar ahead of us, I realized that this might have been a mistake.
Walking into the bar, I knew that food was out of the question, as an air of uncleanliness was palpable. Beer, on the other hand, was something that I wasn't willing to reject.
I don't know if things are different in the mountains...well, I know they are...but everything was a bit makeshift there. Weirdly-dressed locals were taking shots of Jager at 3 on Sunday. The Men's bathroom smelled like PEE-PEE majorly, and the lack of hot water and absence of towels made me feel dirty for being there.
The saving grace of this place is the outstanding beer. Really good. I had the I.P.A. Absolutely phenomenal. Carmelly, hoppy, well-crafted. Service at the bar was friendly. Definitely on mountain time there, if you will, but for a leisurely Sunday, that was just fine.
The weevils, as another yelper yelped about, were crawling all over the outside window. I could see how you could confuse them for cockroaches. But they seemed to be attracted to light, so I'm pretty sure they weren't.
I'll stop in again for a pint or a growler if I'm in the neighborhood.
People thought this was:
foods not so great - service is good though -- beer is tasty.
** NOTE ** This is a BEER ONLY review.
I served Boulder Creek Brew at a party, and it was awesome! Brian was great to work with, and totally accomodating and knowledgeable! Beer was fresh, tasty and he even provided tasting notes!!
YUM! thanks!
People thought this was:
The service was excellent. Our server served 16 people and all the food came out and everyone was happy.
The garlic fries with cheese are steak fries which were perfect.
My dinner needed more spice to it, but the meat was tender as it should be. After a long, ten mile hike in the Santa Cruz Wilderness, coming here was quite the oasis.
I raise a glass of hot tea for the brewery. You guys rock!
People thought this was:
It was a long day. An early wakeup, a long drive, and a long DYK hike. I needed food badly.
This place sounded good from the outside. But when I saw brewery food on the menu, plus "authentic" Mexican food, plus pasta and stir-fry.... hmmmm, that's a sure sign for bad food.
After looking at the menu of everything and anything, I decided to play it safe and get the great Angus beef Santa Cruz burger with mushrooms and avocado, sounds great. And the waiter guy confirmed that it is one of their popular burgers.
Survey says? XXX
No, that's not hot porn. No, that's not kisses. That's three strikes. The burger was disappointing to say the least. But the stout was good. The waiter guy's service was good. Okay his humor was subpar so luckily he has a day job :)
So 2 stars for the food, and 1 star for entusiastic service for 16 people with a smile.
Luckily we got home safely, driving winding roads in the dark, late at night with crazy people tailing us, and tired to the bones.
People thought this was:
Five stars for service, three stars for food, and four stars for beer. Overall, that's right, this is a four-star joint.
Hits:
1) Service -- the server seated our table for 16 less-than-pristinely-dressed DYKers. All of the food came out timely, served hot, and with a smile. Thank you, server guy whose name I forgot after three pints. You definitely earned a serious tip.
2) Garlic fries -- deep frying, of course, improves just about anything. Here, the fries are wedge-shaped and served with the skin on for extra potato flavor. The very large portion had no shortage of garlic.
3) Beer -- I only tried the IPA, which was fresh, cold enough, and well hopped. The carbonation was slightly low, but this was only a minor issue. I didn't try the stout, but they get bonus points for serving it on a Nitrogen system.
Misses:
1) Average non-deep-fried eats. The menu notes that BCBC serves American and "authentic" Mexican food. I wasn't in a burger mood, so I tried the chile verde pork. It was served hot, but it was kind of bland and a little too mushy for my taste. Authentic is a relative term, apparently.
Next time, I'm going to try one of the double burgers, although second-hand, folks thought the burgers were only ok as well. Hmm... beer and garlic fries? That could probably get me through the day.
People thought this was:
This place far exceeded my expectations. I don't expect much at all from pub food. So I was delighted to enjoy my fish and chips. The chips (aka, fries) were not too greasy. The fish was tender and flaky on the inside and crispy on the outside; way better than the fish sticks I remember from childhood.
The place has a cozy, pub-like feel to it. Wooden booths, an old upright piano, and Tiffany-esque lamp fixtures. And old-school rock music playing in the background from the bartender's private collection.
The service was amazing. I think the folks who work there actually like people. Such a welcome attitude at a restaurant. They were really accommodating. Really. They even took out carrots from my veggie side when I told them I couldn't eat carrots.
Responsiveness to questions/needs: ***** (five stars, very helpful)
Dairy-free: **** (four stars, some options are dairy free)
Gluten-free: *** (three stars, it is possible to avoid gluten)
Vegetarian: **** (four stars, a number of veggie options and the menu lists them)
Vegan: *** (three stars, some vegan options listed in the menu)
People thought this was:
On the outside this place is easy to miss, a bit dark and run down - but everything about it makes up for that.
There is parking on the streets but also a parking lot in the back, small, dirt, but eh it's boulder creek.
The inside is dark wood, lots of tables and booths and pretty large all around. It has an outdated and yet old time classic feel it to it.
The best thing about this place? The beer! All the beer is great, well priced, lots of variety - get the sampler! Seriously all of it is fantastic and worth the drive if coming from further away.
The food is tasty too. I got this greek sampler, hummus, olives, dipping sauces, pita - very tasty. The quesidillas are really falvorful too! I have also had their house salad (huge) and split a steak - very tasty as well.
The service has always been fast, nice and informative about their brewery. It has a lovely old time, relaxed feel.
Completely worth the time, travel, money and experience.
People thought this was:
(Original review was 4 stars, but changed to 5...see below)
This place ROCKS!
I stopped in with my family on the way back from camping at Big Basin. We weren't exactly...shall we say...crystal clean. We had no problem with this place and sat right now for lunch. The menu was HUGE! The service was GREAT! The beer was AWESOME!
I love places like this more than any other. It looks like a hole-in-the-wall in a small town, yet serves food and atmosphere that people would pay much more for in any local city.
We tried a bunch of the beers. While I have had lots (ahem...LOTS) of micro-brews, these ones are right up there with some of my favorites. I had a Wheat to start, but found it too light. Moved on to the Ale and Porter and even tried the Stout. Stuck with the Porter and it was great.
Food...while I would say that the menu has something for everyone, each person in our party said that it was a little bland. It surprised me, but I also had to agree, and that's the reason my rating is only 4 stars. Onion rings, their specialty, were great although not as flavorful as one would expect. I had a burger with BBQ sauce that was incredible. Add some kick to it, and this sauce could rival any of the best BBQ wing places I have been to.
I'd love to write more about this place. It's absolutely worth a stop if you are in the area.
*** After sitting back and reviewing their information on the website (http://www.bouldercree...), I changed my review to 5 stars. Everything they said here is true, and people should be applauded for this effort. It's not easy...it's not cheap. Any concerns I had about the food quality are outweighed by their dedication towards the "green business". It's just like accepting a few extra blemishes in a truly organic or vine-ripened piece of fruit...the benefits FAR outweigh the negatives.
People thought this was:
This place was good, it was a spur of the moment thing as far as I'm aware we weren't planning on hitting this place...
I had a burger with avocado which was good, with fattie fries which I love...
I went with three other people...
one got some variety of a burger that was a specialty there which was messy but good, another got friend shrimp which were good as well, the last got some seafood combo with fish n chips which he loved.
There's a full service bar where you usually have to place your orders and bring them to the table yourself but the slightly crackheaded waitress woman sat down at our table with us and took our order even though she said we had to order at the bar...
There weren't many people there since it was a weekday and around lunchtime but that didn't really stop our table from having a couple rounds of long islands =) It's a good place to stop, have a drink or two, and eat but watch out for the random people loitering...
You know... I love the guy who owns this place. Quite literally, since he is my cousin!
If you are up in Boulder Creek, getting away from the valley and want a good beer and bite to eat, this is the place to go.
He brews his own beer, and they are terrific...
The food will fill you up with cafe usuals and favorites...
And, you are up in the mountains, close to Big Basin for an afternoon or morning in the big trees.
My blue cheese burger was okay. I unfortunately have Cafe Rouge to compare it too and haven't had a blue cheese burger that's better. BUT service was excellent considering they had to deal with 16 of us DYKers post-10 mile hike. When they asked "How many to seat"? We replied "16". They replied, "Awesome"! That put me at ease. For dealing with our large group, service was prompt, straight forward and friendly. My burger was okay, but I thought the bun was a little too large and a little too cripsy. I was expecting a bigger patty also. The redwood ale was tasty, even tastier with the burger. I sampled the garlic fries which were nice. Shaved garlic as opposed to chunky garlic was a nice touch. Lots of choices on the menu. Good music in the background. A chill spot for post outdoor activities.
People thought this was:
The best beer in Central Coast California. Period. Brian the Brewer is a god, or at least a demi-god, though he aint no angel. It's worth the trip out of your way, especially if you are a beer lover. The food is great too and if you aren't a pain in the butt, the bartenders will make you feel like family.
People thought this was:
OK, the brewery gets four starts (but the restaurant only gets 2.5 -3). Burgers are good, the garlic fries are VERY garlicky (good if you like fresh garlic), and occasionally there's something really good on the menu. The wole place is kinda dingy...and whether or not you get good food service depends on who is working when you're there....BUT, the whole point about this place is the brew!
It is a brewing company, first and foremost. And, as some other yelpers have said, it's a nice place to crash and refuel if you've been hiking or biking in the Santa Cruz mountains.
The Lompico IPA is GREAT! The barleywine is a seasonal brew you just have to try. You can also get growlers full of beer to go ...
This place is cool. You can just sit there and have beer, watch sports, or have a nice meal. The type of food available is like that if a typical american diner. Good food, all sorts of beers, even original beer from this brewery. Take some time off, go to the bar and drink a beer. Good atmosphere/people.
this place needs serious help. since the local mexican restaurant closed, they have converted what was left of the menu to mexican. if you want cheap food then this is moderately priced, but definately needs Chef Ramsay's help. The beer isn't even that good
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Boulder Creek, CA
Category: Nightlife
Boulder Creek, CA
Boulder Creek, CA
Category: Grocery
Boulder Creek, CA
Category: Restaurants
Felton, CA
Category: Coffee & Tea
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
