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Gentle Ben's Brewing Co
Rating Details »
Categories: Breweries, American (Traditional) [Edit]
865 E University BlvdTucson, AZ 85719
(520) 624-4177
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
17 reviews for Gentle Ben's Brewing Co
Gentle Ben's a place that you go because it's convenient. Its on campus.
Gentle Ben is two stories. The bottom level is more for causal seating. The second level has a bar, so it gives a bar atmosphere.
The service is decent. They come to you when you need them, so no complaints. However, if you're seating in the second floor, it is harder to get good service. You basically have to go to the bar and order or just really try hard to get someone's attention.
Their food is good. I've tried the spinach dip, the buffalo wings, nachos, beer battered onion rings, chips and salsa, chicken tenders, black and blue burger, asian chicken salad, and others. They give a large portion. The price is also decent for the quality and quantity.
My friends and I use to come here for social club events. Gentle Ben's is a great place to come. Normally their upstairs doesn't get too full and there are a lot of room/seating for a large party.
Their happy hour is great! The drinks are good.
Good selection of home brews, unfortunately without the food to match.
Pizzas, sandwiches, and salads adorn the menu, however you can get better food elsewhere on University. Eat dinner first, then go here for the beer.
Everyone always talks about Gentle Ben's...it seems to me like an omniscient benevolent bear watching over the restaurant scene of University.
It was the sanctuary of our large party for a lunch. It was in fact the only restaurant on University that was willing to seat all of us inside.
Once we were seated upstairs in a large room, half opened to the open air balcony seating. In this room, there was a big sculpture of a tree, with branches reaching over the top of the ceiling.
I decided to try the veggie burger, as a part of my near constant need to taste and assess the veggie burgers (if offered) at any given restaurant.
Yummy---it was good! (yay) So were the beer battered fries. So was the spinach dip ordered shared by one end of the table.
There was a wide enough selection so that everyone at the table got something he or she wanted, but the menu wasn't some overwhelming book of food.
Definitely a great place to grab a bite--I definitely want to see what it brings for night life.
Go to Gentle Ben's for the brews rather than the food, which is perhaps at the level of a modern baseball stadium. Its location sells it more than its food, where standard bar fare has one scanning the menu and settling on a few decent salads or a burger you could find at dozens of other places. If you're in town near the college, you could do vastly worse for beer but vastly better for grub.
Compared to other options on University, Gentle Ben's isn't bad, but don't walk past the Fat Greek, whose spanakopita excuses his corpulence and whose salads burst with feta. Mediterranean diet? What, me worry?
This place is really good. I have never had a bad meal or experience here.
Here is what I get:
Drink: Gentle Ben's IPA
App: Tequila cilantro wings
Main: Diane Burger w/ beer battered fries.
The beer battered fires are the best I have ever had. Make sure you ask for them or else you'll get their regular fries.
i write this in the midst of a wicked evil hangover. srsly...i have been vomiting all day and wake up because the pulse in my knee caps is overwhelming...yeah, i got THAT DRUNK last night. but fer real, all i can think about right now is gentle ben's fucking amazing onion rings. sweet baby jesus...ally heart onion rings....me want NOW!
i started drinking about 2 hours before i got to gentle bens, so don't ask me about decor or prices...all i know is the raspberry beer is grrrreat (and i don't drink beer), the onion rings were awesome, especially with the badass ranch that i was totally tempted to drink after all of the onion rings were * sob* gone. the sonoran tacos were uber tasty as well, especially with a lil lime. i sipped someone's red wine and wanted to vomit, but that's really the only negative thing i have to say about the place. so, someone, plz go get me onion rings? i don't think i can leave the couch.
I used to love Gentle Ben's...the ORIGINAL Gentle Ben's! But no...as they expanded and modernized University Ave. and added stuff like Urban Outfitters...they tore down the brewery and rebuilt a new, improved version. I think they got it wrong...
It used to be homey...it used to be a little dirtier...and it was classic. Now, well, the food is ok but it never was the bestest in the land...and the atmosphere has gone from cool and eclectic to something more akin to a Chili's or TGI Fridays! lol I almost expect the servers to be sporting pieces of flair. lol
What still survives however, is the beer!! Ah....the Tucson Blond. :) If you want a good beer...head here in the afternoon. Good stuff.
Gentle Ben's is a favorite for getting your beer on. They easily accommodate large groups and have both indoor and outdoor seating. Happy hour drink specials are probably the best on University Ave. as long as you stick to the basics---and why shouldn't you? The GB beer offerings are great---they brew a couple of really tasty ales. The service here is hit or miss---sometimes it's spectacular, and other times negligent, but I would mostly attribute that to understaffing at peak times. Note that if you're past that "Woooo! Twenty-ONNNNE!" phase of your life, this is definitely a starter bar for your Friday evening. Get out before the fake-blonde, fake-tan, fake ID crew takes over.
As for food....admittedly, I haven't forgiven Gentle Ben's for taking away the $2 taco bar during Friday happy hour. I could justify paying that much for slop, but I can't justify spending money on the rest of the bland menu. There are typical bar food options, but most are underwhelming and plain. Your food often spends a good twenty minutes getting some quality rays under the heat lamp before it makes it to your table, which doesn't help the quality. If you must, grab some pretzels or another appetizer with your beer, but save your dollars for dining at one of the other much better establishments on University. For drinking, GB's merits 4 stars, but for food, 2.
I loved Gentle Ben's. Then something weird happened.
I was upstairs but the people I was meeting were downstairs. Upstairs I had ordered three beers during happy hour, it was $7.50. Their beers are good. Everyone says the Raspberry one is good but don't get it, it smells like Raspberry and tastes like bad beer, but everything else is great. The food is good. The hot chicken wings are really hot, don't get them unless you are ready, they're inedible hot. Friendly staff, good service, varied crowd. 5 star yelp review kind of place.
Downstairs I asked about the difference in other people's bills. I was told appetizers and drinks would be twice the price, during happy hour, because we were downstairs, even on the patio. Basically beer and food was twice the price for the rest of the group just because they were sitting downstairs and no one told them a mere flight of stairs would have earned half their money back.
I'd head somewhere else during happy hour from now on until they fix this. It's a cool place but I found this a little deceptive because nothing was labeled and no one said anything to anyone until I asked about it. I didn't get the impression any customers downstairs realized they were paying double for everything. Very wrong.
If you know Tucson at all, you know it's a total college town. Gentle Ben's is pretty much right on campus and is a great spot for food. But most importantly a great spot for beer! They're microbrews are awesome and a few of them really pack a punch so beware!
At night they have great music and the upstairs bar area gets really packed. Its great for those hot Tucson nights as everyone pretty much hangs outside on the balcony. There is also a big dance floor inside which gets quite crowded. Good times.
This is one of those places that really makes me miss college! But beware youngsters, they're quite hard on fake ids, so don't even think about!
Such delicious on tap brew. . .many options for vegetarians too! Good service, swanky 70's atmosphere is kind of fun too. Bring a friend or two for dessert.
If you like crappy overpriced food then this is place for you! The spinach dip is the only thing thats decent. I do like the fact they named their food items after Grateful Dead songs., and the beers are good. Service isn't great. Bitchy hostesses - probably U of A freshman. I would rather go across the street to Frog.
The service is so bad here! The food is alright. The spinach-artichoke dip is the only thing on the menu I'll get.
This place is a U of A staple. The beer selection is great. The food is decent and service seems to be good as long as it's not a peak time. Go and enjoy!
Nice mid-scale bar about 2 blocks from UofA. Small, but decent selection of microbrews. The food is good to better than good. Indoor and outdoor seating, with an upper outdoor level and upper bar with a large dance floor. Good mix of 80's and 90's music. Crowd tends to be younger.
Nice place on University.... good pasta and good home brew...
I end up here a lot, but more for the location than anything else. The beer isn't bad, but it's not great either for a microbrewery. I always go with IPA, but think it's a bit syrupy here.
