Barley Vine

Shambala does not exist in ancient Tibet amongst the cold and craggy mountains of Tibet… No. Shambala is in a small restaurant in scenic. Bristol, CT…
Barley Vine has harnessed the ancient powers of supreme tastiness and humbly display their powers of savory satiation for all that wish to partake.
The burgers were done to perfection. The rolls were sweet and soft with just the right crunch… If you can. Substitute the fries for the fried pickles… You will attain enlightenment… You will surpass all the pain and misery with a blue cheese dressing and a crunchy crust .
And the liquid libations. The velvety 6 PT brownstone ale merged and mated with the succulate meaty cows in a way that can only be described as. Sinful and biblical… The forbidden fruit cocktail made me question my non existent religious beliefs… Maybe there is a Pope I asked myself.
So the TL: dr version… You owe yourself a night out. Especially on Monday… Boardgames and booze…
Now excuse me as I lapse into a transcendentalicious coma. Yuuuuuummmm yuuummmm

Amazing draft list, great bottle selection. Perfect bar in Bristol! Can’t beat the atmosphere, cool and quiet and relaxing.

I have to give the Barley Vine 5 stars. We came in today and the staff there was extremely welcoming when we can in an hour early on a Sunday which their normally not even open. Shannon was our waitress and she was super friendly. We ordered the zucchini fritters which were delicious! I wish there was more. The burgers we ordered were delicious but I’m excited to come back again when they have their full menu available to build our own!

I want to give this more than 3 stars because the cocktails truly deserve 5, but the food was just meh. We were just coming in for a few apps and we ordered the giant onion rings which were super bland and the pork with rice and beans which was okay.
I will come back again for the cocktails but probably go somewhere else for food.

One of the better places in Bristol to dine. The bar selection is insane and the staff is very nice. The nachos are my absolute favorite. If you’re coming in on the weekend try to be early, the only downside is a long wait on a packed Friday night. Any other time you can walk right in and be taken care of. Also recommend building your own burger, their hamburger buns are UNREAL!

Food, beer and service used to be great. I assume the first 2 are still good, but the 3^rd has gone way downhill. Tonight was the 2^nd time I’ve walked out in a month when I sat down in the bar area at a table and had no waitress come over and say anything to us for 20 minutes. And to rub salt in the wound, it wasn’t even busy, plenty of spots at the bar, and tables open, no wait on a Sat night. Maybe management and ownership should take note of emptiness on a weekend night.

Very cool bar, service is awesome, good food menu, and unique beer selection. I made my own catfish sandwich with fried pickles and onion rings… A lot of food but tasty. My friend got a bbq chicken pizza special which was delicious.

Great selection of beer on tap. Honestly, the bar is fantastic. Lately there is an open mic on Thursdays, lots of fun.
My husband and I have gone here over the years. Even had breakfast when they served it for a few months. Played trivia and attended the pre party for summer concerts too. The owner has been successful in staying open in a very fickle city.
This is not a place to go if you want to hold a conversation, so beware. The acoustics are not the best. It’s an active social bar especially in the evenings. Only two bathrooms as in only two toilet bowls. If you get desperate, you could go into the men’s. The last downfall, in my opinion, is the lack of consistency with the food quality, portions and price. Because the kitchen has good and bad days, I will leave you with that.

Not only do they have the friendliest staff in town (Dave and Christine specifically), but they also have a wide variety of beers on tap. A flight of six samples is only $ 10 and their tap list is constantly rotating so you can get a different feel every time you visit.
We ordered one entry (Mac and Beer Cheese w/​broccoli), one appetizer (Garlic and Rosemary Shrimp over polenta and brussel sprouts) and 2 sides (fried pickles and french fries). This was plenty of food as we took home nearly half of it.
Overall, vibrant scene on a Friday night, but relaxing in a way that made you feel like you were visiting old friends. Old friends that can COOK.

I haven’t tried much food off of their menu but as far as the bar and atmosphere go Barley Vine is a great local spot. Nice to have someplace in town (that is NOT Bleachers or Legends …) to go grab a beer. Bartenders are always friendly and the beer selection is pretty good too. Love the exposed brick and the warm but modern feel of the interior. The owners are there occasionally and have met them a few times. Makes me especially happy to support a small, local business knowing the owners truly care about the place and their customers satisfaction.

My wife and I love this place for a few reasons
1. It is local to us and different from all the other ‘chains’ that give you the same old same
2. The food is all cooked fresh, and tastes amazing. While it might take some time to come out, it is worth the wait
3. The staff behind the bar actually knows what the heck they are talking about. From pairing a beer with food to knowing how the beer was brewed.
4. The crowd is a diverse crowd that is always fun to people watch in
If you go there I highly recommend one of the burgers!

Bristol needs more places like this. Keep it up!
I have been here a handful of times. The ambiance is spot on — hip, clean, fun. The food menu is always interesting. The burger is always a delicious choice. The beer flight is a fun way to sample a few brews.

First-​timers this past Friday night to the Barley Vine. We were seated at the table right next to kitchen, so we had a good view of what was going on in there. My wife ordered the strip steak, I went w/​a BYO burger. We also ordered a chicken wings appetizer.
Was about half an hour before we got our chicken wings. Wings were large-​sized, but flavorless, the garlic parmesan was basically bland sour cream. So, after this appetizer (and a wait of another 45 minutes, during which we observed several plates of food heading back to the kitchen) we were concerned that our entrees would be equally as bad.
Surprisingly, our meals were excellent. My wife’s steak was cooked perfectly, and my burger was very tasty. Still, a hour and fifteen minute wait for entrees is unacceptable, even on a Friday night. And we were also put off by the owner walking about with his coffee (or tea mug), not concerned in the least about his patrons. The guy seemed to me to be pompous w/​o even uttering a word.
Will we go back? I dunno, the Barley Vine is close to where we live, and the food was very good (minus the chicken wings), I’ll admit that. But based on other Unilocal reviews, I’m afraid the quality could be inconsistent. I do know the clueless owner of this establishment wouldn’t care one way or the other.
My 3 Star rating is based on 4 Stars for the food itself, and a 1 Star for the slow kitchen and the egotistical owner. That comes out to a weak 3 Star rating in my book.

Found this restaurant on Unilocal.
Only read one review which intrigued me enough to suggest this for a spontaneous family dinner.
First off-​The service was excellent.
We did find it hard to hear each other. The restaurant wasn’t too packed– must be something with the layout.
Cool exposed bricks, tin ceiling with hardwood flooring.
The food IS fantastic. Fresh– original and just delicious.
We had several of the small appetizers, a pizza, a sandwich and a salad.
I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU GIVE IT A TRY.

We were in the area and had gotten several recommendations to go to Barley Vine for dinner. I will say, most of those recommendations also included going to Firefly Hollow first… so maybe Barley Vine would have been better if I had gone to Firefly first and was already drunk. But otherwise, I don’t get it.
The restaurant had a cool vibe but was not that busy for a Friday night around 7 pm. We were able to get a table without a wait, but then spent the rest of the night waiting. No one came to greet us for at least 10 minutes. Then we got some waters and ordered drinks. Then it was another 10 — 15 minutes before our drinks were delivered. We just got beer and wine, nothing complicated or time consuming.
We ordered 3 bar bites to share among 4 people. It took a while to come out and the portions were small. All were piled on one little wooden cutting board, which was weird. I would have preferred that each be on its own small plate, so that we could have been passing them around the table individually. Of the three, the only one I liked was the pretzel, but I didn’t love the mustard it was served with. Would be nice to be able to choose something else, a honey mustard or a cheese dip would be a nice accompaniment to the pretzel. Spicy deviled eggs were not good. They tasted like they were made with the mustard that came with the pretzel, which I didn’t like. The candied bacon was limp, fatty and just not that good.
We all ordered build your own burgers. Seems from some of he reviews there used to be a signature burger. They don’t have that anymore. It’s just build your own from a choice of toppings. My burger was gross. WAY overcooked, I order medium and got beyond well done. Such a burger pet peeve of mine. Don’t ask me how I want it cooked, unless you can actually handle cooking it that way. It was dry, crumbly and lacked any seasoning. I always taste the meat alone as that is the true measure of whether a burger is good or not. I was extremely disappointed. There was no salt on the table, so I could not even add the salt that the chef should have used in the first place. The toppings were equally disappointing and sparse. My bacon was not crispy and added no flavor. I ordered caramelized onions but only got one onion and got a couple of stray mushrooms that I didn’t order. Sad that I got more of something I didn’t order, than of the topping I did order. Barely any chipotle sauce or butter lettuce, and the goat cheese was too pungent. My husband ordered the burger with the sunny side egg, which helped with the dryness of the burger but didn’t help the flavor of the meat.
The burger came with chips, or you could substitute fries for $ 3. The chips my husband got were a joke. All broken little bits from the «bottom of the bag» (I know they are made in house so there is not actually a bag). I «upgraded» to the fries, which were disgusting. Overcooked to the point of hardness, and completely under-​seasoned. They give you a small ration of ketchup, which is not enough to mask the inadequacy of the fries. I hate when restaurants don’t put the ketchup on the table, especially restaurants that focus on pub food where many of the menu items could use ketchup. I shouldn’t have to hunt down a server in order to get ketchup.
The service was slow and the server inattentive for most of the night. I found it funny that when we were done, he tried to push another round of drinks — we probably would have had more drinks if he had come by during the meal. But don’t try to push them on us when we’re ready to leave.
Maybe this is one of the best restaurants in Bristol. Maybe it’s just good when you’re already drunk. But I don’t see myself ever going back here. If I did, I certainly would not get a burger. There are many, many restaurants in the area with better burgers than Barley Vine It’s too bad, because I really was looking forward to dining here and I was excited about the menu. But now I assume that the other items on the menu that interested me will actually be as lackluster as everything we ordered. Plus, the service was unbearably slow, which is unacceptable, especially when the restaurant is only half full.

First impressions aren’t everything.
I walked into this bar on historic main st. in Bristol CT on a rainy July night. I have to tell you my first impression was mixed. I sat at the corner of the bar nearest the door, from there I could see the mess of the back bar. Bottles not really lined up or labeled out, and I could see all the napkins and… books… and whatever else was in sight. But the rest of the place looked nice.
Laid back vibe, my kind of place. Exposed brick, local art on the wall. this place has a great beer list and a good cocktail selection. My bartender Kahlid knew what he was doing. Made great suggestions. I like a bar where I can put my trust in the bartender.
The food… holy crap. the menu is set up to «build your own» for sandwiches and Pizza. I went with the pizza. Ricotta, red pepper, arugala, and fried egg. Olive oil base. Holy Sh-​nit. This was one of the best I’ve had for awhile. it’s big enough for 2 if you aren’t hungry. and small enough for one… well. for one of me anyway.
Point is the place won me over pretty quickly with high quality service and food.
Worth the visit.

Fantastic gastro-​pub in the heart of Bristol! Who’d have thought?
I visited here for the first time over the weekend and was intrigued by the «build your own» portions of the menu — salads, burgers, pizza. I ended up building a mouthwatering burger with fresh ground beef, lettuce, brie, bacon, and an egg, on a pretzel-​like bun. Easily the best burger I’ve had in a long time thanks to quality ingredients.
Service was friendly and attentive, but leisurely. This was a great place to kick back on a lazy Sunday afternoon and indulge with a juicy burger. I’ll definitely be back!

Last time I wrote a review for Barley Vine back in September 2014, I gave it a very respectable 4-​star rating. This update is to push it over the top to give it a full 5-​star rating, and it is well-​deserved.
Barley Vine is the crown jewel of downtown Bristol, a city mostly filled with «beer and shot» bars that cater more towards the college aged or biker crowd. From carefully thought-​out mixed drinks, to an extensive draft, bottle, and canned beer selection, Barley Vine is the place to go in Bristol for those looking for more than a $ 2 Coors Light draft and SoCo Lime shot combo.
The bartenders at Barley Vine are exactly that — BARtenders, not BEERtenders who can give you that Coors Light draft but probably don’t know how to make a nice Old Fashioned or Moscow Mule.
My favorite bartender there is Khalid, who truly cares about you enjoying your drink and is more than willing to make something that fits your needs, even if it’s not a featured cocktail on the menu. Last time out, I asked him for Scotch recommendations, and he gave me some suggestions as well as letting me know the next time I head there, he’ll go through some in-​house options with me. It’s things like that that keep me coming back to Barley Vine over and over again.

My sister and I enjoyed pizza and salad at Barley Vine last Friday evening. Despite the fact that they were understaffed (not good on a Friday evening!) we had excellent service and a good meal. I liked that you can build your own salad and pizza. What a great idea. Since we were sharing, my sister built the pizza. Honestly, who puts Brussel Sprouts on a pizza! Actually, it wasn’t bad. The salad had all fresh ingredients and was very large-​we brought done home. And, I have to mention the good draft beer list. Nice atmosphere, too.

Our party of six was able to walk in for dinner on a Saturday evening and get seated right away. There were other people at Barley Vine but there were some empty tables and it wasn’t noisy. The space was divided into a bar area and a dining room. We were in the dining room. There were exposed brick walls, wooden furniture, and a large blackboard featuring beers. I enjoyed a local beer from Firefly Hollow which was a perfect way to ease into Barley Vine.
The menu grabbed my attention and I wanted to try everything. I ordered Candied Bacon, Pickled Peaches, and Deviled Eggs. The Candied Bacon and Pickled Peaches were unique and delicious. I greatly appreciated how they were different from what I could get in most restaurants and certainly not something that I would make for myself at home. The Deviled Eggs were pretty common though and I would pass on them next time.
I ate everything I ordered with gusto. I was hungry and happy. I wanted more and even ate some of the food from my dining companions. The other people in my group ordered other dishes: Fried Pickles, Charcuterie, Fried Chicken Wings and more. Everyone seemed happy also.
The service we received was relaxed and comfortable. Unfortunately it was also pretty slow. There were long periods of time between interactions and we sometimes wondered if he forgot about bringing certain drinks or foods to our table.