The Royal Pour

I had gone to this place when it was The White Rock Abbey and it was quite pleasant with great food. Not the case now that it has changed to The Royal Pour. Everyone else there were clearly regulars, which is not a bad thing. Thought that would mean the place was worth hanging out in. Not the case. They have a number of beers on tap but no beer list. Therefore, you have to stand at the bar and read the taps to see what they actually have. Don’t know if you’ve ever tried this, but it’s not the best way to figure out what beers are available. And the barbecue. Where should I begin? The shredded chicken was pretty decent. Fried okra was okay. Onion rings were solid. Baked beans were obviously canned. The ribs and sausage were quite possibly the worst barbecue I have ever tasted, and I’ve lived in Texas my whole life. The ribs were black on the outside and so burned that the bones had turned a gray color. The sausage was also badly burned, but somehow mushy inside. I will never eat here again.

This place has gone down hill Have been there a few times and every time you can tell 95% are regulars and not the kind that just come once a month if u catch what I’m saying. The food used to be better and the Mac and cheese was to die for. Now not so much — the Mac and cheese probably came from a box that they attempted to spice up and as for the burgers they are just seem to be frozen patties that have been dethawed and cooked. Get some real food that you actually that to prepare and cook will be a great start. If you don’t this place is defiantly going down the hill and you’ll be calling John Taffer to come save it.

Went to this place last night for the first time. I had been craving bbq and kept seeing it across the way and thought I’d try it out. The drinks/​drink selection were great big props there and the workers seemed nice. The problem here is the food. The main reason I went here is probably going to be the reason I never return. The food was extremely cold and dry. It had a horrid taste to it almost as if it had been sitting out all day. Very bland. The Mac and cheese was very under cooked it was still hard! The fried okra was actually pretty good just much to salty! My advice come for the drinks but unless you are extremely intoxicated DONT TRY THE FOOD!

Pulled up since the sign outside was very inviting. We sat down and the waitress came up to us and handed us our menus. I asked if they offered a drink menu and she rudely said they don’t have one. What kind of pour house doesn’t offer a drink menu. She said if we were interested in drinks that we should sit at the bar. If I wanted to sit at the bar I would’ve sat there from the get go. We decided to leave. If they were interested in our business they wouldn’t mind walking an extra 10ft to tend to us.

Still love this dive bar. They have a game room now with pool tables, darts and other games. And they have karaōke on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Still have a lot of the local beers and the atmosphere is still chill. Love all the bartenders there!

My husband & I came here on an unexpected date night. I’ve been trying to sort out just what to write — so two weeks ago now. Very few people — it’s a weeknight so no worries. The bartender was trying to be a pro — but it’s an uphill battle on this place. Most of the people there were obviously regulars — and drunk. Menus were in need of updates. Food was greasy & flavorless. Here is the final part that just killed me: the cook. First — he was drunk (sloppy drunk — so that made us feel good about our food. Ugh!) Then — he came out and was yelling ‘anyone else want food? You? You? Nah — cool, I’m gonna sing. Kitchens closed people.” Then — he did a karaōke SET — solo & duets both. He took a few breaks to talk to the customers. We declined the invite to sing with him. Afterwards — he came up to us. Introduced himself as chef & part owner (yep — there’s a big part of this place’s problem!!) then continued to tell us how his salsa is great — ‘because I’m Mexican, so you know, duh!’ (Yeah — now we have a drunk racist to talk with. Ugh! Time to bail — and fast!) we paid and he kept talking to is about he is really a chef because he spent time in New Orleans & has a ‘chef tattoo’. Wanted to touch me — hold my hand, pet me. Then he went into how he has a psychology degree — and that’s why this place will be a success, because he ‘has a degree that makes him know how to manipulate people for regal’. At that point, my husband was done & so was I. We went home feeling gross. Wish this place was better & would do well. Until the problems are fixed — not possible.

A friend and I stopped in today. I’ve avoided the place because of the horrific parking problems but we decided to give it a go. We ordered a cheese curd appetizer after the bartender assured me they were in fact authentic cheese curds. They were not. They were mozzarella bites. I don’t like being lied to and that would
be the bottom line. Will never go back.

Glorified bar food with a hint of beer selection. The tap prices are a bit high for a non evening and I’m not thrilled with the service. Friendly but semi non-​caring. Good for drinks and bar food. The fries are tasty…

I was craving some BBQ and this place is around the corner from where i live. I passed it many times but never had a chance. I sat in front of place reading the Unilocal reviews and I was craving BBQ so bad i decided to give it a shot and ordered a pound of ribs. What I got was horrible. lukewarm ribs cold barbecue sauce. I have tried every place in the world from gas stations restaurants full on BBQ restaurants. Many places I’ve gone to to get ribs have told me that they have no fresh ribs to serve late in the day. I can understand that. These ribs should not have been served. They were awful.

I live in the neighborhood so I finally stopped in to check the place out. Never got the chance to order anything because the lady working, or not working, seemed too busy sitting at the bar herself to even say hello or ask what I wanted. I sat there for 5 minutes and left. Will never go back. Get it together or you will be out of business.

Decided to give this place a try. So me and the underling stopped by. Surprisingly empty for a lunch kinda time. However, the staff seemed eager to please and we had a choice of any seat in the house. BBQ was desired and had. Yuuuummmm. Child-​unit was pleased. I’d go again for sure.

Loved the food! Mac&cheese is the best! The service was awesome! Charity is the sweetest!

Ok, when I saw the BBQ smoker I decided to give Royal Pour another try. The standard side items-​potato salad and beans taste homemade and were both very good. As for the meat, I lived in Lockhart-​the place for BBQ in Texas-​for 9 long years so I know great BBQ and this is good BBQ.
I had the brisket and it is good enough that I will go back for more when I have a hankering’ for Q and don’t want to drive to Deep Ellum to stand in line at Pecan Lodge. And the best thing is getting it to go-​take it home if you live nearby-​as I do-​or take it to White Rock or The Arboretum for a picnic. 3 stars are for the improvement in the food, the place itself is still not a place I want to hang out-​I give it 1 star for atmosphere.

I’ve had good and bad experiences here. It’s a great place to stop for a drink, but my experiences with the food and service have been all over the place. If Charity is behind the bar, this is more of a 3.5 star watering hole — good beer selection, good mixed drinks, great service. At other times, even when the place isn’t busy, the service can be just terrible — awkward at best, absent at worst.
Food? Back before they hired Chef Brent, it was just mediocre. When he first signed on, I met him and tried a few items from his new menu. And it was impressive! Everything I tried tasted good and fresh. Since then, the food seems to be REALLY sketchy if Brent’s not back in the kitchen. The last time I had a burger there, it was overcooked, the cheese wasn’t melted, and it came out on a crappy cold bun. Also, as some have mentioned, the kitchen closes up around 9pm — which is why I haven’t had food there recently.
I feel like the place could draw in more folks if the food was consistent and the kitchen stayed open later. Start there, get a good team of servers on board, and make sure the regulars start dragging their friends there.

A two start rating, per Unilocal,says «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» And the rating could not be more accurate.
We arrived at 8:30 pm a few Friday nights ago. There was a small group of good beer-​drinkin’ people. When we tried to order the waitress said that The Royal Pour was permanently reducing the number of droughts on tap from 40-​something to 20-​something so we shouldn’t be surprised if they were no longer carrying some of the brews on the menu. After several attempts, I ordered a Blood & Honey.
We ordered several appetisers and dinner. The folks that had the brisket sandwich noted that the BBQ was a bit dry. The appetisers were fine — just fine — and appeared to be made from scratch.
Besides the glitter on the waitress’ eyelids, another distracting component of the Royal Pour was that on a Friday night we were one of 3 tables in the whole place. The music was pretty loud and it just drew attention to how empty the bar was.
So we did what any group in this area should do after visiting the Royal Pour; we said «Meh. I’ve experienced better» and hiked the 3 blocks to Goodfriend for a delicious fried pie and a nightcap of a ancho-​chile stout.

Nice place for a good beer selection (love the list of locals) and menu with a nice variety. Other patrons raved about the BBQ, but I chose nachos. They were yummy.
The bartender was awesome and after meeting the Chef, I wish I had tried the BBQ. :-)

I gave this place a shot looking for an alternative to Goodfriend. Part of the reason for choosing it was the assumption that it would be cheaper. I was wrong. Go to Goodfriend.
The Royal Pour is a hole. And not in an endearing way. They do have a good local selection of beer. That’s not a competitive differentiator with Good friend a block away.
I walked in. The music was blaring and tinny. The layout was awkward; I didn’t know intuitively where to go. I wanted to leave. My friend arrived. We wandered to a table… Dirty. Then another to sit down. We had a beer and left. Save yourself the trip.
The bartender was friendly. That is the only positive thing I can say. I was planning on eating. The bartender informed us the kitchen was closed. It was 9:20. This is a bar. There were some potato chips for sale. That was my dining option — potato chips.

This is another failed attempt at a bar offering local brews and subpar bar food at this location. I really wanted to like it because of its proximity to my house, but it was impossible.
ATMOSPHERE: Lacking. There is a small patio protruding into the parking lot. This is good if you smoke, bad if you don’t. There is no music unless someone pays for the jukebox. The indoors seemed better, but the whole place was empty, especially for a Friday night.
FOOD: Horrific. Once everyone in our party was able to order something that they hadn’t run out of, we were quickly disappointed. The cheese fries were described on the menu as having cheddar cheese and bacon. They arrived with two melted squares of processed American cheese on top sitting in a white liquid that was presumably a cheese sauce. No bacon. No flavor. The waitress had tried to claim they were out of some items on the menu because everything is made from scratch. Really?! Processed cheese slices on frozen fries?!
SERVICE: Three of our party of four got their meals. The fourth was told their meal took longer because their burrito was «more complicated.» A burrito? Complicated? But, overall our waitress was attentive. She just had to make excuses for the problems.
BEER: I would give the beer selection 3 stars. The problem was, again, not having everything on the menu available. But, they offer a good selection of local brews on tap. They also have many other bottled beers available.
Don’t bother. I predict another name on the sign soon anyway.

The Royal Pour, AKA White Rock Abbey and The Local Pour, is going through some changes to distant itself from previous incarnations. Sure, there’s still an awesome tap wall featuring a gaggle of local beers. That, in itself, is good reason to give this place a look. And the décor remains pretty much the same. What’s changed is the food menu. Led by Le Cordon Bleu trained chefs, the menu is still bar food centric but with an upscale twist. Fresh ingredients prepared in house vs frozen and warmed over is the goal.
On a recent visit, for lunch, our group of four ordered the blue cheese burgers (three of us) and the one free thinker ordered the PBJ which featured house made peanut butter. He said it was very good and ate every bite. The other three burgers included bacon. We were given the option of having the bacon on the side by our accommodating waitress. I had it on the burger and all three of us raved about them.
Sides were fries and onion rings. The fries were solid but the rings seemed a little greasy to me but the others enjoyed them.
Service was helpful and polite without hovering.
The chef even came out to greet us and fill us in on some future plans.

Great little hidden bar/​restaurant. Great local beer!
I have been here about a handful of times with the hubs. We are both beer snobs/​connoisseurs and enjoy our local brews. It is right next to the house and we can always seem to stop in with no problems. Austin is the only bartender I have experienced. He is very tentative and nice.
Have only had a few food items but all have been good. Prices are good. Atmosphere is good as long as they can keep the jukebox going. All around a pretty groovy little joint!