Gonzo’s BiggDogg Brewery

Friendly staff, good food. Management was completely inept. Could not deal with a simple communication error on their part and make an effort to «make it right». I won’t be back, just based on my frustration with trying to get a table. By the way, if they tell you to wait at the bar until your table is ready, do not order food. Ordering food automatically surrenders your spot on the wait list. What a joke. We love craft beers. Although the beer is OK, you can get way better beer, in a better atmosphere, many other places in town. Ruperts and One Well were great. So was Tibbs. Among a few others. Stop in at Gonzos and get your book stamped and move on down the road.

I rate this place zero stars. If I could, I would rate this negative stars. We came as a group on a Saturday night, knowing already that it would be difficult to find a place to seat our large group. Howevee, when we came in we were promised a table to accommodate us and to just «chill at the bar». So we did, splitting up amongst the bar. Since we were starving and it had been about 20 minutes, some of us decided to order food. About 10 minutes after, we saw people being seated at the table we were waiting on for now half an hour. Clearly, everyone was upset and we talked to the manager. We were given some sort of bullshit excuse of since we ordered food we surrendered our seats. Now we have 12 people confused and pissed around the bar. The waitstaff and bar tenders were phenomenal but the manager could have taken a few lessons from them. Needless to say, we will never be returning. You just lost the business of a dozen frequent brewery patrons.

Wow! This place is great. First thing that was awesome is they have a seating system. I hate the trend of the new breweries that it’s just seat yourself. I like having my own seat without people hovering over me to see if I’m done eating.
The beer is awesome. The prices for their beer are very good as well. They have a vanilla porter that’s the best I’ve ever tasted.
I had the haystack burger and it was amazing. The reason I gave 4 stars is because of the amount of grease/​blood. I ordered it medium and it was cooked perfectly but they didn’t let it sit for a minute or too. Grease splattered all over on to my new shirt .
All in all we will be back. Nice place and good service.

The food is great, the service is wonderful, but there is only one reason I come here. Beer, and the vanilla porter is amazing. Gonzos is everything you want from a local brewery.

For someone who isn’t the biggest fan of Goat cheese, the goat cheese bites are a great start and the pizza is delicious!
We have made this a regular place to eat whenever we are close and make trips planned around Gonzo’s.

Today was my first time here. I forgot to take pictures because I was too busy scarfing down their smoked pork poutine and their «Yummy Hoppy Double.»
Before going, I checked Unilocal and noticed the word «hipster.» Well, maybe sometimes, but not on this particular Wednesday. Maybe on weekends?
Anyway, loved the place! Shout out to my server, Katy, too. Her advice and service were both perfect!

This is one of our go-​to places when we can’t decide on where to go because we know the food will always be fantastic.
If you must get anything, it is the goat cheese fritters. They make these in-​house and they are amazing!
I have had their burgers, the pulled pork sandwich and the pulled chicken. However, my favorite by far is the roast turkey sandwich. It is not deli meat, but actual roast turkey. And it is so good.
Oh and I can’t forget the beer. The vanilla porter is the best vanilla porter I’ve ever had. All of Gonzo’s beers are great.
Great beer and great food at a great price. Yum.

Being that this place is a block away from Studio Unchuka where you can get the best Massage in town of your life. Then forget WATER! Just a minute away. You can have fresh in house everything. From God’s best Mouth pleasure with a Chocolate Banana Beer or well I didn’t drink beer till this one. To Chicken Haystack without the top of the bun. Then just justify yourself with the OMG Kale Salad (in a box to go) while your indulging in the Vanilla Port Cheesecake. O also made it house!
You only box the kale for the late night safety munchies due to the forgiveness of calorie heaven you had earlier!

Was hoping for more based on reviews. Ordered a pizza which was made from a frozen crust. Service was comically slow given the amount of people in the and the out of staff simply hanging out.
Beer was nice, not great, though.

So the beer was good and the server, Kyle S. was fantastic! Within minutes of sitting down, we were approached by Kyle and he was incredibly knowledgeable about the beer menu. He was attentive and helpful but also gave us time to figure out our order. We discussed what we liked and didn’t like and he was able to provide suggestions that were spot on. We want with a flight for variety and enjoyed all of his suggestions. He kept the entire group straight even though we had moved around.
Would definitely go there again because try beer was at least solid but a lot of it was great. Even if the beer was just okay, the service we got from Kyle was so great, we would visit there AND make sure to sit in his section.

Now that I’ve been here several times, I have to update my review with my favorites! I love the goat cheese fritters with the sweet and spicy sauce. This past week I tried the Fatt Matt Burger. Yum! The combination of ingredients was just perfect. Be warned, the burger is a little on the sweet side (maybe from the onion jam?).

I’ve been here twice and had great experiences each time. This past weekend we brought some out of town guests to Gonzo’s for a bite a a couple of pints. Their beer is excellent. One of the best vanilla porters I’ve ever had.
I know Gonzo wants to be known for his beer, which is very good, but their food is also really really good. They have the best poutine I’ve ever had. It comes with pulled pork too which is a great addition.

If you like beer and unique eateries, this is a great spot to stop while in Kalamazoo!
We were in town for a soccer tournament looking for a place to kill some time in during the evening, and stumbled through the doors. Three adult men and three teen boys for dinner on a Saturday night… no problem! We had to wait a little bit for a table, but the we bellied up to the bar and tried 3 beers and 3 sodas while we waited.
The delay was worth it as the 2^nd beers and all of the food we ate was superb!
The barkeep was well versed in his products, and the waitress was very good.
Definitely will be going back!

Damn good beer: had a Hollow Head Pumpkin ale, was smooth and not too pungent, then a vanilla porter which was amazing
For dinner, I had the pulled chicken sandwich meal, which was perfect. Great flavor from the chicken to the sauce. It wasn’t dry or watery. The kale-​slaw complemented the sandwich perfectly.
The wait staff was friendly and welcoming and made sure I was taken care of
Highly recommended if you’re in the Kalamazoo Michigan areaOK

We came to Kalamazoo as a recommendation from a friend. We were told that Kalamzoo offers many breweries so after seeing this place on a map we decided to check it out.
We parked in their lot across the street. Being the weekend, this place was a little busier than most places I’ve been to which was good for them or business. They have lots of room inside and of course they offer many house craft brews. I ordered the Black & Blue burger with fries. It comes with blue cheese and I think bacon as well. My friend ordered a cheddar burger with fries. In terms of beer we got the Dogg Days Ale which is a semi-​dark brew. It wasn’t bad, I am just more favoriable of blond beers ha. We were also able to get a sample of their Burning Sun beer which we did not like. They charge for samples as well which I was a little surprised. Though they forgot to add the blue cheese to my burger, the service went well. I hate returning my food because they made it wrong, I hate being that person but who knows when I’ll be back to Kalamazoo. I liked this place, can’t complain.

I think Gonzo’s best characteristic is the ambience of their location. I really like the inside of the restaurant. It has lots of big windows and pretty cool decoration. Also has great outdoor seating. The palace is always pretty busy, so I guess people really like it.
From our perspective, the positives of Gonzo’s are:
–great beer selection. They always have really good beer!
–great location and ambience.
–great outdoor seating.
–usually get seated pretty quick
The negatives are:
–iffy service… I feel like whenever I come, the service is not really that great. They aren’t flat out rude but not that friendly and kind of slow.
–the food… They have great drinks, but that is about it. I would not suggest coming specifically to eat. Dry nachos… Greasy, sloppy burgers. Not good food.

Usually if I’m going to Gonzo’s I get a beer or two and maybe an appetizer, but this week I ended up visiting them for a full blown lunch, aw yeah!
My incessant drooling quickly wiped to the conclusion that every food item on the menu sounds pretty darn good! After experiencing great turmoil of what to get, my blood-​thirsty carnivorous side took over and I ordered a big juicy burger and decided to switch it up by subbing a side of Kale coleslaw (in attempt to be healthier, I guess?). I enjoyed every last bite of that burger, man… If only I remembered what it was called. The Kale ‘slaw was good too, but it all happened so fast! I feel the portion of the side could have been bigger. Next time, I might just stick with the fries… A little hypercholesterolemia never hurt anyone, right?
And of course, I went with my usual choice beer choice when I’m at Gonzo’s to wash it all down– Vanila Porter, YUM!
Overall, I was a happy panda.

The short short version. Deeeelicious beer, great bartenders, cool owner, good food.
I’d have to say their Marzen was probably the best one I had this past fall, alas Gonzo’s is a little too far away to enjoy it more than on this one trip. Hopefully I can get back there soon to try some more of their beers. We got there late enough on this trip that I reached my done point while here. Their IPA was quite solid and I didn’t hate their pumpkin beer, which is actually a compliment from me. One of these days I’ll quit trying pumpkin beers, but I have friends who love them so I keep trying them in hope that I will find one I like.
I always try and sit at the bar when I go to places since that is where you can usually get the scoop on what their best stuff is, and what would best match your taste. Gonzo’s was no exception. The bartenders were great at putting up with our, um, exuberance, and in answering our questions about their seasonal beers.
Definitely will be back, earlier, next time I’m in Kalamazoo.

Dinner time and this place is packed to the hilt… But there were three spots at the Bar just for the three of us. We were greeted at the door by a rather comedic young man and were told there was a wait… but we saw seats at the bar and were told we could sit there with our 10 year old. The bartender was on the move and got our orders quick for beverages and even provided a sample of cream soda for my daughter… star number 1!
We ordered a «Wilbur» pizza which had copious amount of cheese, pulled pork, sausage, pepperoni, etc. the crust was thin and extremely crunchy and the sauce was slightly sweet and delicious!
I thought that I was doing a double take when the bartender revealed that his twin brother also worked here… See picture. They agreed to take a quick mugshot while they hurried around, making people happy.
Beer… The reason we came here… I ordered up a magic trick Hefeweizen which was fannnntastic with hints of banana and spice and 6.0 ABV and IBU of 17. My wife was on a fruit kick today and ordered up a Razzamazoo which is a raspberry wheat at 5.8% and 10.4 IBU… And she called it her perfect beer; so be impressed folks!
I had a bad experience here when Biggdogg first opened but I’ve had a change of heart and we will be back a little more often.
The one star reduction is because you can’t taste the beer before you order one. I meant; come on. A 1 ounce shot to sell a pint?

I was fortunate enough to be in town during Gonzo’s 1 year anniversary party. Stopped in for dinner and to try some of the 12 unique beers they had for the anniversary party. Although there was somewhat of a wait, our table only took about 15 minutes (quoted 45).
I wanted to try as many beers as possible, so I asked about flights. Our waitress, Chuck-​a woman, told me I could do as many beers on a flight as I wanted. As I had already tried the top choice in a pint, I went with the other 6 that interested me. Most of the special beers were bourbon barrel and brandy barrel aged, which isn’t really my thing. The beer was tasty, but I preferred some of their standard brews over the anniversary brews.
For dinner, I had the pulled pork, subbing in the grilled wheat bread, and the kale salad as a side. The sandwich was good and the BBQ was unique, but the kale salad was probably the highlight.
It would probably be a 3 or 4 star place without the service, but Chuck really gave us a stand out experience. I highly recommend trying this place out if you’re in town.