MacDowell Brew Kitchen

Great hangout, good food, nice atmosphere. Beer is also very good and the prices are reasonable.

Stopped over for a quick bite. The twisted pretzels are great. They even offer a military discount.

Great spot with great service! Very cool beach bar in the heart of Leesburg! Sexy fries and burgers are delicious.

The beer and the atmosphere were good, however, the food was absolutely terrible. We really didn’t have high expectations since we had just wanted to get a snack after a winery and brewery tour. But what we got was an insult! We had to wait 30 mins for our two appetizers that came out cold and we’re really not good at all: the chicken flatbread was not baked but rather just a pita with salad dressing and some chicken strewn carelessly on top; the nachos were also cold, with cold cheese and no taste at all. It seems like there wasn’t any effort put into the food at all which is sad considering how popular the place is. sadly won’t come here again!

Grabbed drinks and dinner here with friends before visiting another attraction nearby. Great atmosphere. The food was tasty… but you mostly go there for the atmosphere. Tonight we sat inside because we were afraid it would rain. Great service.
I was there another time with my daughter for dinner, and we brought our dog and ate outside at the «beach». If the weather is good that is my most fav place to eat in Leesburg. Again, you go for the atmosphere.
Popular happy hour spot. Earlier in the evening there are families and you’ll see kids playing in the sand building castles and making roads with trucks.
Atmosphere on a scale of 1 – 5 about a 9.5. Food is good… a 3 to 4 out of a 1 – 5 scale. Basic food — sandwiches, burgers, appetizers. Nothing too fancy. But really what would you expect from a beach bar?

this place is vastly improved. Best beer selection in Leesburg. Really like the bar staff… knowledgeable about the product that they drink themselves… this place is becoming the beer cult meeting place in Leesburg.

The patio atmosphere in the warmer months cannot be beat, it gets a 5.
The food is good, not as amazing as other places in the area, but very good. Get the sexy fries (parmesean, salt, delicious) food gets a 3.
The service is terrible. Consider yourself on your own. The bartender knew nothing about the beer on tap. On a busy weeknight, you’ll be lucky to grab the bartender.
It is definitely worth a try if you’re in the area. Go in with low expectations.

Fun place to hang out. Had two Old Ox Big Tasty’s (maybe 10 oz.) for $ 24 incl. tip. Beer menu didn’t have prices, so glad we didn’t stay long and run up the bill. Better to hit the Old Ox itself in Ashburn if you are having more than a couple or your wallet will burn. Fun location and great staff.

One of my favorite places in Northern VA!
Great venue, great people and good drinks. You can sit either inside or outside in their awesome garden. In the fall we sat outside and warmed up at a fire pit. I truly love this place. Go check it out!

We love coming when it is warm outside and can be at the outdoor beach. The food is great and the bar is awesome. Can be very crowded and there are no wait staff. Need more seating!

I’ve changed my mind. After coming here shortly after opening, I swore off this place… but, after a couple visits last week… damn good beer and food vastly improved pub food.

Can’t believe we haven’t found this little gem until now! Entire outside eating area is sand with a boat in the middle as the bar. Play reggae and there are palm trees everywhere. Chairs are wood stumps and they have a fire pit. Would be a great place in the summer to hang for hours. It is a mild fall day though and so enjoyable to be outside still. We had burgers (classic and chef’s) which were seasoned perfectly and yummy. Hand cut fries and great beer choices. You forget you are in the heart of Leesburg.

This is a tough one to review. I really like this place but there are so many things that drive me nuts about it as it could be so so much better. They use plastic cups outside which when your a craft place the last thing you want is to drink out of a clear plastic cup like you are in college again. The beer always seems to be warm but they do have a good selection.
The owner Nils is very helpful and good to talk to. However the rest of the staff sucks, they are not friendly to the point where my wife and friends will not go back there. They ignore people and are slow. They do not know about the beers and are too lazy to get beers from other places in the restaurant.
One time on a Thursday night with about 40 people left outside they called last call and most of them went to the bar and got 1 – 2 beers each. (kind of a nice sales trick). 5 Mins Later a 22 yr old then proceeded to tell everyone that we had 5 mins until they turned the lights off? Do you believe that anyone would actually say something like this at 10:30ish. Its one thing to start preparing for closing while customers are in a restaurant but to actually tell them you cutting the lights. I do know when Nils is at the place there is no set closing time except for VA law and he will will keep it open as long as there are people. But this young staff at the time just wanted to get out of there.
The idea of the place is great its just not run well especially when the kids are there alone

Here’s why I would wanna be here: drinks. And probably just drinks.
We stopped by hear after a meal at next door’s Doener Bistro. I was drawn by the beach theme, complete with sand (that apparently got the building permit on haywires in their early days), and old boats turned into bars and seating area. You can smell bonfires all around. It’s definitely THE beach spot.
Our table ordered a couple of their desserts and some beers. Not much can be said about the beers — they’re beers. However, the desserts are far too sweet. I thought I could handle sugar, but NOPE. Not this level of sugar. It’s the same amount of sugar a 12 year old needs on Monday morning on the last day of school.
I’ll have to try their food next time to give you feedback — but for now, my only impressions are on the ambiance (WOW!), the beers, and the dessert. So far, the only thing that impressed me is the ambiance.
If you’re looking for a good spot to drink and chill, this is it, HANDS DOWN. But if you’re looking for more than a quality spot and actually down a good-​tasting food (desserts anyway), this is not for you.

Okay, I see what’s going on here. This place doesn’t seem to get have the best reputation, but my review is solely based on the ambiance and outside «beach» part of the bar. Nothing like it anywhere in VA! I now realize when I’m reminiscing on my Hawaii days, this is the place to go drown my sorrows with their fun tropical drinks and pretty decent fish tacos and sweet potato fries, while listening to reggae and dipping my toes in the sand. What a hidden jewel! This is a must for some outdoor fun post-​wineries, since that cheese and crackers ain’t holding you over. I really wish I could give this place five stars, but man, THE SERVICE WAS BAD. Reality check to the waiters, this isn’t an exclusive VIP club in Miami, be nice and lay off the mean bouncer persona — it doesn’t suit this establishment well.

Came here after a rugby game with a few teammates and sat outside where they had a sandy bar area (3 outside bars and 1 inside bar wit space for seating, awesome!). We all thought it was great! Though you had to order food and drink at the bar, service was great and the food was even better! I had a chef burger which was in the spicy side (which I love) with a blackberry pear cider that hit the spot. I also stole a bite of the fish sandwich and sexy fries of a friend, she ruined the sandwich in my opinion with ketchup but both were really great! I wish I had more time to play the giant Jenga set outside! But my team and I found it very entertaining to watch those who did!

I went with a group of people who had heard about the beach bar and wanted to try it out. This place was so cool! There is a large fenced in outdoor area that is covered with sand. They have lots of wooden chairs, picnic tables, and there is even a huge section of a boat, which you can sit inside! There are a couple of fire pits that you can sit around, which was nice, because it was pretty cool outside. The place was somewhat busy when we arrived, but not packed. There is an outdoor bar where you can also order food. We got a few flatbreads to share and they were delicious! We also really enjoyed the fried pickles. The bar had just a couple of beers on tap and a good variety of bottles beers, some which were from the local area.
I really had a good time and enjoyed this bar. I’m very excited to go back when the weather gets warmer because the atmosphere makes you feel like you are somewhere tropical.

Good beer selection.
Atmosphere is different and fun.
Big kudos for doing something different, in downtown Leesburg … in an area saturated with unique restaurants.
Service is always great, it’s kind of self-​serve … and that’s fine.
Food is predictable and unadventurous but good, I cannot complain (and you know I WILL complain if I can).
I’ve had tacos and a burger here, no issues.
The sand is a coup-​de-​grace.
It’s worth a trip in should you find yourself nearby!

Awful awful awful service! Seriously walked in, sat at the bar to the immediate left and tried to get the attention of one of the three bartenders crowded around the computer with two of them looking kinda lost. There were people waiting to be waited on and they did nothing to greet or even give a menu to any of the customers. I kept waiting… Thinking well I should wait my turn… But then they seriously kinda looked at us and ignored us because a gaggle of girls walked in looking for liquor. Wtf… Ummmm. I’m here sitting on the barstool leaning over the bar trying to get your attention force past 10 minutes and still no hello. Forget this place… I see why people are so dissatisfied with the service.
I didn’t take away all the stars because the venue itself is pretty neat, great setup but the service aspect killed it for me. I’ve gotten better service at fast food joints with lines going out the door and cars wrapped around the drive thru. Ugh.
Get your act together MacDowells! You have potential to be awesome but you need better management obviously and better servers/​bartenders.

This was a rare find!
We were wandering by down town Leesburg to look for a new place to eat and passed this little jem on the side of the street noticing an outdoor BEACH area to eat at!
Yes, this place has sand! We wandered in and found a table (barrel and logs) to sit at. We were immediately helped by a sweet waitress who recommend an excellent dark chocolate beer (new favorite now!) Our food arrived shortly after.
The food was delicious! I loved the fried pretzel roll with fresh Dijon mustard. SO tasty! The Sexy fries with Parmesan and garlic were a wee oily and lacking salt for my taste but my companion seemed to enjoy them.
While we waited on our fish and chicken tacos (both delicious!) I pulled off my sandals and dug my toes into the sand while shutting my eyes… this place has a therapeutic aspect if you are a beach lover and can’t get away for the weekend.
I highly recommend this place!
We will be back and soon! :)