John Harvard’s Brew House

Mediocre food, burgers were overdone, cold sides. We didnt try the beer so I can’t comment on that. I definitely would not go back.

Under new management and now called Tullycross Tavern & Mircrobrewery. Still excellent!

If you are coming to john harvards you better like beer… because that is their thing, wine and martini lovers need to go elsewhere. They make their own beer and have a good variety from pale ale to IPA. I have tried quite a few and have not been disappointed. In terms of food… it’s hit or miss. Some of their salads are fantastic. the pizzas and pastas not so great. Overall its a nice place to meet up with a group for drinks since the bar area is so large and it also my go to place for St. Patrick’s day, it’s a blast!

Came on Sunday afternoon. this’ll be the third time here. Idk what happened but the burgers came out overcooked and burnt.
Everyone asked for medium well while I asked for medium rare. BURNT. It actually took about 30 mins for our meals to come out too.
The salad was sub par, stale croutons.
It wasnt that slow nor busy so why the poor experience?
Shoulda went to Burtons.

I love John Harvard’s. My friend and I used to cut class and come here to sit in the bar and chat. It’s a small chain, though independently owner, I believe. I’ve been to other locations in other states.
I absolutely love their meatloaf. I feel like you can’t get it anywhere else and it’s a delicious comfort food. I also love the bread and dipping oil they give you while you wait for your food.
They have a large menu and run great specials. Standard pub offerings with just a tad bit of flair and plenty of flavor. My friends and I have agreed that they have some of the best french fries around.
I’ve never eaten anything there I didn’t like and never have had anything there that wasn’t perfectly executed.
Everyone I have eaten there with has enjoyed their beer. I’ve enjoyed their wine selections (found some of my favorite wines there) and cocktail offerings. Oh actually, if you like sparkling wine and are on a budget they have a small bottle for $ 5.50 and it works out to be about two servings. Best deal on the drink menu.
Service is usually good. And, when my friends and I meet up in the bar area, we are never rushed out.
I love John Harvard’s.

The menu has a pretty good selection and I love the atmosphere. The lighting is nice and the food is pretty good. The first time I went I was turned off by a bad server and didn’t return for a long time. When we finally gave it a second try the waitress we had was excellent and we really enjoyed the place. We’d go again.

The beer is great and the food is good. I’ve been here twice now. I am a fan of the different beers they offer, they’re always changing which makes going here fun. On thursdays they have trivia, not the greatest trivia structure but its not bad. I would recommend this place to anyone visiting from out of town.

This brewery is fantastic! Great beer and food. Atmosphere is also great as well. Staff was very friendly and took our order very quickly. Food came out not even 10 minutes later. I had there fish n chips and my girlfriend had the Margarita pizza. Both were delicious. Out of all the local brews i highly recommend there angry chewbacca!!!

I often try brew pubs when I’m on the road. Tried this one and came away pleased. Beer is excellent. Chicken tenders appetizer was huge, and delicious. The pulled pork sliders were savory.
I especially like that almost everything is made on site, from the beer to the bread.
Service was good too. A find in the middle of CT. Four stars.

Awesome food and decent craftbrews. Great happy hour deals, half price apps and dollar off pints.

They have an excellent porter, but I wasn’t really into any of the rest. I prefer hoppier more flavorful beers, & they didn’t have much in this regard at the time. They were out of one that I wanted to try.
My girlfriend is a vegetarian, & we had some difficulty with that. We ordered a salad, & asked for the bacon to come on the side, but was put on the salad. The waitress noticed as the other girl set the salad down, & asked if we wanted another.
We also tried the nachos. They weren’t bad by any means, but they weren’t exceptional either… I am just having problems finding anywhere with really good nachos.

This is our go-​to pub, mostly because it’s so centrally located, easy to park at, and the beers are usually quite good. «Uncle Frank,» the brewer has hit his stride, I think. He’s an experienced brewer, but when he first came on a year or two ago, he had some misfires.
Now the taplist is always solid, tending towards ales but coming out with the occasional lager. The styles of beers brewed are interesting, unique, yet still very approachable. I’ve walked out with a growler on many occasion. An IPA is almost always on tap, but lately he’s had a few malty beers that are very much winners. He also usually has something on cask, which is a nice break from the cold fizzy beers served everywhere else.
The food is on par, nothing too great, nothing terrible. Expect bar food and that’s what you’ll get. It’s billed as a restaurant/​pub, but in my experience the pub is where you want to be. The beer is first here, the food is nothing to write home (or on Unilocal) about.
I wish I knew the bartenders names, but they run the gamut. One is large, bald, with a goatee, and is the worst out of all of them. Rude, inattentive, and generally abrasive. I have a feeling he really hates the beer-​geeks that frequent the place. Don’t even try asking this guy a question. Another is a clean cut guy who is knowledgeable, friendly, competent, and you can tell is a beer lover. He can suggest beers to you, describe them, and will never mess up your order. Want to split your tab with a few people? He has the higher math skills to actually do it for you.

I have been here many times over the years and while it is not my most favorite brew pub in the world, it isn’t too bad for a local sort-​of chain type restaurant. the beer has never let me down but honestly has never blown me away; last time in we shared a pitcher of a seasonal cranberry wheat beer that was very good without being overbearingly wheaty or cranberryish.
the food is ok here too, but i wish the menu was a little more vegetarian and vegan friendly. «you can order any salad without the chicken» isn’t really a vegetarian option — and I’m sure i will end up paying the same price with or without the dead animal on it. vegans aren’t supposed to drink beer i guess? the parking lot here does kind of suck, its on a street that you cant exit back out to if you are headed toward 84 — so you have to make a u-​turn somewhere. rush hour would make this unbearable.

Great beer, great cocktails, great burgers! What’s not to love?
Visiting a friend, we’d already decided to go here way before we’d even arrived. Service was prompt, the bread is delicious (almost a foccacia-​type bread), and I don’t think I’ve had so much fun having dinner with friends.
I got the Smoke House Burger. It was incredible. I like my burgers rare and it definitely came as ordered. Delicious in every sense of the word. And the fries! Phenomenal! They were seasoned with what tasted like barbeque seasonings. I’m definitely going back!

WOW I have lived in Manchester for 3 years and for some reason Sunday night was the first time I ever went to John Harvard’s. Me and the girlfriend were discussing where to go for dinner, and aparently she had been to a John Harvard’s in Boston before, although I didn’t even know it was a chain.
We decided to check it out, and will definitely be a return customer!
The parking lot looked mobbed so I dropped the girl off at the door to head in, just in case there was a wait. Much to our surprise the place was not crowded at all so I don’t know why the parking lot was.
Once we both were sitting the waitress came over to take our drink order, and when I said I hadn’t been to a John Harvard’s before she offered to bring me out a sample of whatever beer I wanted to try it first. It was only probably a 3oz sample, but its better than I have been offered before.
She then brough out the bread, which was simply amazing. I am a huge bread fan and so the one downside I have of the place, is they wont bring you more than 4 peices at a time. To most people this seems like a lot, but we went through 3 baskets while there haha.
The main dishes came out fairly quickly and were great. The girl ordered a burger, which I did not try, but it looked very good. I love my burgers cooked on a glame, and hate it otherwise, so I am always nervous ordering one while out to eat. Turns out its cooked on a flame, so this is something I may need to try next time.
I ordered a buffalo chicken sandwich and was blown away as to how huge it was. The chicken patty was as wide as the bun (standard restuarant size bun), but it had a good 2 inches sticking out on both sides. This was a great sign for me because I had when you get a small little peice. The fries with it were great too!
Overall the place was great. The food was excellent, the service was pretty good (waitress was a bit spacey, but nothing major). I can’t wait to go again and try something different.

I have been to John Harvard’s every time I have come out to CT. I believe that makes it 3 times. The most recent visit was for a friend’s Rehearsal Dinner. Our party was pretty big, over 20 people, and our waiter, Carl, really kept things moving for us. Our drinks came out quickly and correctly, and for the amount of people we had, we didn’t wait a very long time for our food.
I was having a hard time deciding between nachos and a pizza, and my friend’s told me that their pizza’s were great, so I opted for «THE BREW HOUSE MARGARITA» with Garlic, olive oil, plum tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil pesto. It was a tad greasy, but really very yummy. It was a little bit too big for me to eat all by myself, but I am sure that really hungry folks would have no problem finishing it by themselves. One of my friends got the SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP «A creamy dip of spinach, artichokes, cheeses, and herbs baked golden. Served with tortilla chips, pita bread, and red flame grapes.» Very yummy!
Since they are also a brewery, I simply had to get a beer. I love trying out new brews, especially if it is house made. So I had a Hefeweizen. I just looked on there website, and can’t seem to find the one I had, but it was a very refreshing, and somehow named after Hugh Hefner, I believe. I then discovered that they made a luscious little concoction called a «Shandy Shack,» which is a mixture of the Hefeweizen and lemonade. It was SO GOOD! A great drink for a hot day.
John Harvard’s had a great selection of food and drinks, and the service is wonderful. Highly recommended!

Can’t remember what i used to order here for dinner (it’s been a few yrs, Ive been living outside of New England), but damn i remember they have the best bread and dipping oil!
and I’m with Michele about the Artichoke/​Cheesy/​Spinach dip! and they make all the multi-​colored tortilla chips up fresh and hot that they serve with said dip. YUMM!
Can;t wait to go back! Oh, I just remembered, they also used to have a cool appetizer of 3 little homemade thick pretzels served with various beer mustards… YUMMY! Hope they still have that! The beer is great on tap too!

My solo dining tour of CT continues with a visit to John Harvards. I needed to grab some stuff at the mall and saw this brewpub, which seemed to be a better alternative than the Olive Garden and Hooters bracketing it’s location.
When I arrived I had a few minutes to stand around waiting for the hostess. When she did appear, she was very friendly and seated me at a large, comfortable booth. Once she learned I had neverf been to the restaurant before, she gave me the rundown (essentially, «we’re a brewpub, try the house made beers, here’s the specials, welcome.»)
My waiter was a bit slow to appear as well. He recommended the nightly special of Irish Stew, which came with a side Ceasar salad. I took this advice and ordered the stew, along with an Octoberfest beer. The latter was crisp, cold and satisfying. Like the previous reviewer, I preferred this brew to those I’ve tried at City Steam.
Soon my waiter returned, bearing my entrée AND my salad – AT THE SAME TIME. I have a thing about pacing the meal, especially as a single diner. I absolutely hate being rushed on my courses, and having the stew show up at the same time as the salad was Not Cool.
Still, hunger won out over protocol and I dived in.
The extremely generous helping of stew featured plenty of beef with carrots, potatoes and onions in a thick brown sauce. The flavors were muted but satisfying in a «comfort food» way. The salad included fresh, cold greens and crunchy croutons in the usual «commercial Ceasar» dressing. Servicable, but not amazing. I was much too full of stew and salad to even consider the desert.
During my meal, the general manager stopped by to say «Hello.» He stated that he always liked to greet new customers. This was a friendly touch that was appreciated.
Prices were very reasonable – more stew than I could eat, with a salad for $ 12.00. The beers were also fairly priced, around $ 4.50 for a pint.
If I were in the area of the mall, I would choose to eat here rather than the more obvious chain offerings.