Brew

I have been to the Belgrade Brew at least a dozen times and when it first opened, I liked it a lot!
But what is going on over there lately? The last two times I’ve gone the food has been terrible. The kabobs tasted like burnt grill, the crab cakes were all bun and a millimeter of crab cake, the wrap tasted like nothing at all and was so dry I had to ask for more salsa. We ordered cocktails for the first time on our last visit, because the list sounded really good, but they were, hands down, the worst we have ever had anywhere and had to send them back. My favorite item, the sweet potato curls, were burnt to a crisp.
The only thing that remains good is the ketchup.
I really want to like this place because I love a great craft brew and a sandwich, but I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

Oh brew… ugh is all I can say. I have been here twice now, probably an 8 month gap in between visits. The first visit was pretty terrible but we didn’t review and chalked it up to new restaurant problems. In that visit, we had to send back all our food — calamari was frozen in the center and the hamburger we ordered was burn on the outside and raw on the inside. It’s clear they still haven’t worked out the problems. We met a group of friends at the bar. The floors were sticky, the bar tenders had no idea how to work the register and the manager stood around looking at his phone not helping his clearly weeded staff. It took forever to get a beer and even longer to close our tab. It’s such a disappointment because this venue is conceptually perfect for the area, but continued flawed execution has hurt them. No one seemed to really care or was in a hurry to do anything. Sad, and very poorly run. I wanted this visit to be the break through but they haven’t improved at all. Dirty, slow service.

Huge beer selection, cute atmosphere. The food is ok, certainly not the best in Richmond.

Brew tries. They really do. Here are where some of the problems lie, and I really hope this advice doesn’t fall on deaf ears. First and foremost, the location is pretty horrible. They’re competing with four other restaurants, two of which are more «upscale» (The Hard Shell and Ruth Chris). Then there’s a grocery store in the same parking lot, so you’re naturally going to lose customers who would rather save a few bucks and cook at home. There’s not a lot of curb appeal, either. Sure, the outdoor patio is nice, but when no one is sitting out front it just looks lonely. Lastly, this is a huge restaurant, but whenever I go, it looks like only two or three people are working. I get it takes money to make money, and clearly this place isn’t bringing in the clientele they’d hope for, but they do a lot well, too.
They have an absurd amount of beer on tap. I think somewhere around fifty or sixty, with more in bottles. They also have really good crafted cocktails, with an excellent Kentucky Mule and sangria. Their food is also really, really good. The burgers are excellent, and the fries are hand cut and delicious, with a varied selection of sauces that pair well with them. Only thing is, it can sometimes take up to a half hour or more before your food is brought to the table. Now, if there’s a game on or a band playing like the two times I’ve been this wouldn’t bother me, but I see how some other people were pissed.
I want to recommend this place, I really do, because I know the head chef and know he’s created a great menu, but without people to serve it or customers to try it, I can only do so much myself. C+

We came here almost two years ago and the food, the service, all awful. My husband and I gave it another try and it was great. Food, service etc… totally redeemed. As I said in my first review, I want this place to succeed. They are on their way to succeeding.
I highly recommend that you try this place again if you felt the same way I did in my first review. Our dinner was great, beers were cold, and our service (thanks Anthony) was great.

Redemption.
This place disappointed us so much a year ago and we stayed far away.
We apprehensively gave it another try tonight and it was GREAT.
Food was phenomenal. Service Great. Beer selection was good. More IPAs and this would have been a 5 rating.
Thank you brew. We will return soon.

I like Brew, I always forget about this place due to its location. This review is for the Brew in the Bellgrade shopping center. I have been here a few times and have always had a great experience!
The first time I went, I went on a Sunday afternoon with a friend for some appetizers and beers — they have a TON of beers and they are knowledgeable about them all. My friend and I sat at the bar and talked with the two bartenders about all the different types of beers and they let us sample a ton of different beers. (The great thing about this place is that it is within walking distance to my apartment!)
I went a few days ago and went to the nail salon that is near Brew and then popped over to have a beer in their big outdoor seating area and had the crab cake sliders — so good!
Beer is awesome, food is great, service is friendly — highly recommend checking this place out if you are in the area!

I had a great experience, service was awesome and their beer selection was amazing. I will definitely be going there again in the near future. I highly recommend it for craft beer enthusiasts.

It was fine… food is fine, everyone is pleasant but it took forEVER! An hour and a half for an app and a couple of burgers is way too long!

A swing and a miss. I never, ever, complain about restaurant experiences, but this was beyond awful. I picked Brew for a group to meet for a Sunday late lunch/​early dinner. To be brief, our visit consisted of: incorrect beer being served, beer flights taking more than 25 minutes to serve, appetizers not being put in after being ordered, waiting over one hour and 15 minutes for food service, three different waitresses/​managers, and an incorrect final check that took another 10 minutes to correct. It was appalling. Not only would I have spent much more money that day with decent service, now there is no chance I’ll be back anytime soon. The beer selection doesn’t mean anything if you can’t eat and rely on the service. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes at Brew that day, but the product that was served to my party and I was just lousy. Beware.

The first time we visited Brew we waited over 2 hours for our dinner but decided to give them a second chance. That was a mistake. The service was even slower and there was hardly anyone there. We left after an hour never receiving our meals.

I have tried tried to promote this restaurant with friends. But it keeps missing everytime. This time it was going well. The service was a little slow as usual but the food was good and of course good beer selection. So ok evening pretty good.
Until the check. We all started paying. Group of 10 of us. Then one person realize the checks didn’t add up. Looking closely it appeared the waitress tipped herself twice. Still they didn’t add up if you checked them. She eventually got manager involved and they did fix the checks but still came out feeling like we almost got ripped off.
So advice. Still good place but add up your checks and don’t trust they add correctly. I certainly will bring up the calculator in my phone if I come back. Too bad I really have wanted this place to grow and become a popular pub in the area.

I originally reviewed brew when it first opened and this is an update to that review. I am improving my rating to 4 stars due to a substantial improvement in the décor and service. I still find the food to be good but not great. The burgers are good but are not memorable. There are other restaurants in Richmond with excellent burgers. Much of the menu is very good but I haven’t had anything that I found to be spectacular. The beer selection is excellent. The atmosphere is very similar to other midlothian joints like Sedona and capital ale.

I’m surprised at the negative reviews that Brew has received, we have been several times and always been pleased. We had a wonderful waitress, I forget her name and she recommended a raddlar that’s is my new favorite! The food is good, but I don’t crave it. It’s a beer place with food on the side as a bit of a bonus.
We did have a crappy waiter once, he kept disappearing and was completely aloof, but I wouldn’t say the restaurant is to blame– you are gonna see that in the food industry.

Prompt, friendly service at the front door; the host was pleasant, and got me situated quickly, in the section I wanted.
The waitress Becca was very friendly and professional, and helped me find an awesome stout that I loved. Very knowledgable about beer, and was clearly passionate about the nature of her work. Her enthusiasm really shown through!
There was a very talented live music group playing, and all in all, it was a very nice experience.
The only reason I didn’t give a cool 5 Stars is because arguably the most important part of dinner, the actual food itself, left me with the impression that the cooking team takes no pride in their work.
I got the chicken tacos, and while the quality of the ingredients were evident in the flavor and freshness, the tortillas were soaked and soggy because they were swimming in some of kind is juice, possibly from the pico de gallo (it seemed like it didn’t get strained properly [read: at all]).
Not even slightly exaggerating, by the time I finished my meal, the majority of the plate displayed a tremendous amount of liquid. I’m not talking about some moisture. This was an honest-​to-​God puddle, from edge to edge of my plate.
Follow your recipe specs, brew! Could have made an amazing set of tacos with some care and attentiveness preparation (5-​Star review, too!)
I’ll give the pork belly tacos a shot next time, see the difference in preparation. My experience could well have been a fluke.

I have wanted to come here for a while. The reviews I read have prevent me from coming. Tried it out and it wasn’t bad.
We arrived around 6:45pm on a Saturday. I assumed it would be crowded but it was not. It seems like a place that should be jumping but it wasn’t.
We got a few different beers. They had an extensive draft beer collection. That was nice. The big problem was that they weren’t real cold. I like my beer cold.
The fried calamari was good. The chicken taco were awesome. The steak kabobs tasted like burnt grill. Not so great.

I really wanted to like this place, but it wasn’t meant to be… and believe me it’s Brew’s fault.
I have been to their original location and liked it so I thought I’d try the new, bigger location since we had a large group. All the things others told me were true… if I hadn’t gone to the bar myself to get beers I would have only had 1 beer in over 2 hours. They completely forgot to put in the order for one meal and when it came out it wasn’t cooked right, but it took too long for the waitress to come back to do anything about it so we just ate it anyway. It seems like a total lack of engagement by management. Never again.

Huge place. Nicely done on the inside, with a patio out front as well. Extensive beer list of all variations. Bartender the evening my fiancée and I went had a bit of a dry personality, but I came for dinner and beer, not to make friends. The beers I had were cold and delicious, and I ordered their «Lager» burger which was damn good. I’d come back just for that burger, it was stellar. A bit pricey, but was definitely a nice change up in the rotation.

Delicious beet salad with a crab cake. The man ate a cheeseburger. Grammy enjoyed a blt and yummy fries. Srirracha aioli.
Next visit caprese sandwich with bacon. Best aioli ever is ginger and cilantro. Best EVER.

Nice new location. Great space with a nice ambiance. Hummus and crab cakes were delicious. Sweet potato curls are like crack.