Minocqua Brewing Company

Stopped here on our way from Ashland to Madison based on previous good reviews. We were not disappointed. Jody, our server, was prompt, warm and friendly. The Pudgy Possum Porter was a delicious beginning along with their beer/​smoked Gouda soup. We had the wild rice veggie burger and the Avocado BLT, both of which were delicious. Upgrade to sweet potato fries and you won’t be disappointed. We would definitely return when in the area again.

Was there with a group of 10 — on a busy Friday night in January — the weekend of Brewfest. The place was slammed and busy but Aaron our host was able to accommodate us. We went upstairs to the lounge and had a few good beers from the brewery. Our group was a mix of travelers from Wisconsin and the east coast — a group with kids and seniors. We needed to have some food right away when we sat down and Aaron accommodated us with cheese curds. They do have a kids menu! I would say the food is average but they do have some highlights like the fish, (perch was very good!), cheese curds, ABLT, and the veggie mushroom burger were good. I would go again but my recommendation is to get ahead of the comments about service here and know what you want and ask them to order it right away. I would recommend that they consider serving appetizers upstairs — (a limited menu would be easy to do). Our server was Joanie and she was VERY accommodating. Thank you for a nice meal.

Stopped there for lunch with our two kids. We were the first patrons seated in one of the dining rooms, yet somehow it took ungodly long to receive our food. I had soup and salad — the soup was decent and the salad was nothing special. My husband had the chicken wrap, which again was fine, but not special. My kids had a hamburger and Kraft Mac & Cheese, again, just OK. Beer was pretty good, nice selection. If you need to find a family-​friendly place, this is a good choice. They hold events; I would come and order a beer at an event, but plan to eat elsewhere if I had time.

Awesome beer and great food — probably some of the best fish fry I’ve had in the Northwoods. After dinner, snag a growler if their beer to go. If you’re an out-​of-​towner, you’ll be glad you did!

Awesome dinner here last night. Large party. Great service fun bar. If only the Packers could have pulled it out!
And good beer!

–Great food –Server came by multi times to check on if we were enjoying our meal. –Love beer cheese soup: P

Fish and chips was good. Beer was good. Service was good with one exception. And I won’t go back. Minocqua Brewing company is featured in Wisconsin beer guide. I bought a 12 dollar beer sampler. The book promised a free pint of beer. The waitress said I had to buy a pint to get a free pint. She gave me a smirky look like i was trying to steal a beer. The book did not say buy one and get one free. Even though I spent 12 bucks on beer I still did not qualify for a free pint. Can’t recommend. If they agree to a promotion, then they should fulfill their promise. They didn’t. A manager later said they should have «probably» honored my request. «Probably»? ??

Tried both of their soups they were amazing. Great ambience bartenders were both very nice I will be back definitely my next time around.

Excellent. Sandy, our server, was friendly and fast. Order the flight, my favorite was the Road Kill Red.

I would give the service a 2 and the food a 3. The upstairs bar was really nice with a beautiful seating area facing the lake and live music. The host was borderline unfriendly. Our server was new, she said, but that didn’t excuse the fact that she appeared to be on drugs. After she took our order, I said I would be shocked if everything was correct. My husband got the beef and Brie and the Gouda soup. Both were good but his sandwich was lukewarm. His beer never arrived. My sandwich was fine but I ordered sweet potato fries, which came 10 minutes after the rest of the food. Not a great experience.

A visit to Minocqua is never complete without a meal and beers here!
Family friendly establishment downstairs, with a delightful outdoor seating area as well. Over the dozen times we’ve eaten here, we’ve never been disappointed. Absolutely get the smoked gouda soup! Don’t question it. My 9 yr-​old raves about the bacon cheeseburger. I recommend the beef and brie special, and recently enjoyed their chicken salad wrap. However, the real winner is their fresh perch (if you enjoy fish).
As for their beer: my wife loves porters, MBC’s no exception. I love hoppy ales, MBC’s ale is tasty… but I crave more hops (admitted hop-​head). When I can get their stout I will– it’s very dark and robust.
What to say? We love this place and never stay without visiting at least once, and always end up carrying a growler full back home with us.

Excellent food and great service… Go ahead and go you will be glad you did.
Black and blue burger was very good and my wife had the sirloin steak… Excellent

The food choices are limited in Minocqua but the hype surrounding this restaurant was met with disappointment at our last visit.
My group of 11 arrived around 7.30pm and had a 45 minute waiting time, so we headed upstairs to the lounge to enjoy some drinks while we waited. The view from the far windows is spectacular. We ordered several of the MBC beers, which were all good. I ordered the Minocqua Mule, which is a play on a Moscow Mule, and thought it was pretty good. It comes in a very large glass and the ginger beer was more subtle than I would like. We were seated a little after 45 minutes.
We ordered three appetizers for the table: Calamari Dreamin’, Artichoke Au Gratin, Olivaceous Hummus. The «cutesy» appetizer names were weird and unsettling; junior high status. The calamari was served as thick strips, which were surprisingly tasty although the plating was not the prettiest. The accompanying pepperoncini aioli did not make an appearance and only a lemon wedge came with the calamari. The artichoke au gratin was good but not spectacular. I wish the crostini was toasted a bit for some nice texture. The hummus plate was fine; good hummus and vegetables were fresh.
I ordered the Steak and Shrimp entrée with garlic mashed potatoes and the Wheat Ale & Smoked Gouda soup per the recommendation of the waitress. I am a big fan of cheesy soups and smoked gouda so I was disappointed when I tried the soup — very salty and lacking in any other flavors. My steak was a bit tough for medium-​rare and the coconut shrimps were not whole shrimps rather some deep fried ground shrimp with whole tails attached. The orange-​pineapple dipping sauce was so gross; very sour and did not compliment the shrimp flavors.
Two others at the table got the Lake Perch and were pretty content with their meals; no complaints but no glowing praises. The Simply Shrimp entrée was finished completely and I was a bit envious of their shrimp. The Classic Cobb salad was very large and came with a lot of toppings including whole strips of bacon, which were difficult to manage in the salad and were just eaten separately.
Overall, the food and drinks were fine. The service was very slow with it taking over 30 minutes before our entrees arrived. We felt like it was one of the longest meals we have ever had and it was a regular weekday meal; not a weekend or holiday.

The food was good, not the best I’ve had and the beer was just mediocre. Not sure if it was an off day here, they were very busy. It is located right on the lake, and although we were seated in the bar area I’m sure some of the tables have a beautiful view.

Good food, mediocre beers. Worth a stop, but 90 percent of the sampler is meh. Great wheat beer though.

I had one of the best soups I ever tasted last year here. Unfortunately, their «signature» smoked Gouda soup was not as good this time. They went heavy on the garlic, which took away the acidity of the cheese and changed the experience. So sad!
The rest of the food was mediocre. The beef in their hamburger had no flavor at all.
The calamari was ok. I liked their thick cut.
I did enjoy the upstairs area with the beautiful views and their Hefeweizen seasonal beer was excellent

Our server was very nice and friendly. We had a coupon from the hotel which is always a nice bonus so keep an eye out for those. I had the steak (cooked perfectly), mashed potatoes (almost like a twice baked potato and a little bland and dry for my liking). I also had they famous beer cheese soup and honestly I didn’t care for it… granted I’m not a beer drinker and there was a strong stout flavor to it so I’m sure others would enjoy it. The pretzel appetizer was hot and fresh. A very nice setting and prices were pretty reasonable too.

I was told this was a go to place in minocqua so we want for dinner. 40 minute wait so we went upstairs for a couple of their beers. Nothing fancy but they make a decent selection of different types of beer. I tried a couple but the wild rice beer was the best out of the hef and red ale I had also tried.
The cheese curds (they call them something else) were average but the beer cheese soup was great. We put our order in for the appy and entrée all at the same time but somehow didn’t get the entrée for 45 minutes after the appy and our waitress seemed to disappear for extended periods of time. That’s why I give it a 3 star. My cowboy burger was good. Added avocado that was forgot until I said something to the waitress. Wife’s turkey burger was plain, nothing to write home about.

We are a family of four and came here for lunch today (a Wednesday). This is a great place but I cannot give it 5 stars for two reasons: 1.) we were there for a total of 90 minutes and 2.) our waitress was kind of apathetic (maybe she was having a bad day, we all do). The wait to get a table was 40 minutes. (I bet it’s longer on the weekends). The bartender upstairs was very nice, served us beers, sodas and pretzels/​dip. The décor is fantastic as it was renovated after a fire in 2005 and renovated. The owner was the host and he seems like a great guy. When we finally had lunch, it was very good. I highly recommend the kale salad. My husband had the fish and chips and liked that too. The kids menu choices were kind of on the small side for portions. Kids over the age of 8 should order off the regular menu. Another positive note: the bathrooms were clean. This is a big deal to me.

Best veggie burger ever — chill environment and kid friendly. Beer was tasty.
Julius Caesar was great too.