The Birch

Love this place. What more can I say. It’s pricey, but the beer selection is outstanding and they’ve added more ciders and non beer options.

Indoor seating was a little dark but that’s my only negative. The largest selection of beers I have ever seen!!! We went for a bachelor party and the staff treated us superbly. And the pizza from next door totally made the evening.

If there was a competition for «most hipster bar in norfolk», this place just might win it. Love the ambience, love the draft selection, there are craft brews and sours here that you can find nowhere else, without going to the brewery themselves. Lots of imported European beers, and the tastiest grilled cheese sandwiches you can ever imagine. Cheese, meat, and beer. This place really just might be heaven.

Holy awesomeness! I don’t even drink beer but I was super happy about the cider choices and the fabulous charcuterie and cheese plates. It was an excellent night out!

This was our first time here and was greeted right away. Nick the bar manager showed us an amazing time. Not only did he answer all our questions, but he also recommended a beer according to our taste palates. Definitely a must go! You won’t regret it. Getting a cheese and meat palate is also a must. Laid back and chill environment.

The Birch is in my top 3 places to eat/​hang out at in norfolk.
They have a variety of grilled cheese options.
Who doesnt like fancy cheese melted in between BREAD?!
my favorite is called the GOSE.
Prosciutto, onion jam, gruyer, and chedder.
doesnt that sound amazing?
I also tried the one with lemon candy bits? It was surprisingly good. And it was pretty light compared to the other grilled cheese options.
they give you an option between chips or a snack mix.
I would suggest you order the snack mix so when youre done with the grilled cheese you still have something to snack on while you drink beer. The snack mix consists of corn nuts, and almonds, and a variety of crunchy edibles :). (im sorry im not entirely sure whats in the snack mix besides. some nuts and corn nuts!)
They also have pretzels if you are looking for a light snack to go with your beer.
My friends and I go fairly often. I would say about 2 – 3 times a week? sometimes even more.
Generally we order every meat (9
different meats to choose from) and 2 cheese options.
It comes with a chutney and balsamic onions.
My boyfriend is a super picky eater… im talking pizza. spaghetti. and burgers for his diet. But he loved the birch! and the balsamic onions!
They have a great variety of drinks to choose from.
I generally order the Passion Fruit Kicker– Green Flash. bitter but not unbearable its on the light side. I cant drink anything too sweet so meads are not for me. I cant really drink dark beer either. but there is one that they have for 43 hours of dark called the Biscotti? tastes like dark chocolate in my opinion.
* update. for the first time they ran out of the passion fruit kicker and Brendan one of the guys who works there joked with me a few weeks ago about what i would do if they were to run out. it really did happen… and i was at a loss for what to order…
I ordered the Grapefruit beer and it was 2.9% alc. I wasnt impressed to be honest. It was too sweet for my taste and i felt like i was starting a sugar high (i know i wasnt but like i mentioned before i dont like sweets).
Next i tried raspberry infused beer. It wasn’t as sweet as the grapefruit option but it was still sweet.
i stand by the passion fruit kicker. i’ve taken my friends from NOVA (northern virginia) who were visiting and they love the birch too. its on our list to go again when they visit.

This place is almost hidden! This is not someplace that you would «just happen upon». I’m so glad the Unilocal reviews made this place a «must go»!
The atmosphere is amazing! We were greeted immediately once we were seated. I opted for the Oatmeal Stout, which is becoming my go to in the craft brew world! It was very flavorful and highly recommended! As we were sitting there, in about 2 hours, 4 different beers came off of the chalkboard wall menu. I was secretly praying that no one was drinking my beer, as I didn’t want it to come off the list! I’m not opposed to trying a few, but I fell in love with this one! You know the beer is fresh when there is a constant turnover!
We opted to get a charcuterie plate. The choices were fabulous! We allowed our server to pick out our meat selection and he did a great job! The chorizo was so flavorful… you really wanted to just savor each and every flavor of this deliciousness! The oregano had such a prominent flavor and really made the sausage! The truffle cheese was to die for! We actually ended up getting a 2^nd serving of just that cheese, as it was just that good! It is a bit pricey, but it’s totally worth it!
It does get busy, as it gets later, so if you have a group and plan to sit, you will need to come early! The outside seating is on the sidewalk and only consists of 3 tables, so if you want to sit outside, plan a less busy evening!
I can’t wait to go back!

A wonderful little place tucked away in West Ghent. The quaint and rustic décor brings on a very homely atmosphere. One of the best beer selections in Hampton Roads. A draft list which is constantly rotating as well as a very knowledgeable and friendly staff. The beer is the center stage in this establishment whereas the food is often different types of cheeses and bar snacks the munch on while you pour down delicious Brews. A small and intimate environment. Great place to take a date or significant other. Or just meet up for drinks with a few good friends. while a tad bit on the pricey side, well worth the money and probably one of my favorite bars in the 757. I imagine I’ll be coming here for many years to come.

I love this bar! There’s a reason why this is rated the #5 Beer Bar in the US. The beer selection is unique and VERY diverse, including amazing, hard-​to-​find beers from around the world.
Malia is awesome and great to talk to while having a few beers.
Katie is one of the newer bartenders and she is very knowledgeable on the beer selection and beer types in general. I tried a beer based on her recommendation and it was perfect for my mood at the time.
Best bar in Norfolk for beer enthusiasts. Coors/​Bud/​Miller drinkers stay away.

I have never heard of anyone who didn’t like the Birch.
It is bar that has just the right amount of hipster, dive, local vibe, individualism, coolness yet inclusiveness to it, all without trying to be too much of either of these things. It is on the outskirts of the residential neighborhood and near a restricted military building. It is next door to Tortilla West and the Bakehouse at Chelsea (another fine dining establishment). There is both outdoor and indoor seating,
The staff members are welcoming, even if you aren’t from the area. The beer list is extensive and written on a chalkboard hanging on the wall, with prices anywhere from $ 5 – 6 to the lower teens. They serve a limited selection of food; unfortunately, I have only had drinks here and cannot comment on the plates that they serve here (I really need to work on that).
This is my go-​to place when I want to treat myself to a beer after a stressful day at work. I am sure that I would have just as enjoyable dining experience too. But definitely try this place out.

Fantastic place for a wonderful evening of any kind of beer, cider, ale and mead. If you are a cheese lover, then this is also the place to be! The place offers great cheese and salami plates that are delicious and unique, along with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.
I waited a few months before going here and I regret the wait! Nice warm, laid back environment, too.

Great place for intimate gatherings. You can even enjoy the ambiance by yourself. The food and beer is so wonderfully priced and absolutely great. The staff is over the moon to help you decide and discuss beer :)
I just love this place!

I don’t know how the food is, but the beer selection and the service was on point. Our bar tender was awesome, and super patient. She pretty much let my wife taste every single thing that was on tap, in my books that = a great tip and review. I will be back

My fiancé and I love coming here– both for the many types of grilled cheese they offer and the wide array of craft beers and ciders. They have a wonderful staff that will make suggestions if you ask!

There are an array of different beers to choose from at The Birch. The bartenders who have served me have always been very friendly and well educated about the beers that they offer. The bar always presents a nice ambiance and the food is always delicious. Do yourself a favor and get a charcuterie board and a cheese board.

Friendly people, friendly staff, amazing selection of beer. What more can you ask for?

Definitely a hidden gem worth visiting if you love beer. I tried 3 different IPAs, all from different continents, and that was just a small sample! If you are a beer lover, this place is for you.

Decent location. Just had beer so no food review. Beer selection is off the hook! I count 26 taps and 6 pages of beer on the menu. They had Founders Breakfast Stout on tap, currently rated #51 on Beer Advocate. Knowledgeable bar tender, friendly atmosphere, open and airy floor space, good lighting. Kinda pricey but it’s what you pay for really good beer. I’ll be back.

I met a friend for drinks after work and was immediately impressed by the ambiance of this place. This bar is about as hip as they come and the minute you walk in the door you feel a million times cooler for being there.
As soon as we sat down at the bar, we were immediately greeted by a friendly bartender who spew information like a beer savant. They had 21 craft beers on tap, including a few seasonal Oktoberfests (yum) and a ton more on the menu. We arrived in time for happy hour, which resulted in a buck off any beer on draft (yay!). Both my friend and I were a bit overwhelmed by the variety and asked our beer savant for recommendations, after checking our IDs, he poured us both samples (yeah, free samples!) of his two recommendations for us. They were delicious!
As we sat and sipped on our festive Oktoberfest beer, various bartenders came over to check on us and informed us that we earned a discounted pretzel ($ 2 instead of $ 4) for ordering the Oktoberfest beer. We ordered one to split. It came out pippin’ hot. But I have to admit, it was a little disappointment. It was just bleh.
Since the pretzel didn’t fill our cravings we each ordered a grilled cheese, which were amazing. They have about 12 grilled cheese options to choose from and they are an adult-​child with a foodie palette’s dream come true. I got one with white cheddar and tart cherry jam. It was amazing. The only drawback to the grilled cheese was the sides. You can choose from chips, nuts, and snack mix (basically more nuts). I went with the chips, my friend chose the snack mix. Maybe the grilled cheese just stole the show, but neither of us were overly impressed with the sides.
All in all, this place is a jem! For a beer on tap, a grilled cheese sandwich, and a split 22oz bottle of beer, I paid a total of $ 23.00 so it’s at a great price point. I would definitely recommend checking it out with the beer lover in your life.
One thing I wish I knew before going is that there’s a pizza joint right next door. Pretty much everyone got pizza, carried it over, and was eating it at The Birch along with their craft beer. Definitely something I’ll keep in mind next time I go!

I had three days off and no plans, so the wife and I decided to pick a place and go. There was recently a thread on ratebeer claiming a lot of places get spam high reviews and mentioned The Birch. I was skeptical at first too. So I tried it out for myself! The location is very odd, 50 yards from an industrial loading dock and in a sort of low-​income neighborhood. Next door seems to be a popular Mexican restaurant and bar. Parking along the street seemed to be enforced by resident permit, but around the corner closer to the dock entrance there is unlimited parking after 6PM I think. The inside is modest, homely, tavern-​like, definitely a locals’ bar with a lot of regulars, dark lighting, chalk board tap list. 20 Taps about with a lot of variety and nearly everything being odd or difficult to find. When I was there it was «43 Hours of Dark» where everything on tap was relatively dark… imperial stouts and such. Also a lot of one-​offs from B. United’s Zymatore series, some of which were very good. The staff are pretty much the bar owners, who chatted with us and made us feel at home. After ticking the tap list, I was asking about some bottles in their cellar that were on display. Unfortunately, those bottles are for display only and I guess are the owners’ own private cellar. A bit of a tease but okay. But, the bottle I asked out was suddenly popped and sitting in front of me compliments of the house. What?! I ran to the car to bring some special beer to share as well. Really neat environment. Went back the next day to try the cheese plates and new things on the tap list. Likewise, we got to split an odd bottle from the cellar that the owners picked out for us. Awesome!
PROS: homely environment, rapid keg rotation, rarities/​one-​offs, amazing staff, crazy licensing here to allow bottles to go/​bottles to bring in/​growlers to go, informal bottle sharability
CONS: bizarre location, fairly pricey, cellar is not for sale via bottle list, minimal food/​snack options though the cheese/​olive/​sausage plate is nice for palate cleansing.
So a must go location for any beer hunter/​nerd and remember to eat beforehand and bring some special beers to share with the staff.

This is my Mecca.
Simply put, one of the best, if not the best, craft beer bar in America. An amazingly curated draft and bottle list, cheese board, charcuterie selection, and amazing staff. Their special events (called «43 Hours of _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​») are excellent opportunities to experience more of different varietals of beer, along with parings.
This place deserves 1000 stars, but I can only give it 5, so it gets 5 stars.

First time at The Birch and it was a delightful surprise. You can’t tell from the outside that it’s a bar because it’s in an area where not too much is surrounding it but it’s such an awesome place and the atmosphere is very clam and chill. It’s a small very hipster bar. Good for everyone, I even saw someone bring in there kid. The beer selection is huge. They also have a cheese plater or charcuterie selection which taste great. I had the truffle and chorizo that was my favorite. It’s in the heart of Ghent so great place to check out local vibes.

Get the snack mix! Get it! You’ll be sorry if you don’t!
You’ve heard of a wine & cheese, but the Birch brings the same finesse to beer & cheese! It looks like an old garage turned micro-​brewery. This place is hoppin’, even late on a weeknight. Don’t neglect the wall of beer. If you need help, the staff is good at guiding you through your beer adventure. They were both friendly and attentive. And definitely get something to eat. They take their food as seriously as they take their beer. It will not disappoint!

Customer service is spelled S-​H-​E-​L-​B-​Y! Wow this place rocks! Could not ask for more of an awesome staff that knows their products! First time customer, but will make this place a regular occurrence!

Beer selection was top notch. The service bordered between disinterest and rude. I can get great craft beer from a lot of other places and plan to do so.

Craft beer and late-​night grilled cheese! What could be better?
Checked this place out after a cruise around Norfolk. Our group was looking for some good beer and a place that served late-​night food. Enter The Birch. The beer menu was extensive with a lot of hard to find crafts on tap. They also had a number of casks and other drinks available. The late-​night menu was composed of several different grilled cheeses. I had the traditional, but our group tried most of them and each of them was excellent.

Amazing beer selection. Waiter knows what he was talking about. Definitely coming back for some beer and awesome cheese.

I was visiting Norfolk, VA and looked high and low for a place like The Birch. Too bad I only found it on my last night there or I would have been there every night.
This place is glorious! Great selection of craft beers and more. I loved the ambiance and I’m very glad that no one was weird-​ed out that I was playing cards with with my fiancé. Strongly recommend this place if you like beers and I will be back next time I’m in Norfolk, VA :^)

One of the best bars in Norfolk off the beaten path. They have the best and most obscure beer selection in Norfolk with a non pretentious atmosphere. Win Win. Happy hour is killer. And you can order pizza (the best pizza in town) from the bakery next door and they will walk it over to you inside Birch.
Meat and cheese plate did take 25 minutes to get to me once when it wasn’t even busy. It was lackluster.

Is The Birch a sophisticated drinking establishment in disguise as a dive bar. I mean anyone that has seen the neighborhood next to a military installation in a residential hood may ask the same. The fact it’s in a cinder block building would beg the question. It’s housed under same roof as Tortilla W.
Parking is strictly off street if you can find it. They are closed Sunday and Monday, but Tuesday and Wednesday are not crowded and parking should not be an issue. On my walk to the joint I saw no excessive debris and no scary looking hipsters. I did smell the waffling odor of some reefer when passing Tortilla West, but who doesn’t love that smell.
On warm evenings the front turns outdoor patio, but it was 29 degrees and tables were not set up for obvious reasons. There is also a full size garage door that is lifted up if the climate is conducive to it. I imagine this would make the atmosphere of the place really cool. It was time to head in.
From the outside looking in your unsure if The Birch is even open, that’s called mood lighting folks and they love it. So as I opened the door, a door you could probably have on your garage at home I immediately witness it’s dead. Concrete floors, open air duct work and a large bar that seats around sixteen. Tons of taps were in front of me as I sat down and absorbed the dimensions of the watering hole. A couple of male bartenders were behind the counter with three customers. Several others were at tables located in the center. It is not a big place, but again in warmer months they can really expand. Everything was spic and span clean which will always score high for me on any business.
I alluded to the lighting before, it was like a hideout from the rest of the world to enjoy beer, this was good! Cool Pandora music played overhead providing a nice tranquil vibe for the night. This changes based on the crowd of course, but it was that type of night. There was a humongous chalk board listing all the current taps and boy does it go on and on and on. I immediately got the feeling this is a refined beer connoisseur establishment even though the looks from the outside would have you and others believe differently. I only recognized a half dozen of the crafts they had listed, that was great!
I saddled up to the bar and was met quickly by a male bar keep that assisted me. I was unsure of tap, or bottle and looked over the drink menu, the board menu and asked for a food menu too! I let him know it was my first time so I could get some additional lay of the land help. There are some places that the staff can come off snobish when and I had heard that this joint catered to a cultured crowd that knows there crafts. However, I did not get that feeling at all and was felt at ease as some recommendations were made. The half pours sounded like the best deal and went that direction. The Hardywood Raspberry Stout only offered in the Winter won me over and boy did it ever. It was possibly the best finishing beer I’ve had in my life. The knowledge level of brewery’s and brews left me feeling at ease and impressed.
I knew for sure that I was eating and looked over the Beer Infused Grilled Cheese sandwiches which sounded tempting to order a few. I also asked for recommendation and was not disappointed, he knew their top sellers and the nuisances of each sandwich to guide me to the best choice. I ended up picking the Schlenky which contains grafton maple smoked cheddar, green apple mustard, prosciutto for $ 9. It comes which chips, nuts, or a mix. A hefty price for a sandwich, but considering a new establishment in Norfolk opened up charging even more this did not appear completely out of sight, especially if was high quality as I suspected.
The bartenders double as cooks and he went back and flipped the light on and got right to work. The owner Maleah came in and sat down beside me with her lap top to work. I found out she can go toe to toe with any beer geek which was impressive. The other male bartender got me another round, a Great Divide Imperial Stout on tap after discussing options. I had issues with locating the beer on untapped and he assisted which was nice. .
The plating was nice on the sandwich, I mean it is a sandwich after all, but it present well for $ 9, ha! The flavors knocked my socks off, wonderful taste that my buds had not experienced before and assuming it was the green apple mustard which was present throughout every bite. A check in to see how I liked it was great. Water was provided upon request and refiled at the appropriate time. I tried one other before departing, the X Reserve Imperial Coffee Stout by Saucony. The head on this beer was fantastic and the taste of coffee was lingering as I finished off my sandwich.
Cool atmosphere, very knowledgeable staff, clean everything including the restrooms and best of all service was well above expectations. I would easily return again and recommend.

What an amazing find! We found this place on Beer Advocate and stopped in for a few drinks on a Friday evening. Our waitress was amazingly nice and knowledgeable, and the atmosphere was low-​key and cozy.
Since we were visiting from out of town, I was taking lots of annoying photos, but the waitresses actually encouraged me and helped me get better shots!
They had some really rare craft beers on taps and an extensive list; the fella got some Firestone Walker and Evil Twin Biscotti, and I got a Rodenbach Grand Cru on tap, which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen.
Awesome beer bar (with a huge cheese list and grilled cheese list) with knowledgeable, friendly staff, and an intimate atmosphere.

This beer bar in the Chelsea section of Ghent is a perfect spot to try some exotic beers while eating one of their specialty cheese and charcuterie plates. I had a couple of bottles of Scottish Porter, and shared a meat plate with my date. All was excellent.
What really blew me away was the grilled cheese sandwich– the my Blueberry Nightmare, consisting of smoked buffalo Mozzarella, fontina and prosciutto with a blueberry balsamic on crusty bread. It was amazing. What made the visit complete was the stellar service by our bartender Matt. He knew all the answers to our questions about the beer and food, and he was friendly and pleasant, which is always a plus.
Over all this was a great visit and I plan on coming back often. As a plus, the music was awesome… Jack White, Green Day, The Clash and a set list of great indy music. It is kind of a «hipsterish» atmosphere, but what cool spot isn’t anymore Highly recommended for good beer lovers.