McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House

My main purpose of writing this review is to inform my fellow vegetarians of the Hammerhead Garden Burger since there hasn’t been a review that mentions it yet. It is definitely one of the best garden burgers I’ve had at a restaurant. I am well pleased. The patty had a grilled crunchiness to it – very satisfying. I asked for a side a mayo to put on the burger and that made it perfect. They definitely do not skimp you on the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and red onions. It was nice and tall and packed. Buns were nice and thick.
My lunch + tip was $ 12. I was full, but not overly stuffed and I felt my money was well spent for the taste and portion size. Good size garden burger with tater tots. Can’t go wrong with the flavorful and crunchy tots. Mayo + ketchup makes for a yummy dipping sauce. Oh, and extra points for the organic, non-​high fructose corn syrup ketchup! It was so refreshing to see they didn’t serve Heinz! Ketchup taste and texture was deliciously non-​over-​processed.
I went here to catch up with a friend around 12:30pm on a Friday and it was not packed like I was afraid it would be. When you’re going during your lunch break from work, time is of the essence. We seated ourselves in a booth right away. I love that it wasn’t too crowded.
It took just a tad long to get our food, but the quality of the food made the wait worth it. When you’re busy talking with the company you’re with, it’s hardly noticeable. Otherwise, we had a very attentive and efficient server who was super quick with checking in on us, clearing the table, offering dessert, and getting us our checks.
The ambience could use some improvement, but it’s my only critique; I personally don’t really care. This place is meant to be more on the casual side with slightly rough edges. Women’s bathroom was clean with no odor. Parking was ample and spaces were not cramped. It was easy to get in and out.
This is an excellent spot with decent vegetarian options to grab good ol’ American grub and get your money’s worth of satiety. The tots and ketchup alone makes me want to go back.

Food was good and there were things on the menu that were not typical. The beer selection was great. We got the sampler and liked all. We came with our six kids and the place felt comfortable and family friendly.
Service was not up to par with the food and beer. The server was uninviting, not friendly, short and didn’t crack one smile. I would even go as far as saying he was rude.

Awesome and friendly staff! Only came in for a beer but checked out the menu and will be back! Thanks for keeping it real!

This is a nice little McMenamins location. I’d never been here before and the main point of stopping by was to get lunch and our stamps in our McMenamins passports.
My advice here… would be to not come for a lunch hour. Our server was waiting on the entire establishment and after taking our drink order quickly slipped away. It was really really hard to get his attention for anything and he wasn’t warm or friendly.
After waiting for our food for 40 minutes I had to walk up to the bar to ask for everything to go. I simply had to get back to work. I was pretty peeved that I wasn’t able to enjoy my food there.
The food was fantastic! I just had to eat as much as I could in my car before running back into work. This place is worth the stop if you are patient and have the time to hang out.

Beer is delicious and food is standard pub fare. I’m giving them a 5 star review on service. We headed over to sneak in a late dinner. The staff was so nice and allowed us to stay late. Never felt rushed and always asked if we needed anything else after they’d closed. Made our night… will definitely be back.

Place is very low key, has excellent clam chowder and friendly service.
Interior feels cozy (dim lights, good seating arrangement, nice decorations), and they have a heated and sheltered outdoor patio. Great destination for a mellow dinner.
Really excellent soup (clam chowder, Thai vegetable curry), and the staff is always helpful.

The original McMenamins… where it all began. I love that this still seems to be a bit of a hidden gem. Nice and quiet for the late afternoon happy hour. Enjoying the current seasonal cider offering… ginger perry — fantastic!

This one in particular… Fantastic. I am often displeased with bar food… this place is great. Fresh food and oh delicious beers. Quick and friendly service. On our way to the airport from Southern Oregon, glad we stopped in.

We frequent this McMenamins. Keep in mind, if you have never been to a McMemenamins, it is well known that it is very laid back and service is almost always a bit on the slow side, however, that is not always the case here. We do always sit in a bar booth, so we are closer to the staff’s main working area, so that may be a factor. This is the smallest McMenamins I have ever been to. The kitchen is a small area behind the bar and they usually run on 2 – 3 waitstaff/​bartenders and one cook, but that has never been a problem in our experience. There is only one tv and it can only be seen from a couple of seats, so if you are looking to watch sports this is probably not the place for you. We have had nearly everything on the food and drink menu. The steak wrap is large and delicious and in the winter months the hot apple pear (which has Tuaca and McMenamins pear brandy) is yummy and warming. This place has a cozy feel and local regulars like us can often be found here enjoying happy hour or a meal, enjoying the (usually) quiet environment.

I love how accommodating this McMenamins on food preparation. I needed just burger with lettuce, cakes, and tomatoes. It was beautiful. Such easygoing yet attentive staff. It’s a neighborhood favorite for me.

I ate here about a month ago and had great service and great food. Not sure why there are more men bathrooms that women, but all else was fine. The Cajun tots are a must at any mcmennamins establishment. The menu has Stanard McMenamins fare but had to check things out with my passport adventure. Great veggie and tuna fish sandwiches.

This McMenamins is a hidden gem. Not sure if it’s good for them, but I love that it is never crowded. Always super mellow. The tots are always the best cajunized. And @ this location you can get a burger with peanut butter, onions, and bacon and it is awesome! They also do a great job on the lettuce wraps. You can’t always get peanut butter @ all the locations so this is a pretty awesome feature. And their peanut butter is pretty darn good.

Servers and bartender were good humored and fun to chat with! The atmosphere was exactly what I would expect of a McMenamin’s pub. .. Eclectic!

The general manager called me after my last Unilocal review about them dropping the ball on following up. We had a good conversation and he did convince me that most Mcminimims employees do care. He even sent me a gift card to give them a second chance.

Standard McMenamin’s fare. Friendly staff. But the atmosphere is a little dark. The outdoor seating is trapped in a tent. I hope with Sasquatch in the neighborhood, they will update the décor. Still glad to have them here– a mainstay. And the tater tots…

Yum, j had the best in the show hot dog and it was DELICIOUS, herbed cream cheese, onions, bacon and avocado on a ¼ pound beef hot dog… it is a must try. I had the ruby beer and it was delicious and light. The service was alright, a little below decent and it did take a while to order our beers and food, but the food did come out quickly and was really good! I will definitely be back to try out more food!

Decent food and decent service. No complaints. I would suggest they have the waiters wear deodorant.

This is the original McMenamins from which all have grown.
It was originally a Skippers fish and chips fast food spot. The McMenamin brothers successfully lobbied the Oregon legislature to allow brewers to brew, measure for taxes and then sell the beer on site. That’s a brew pub, and the legal and taxing innovation was nontrivial at the time.
This was the first brewpub in Oregon!
From the beginning, they filled growlers to go, though growlers is a new term. Mason jars originally. They have the standard McMenamins beers and food menu contributing to the star rating to positive.
But you have to give them credit for starting brewpubs, brewing in the Hillsdale area (now joined by Sasquatch) and being a fine Hillsdale gathering spot, daytime to late.
Now about the food. McMenamins discloses nutrition information for regular menu items on their website. The holy trinity of American desire is sugar, salt and fat, all unhealthy. McMenamins reduce all. An admirable goal! Can it taste good and be good? That is the question.
They have rotating specials available to all their pubs which individual managers select. I tried what sounded like an innovative option from the ingredients, but the anticipated taste experience was lacking. They do offer their food to-​go in the A-​OK paper clamshells. And on their website they list suppliers — they do a stellar job at local sourcing!
The staff was excellent, prompt, communicative. That’s great! And I get the very successful McMenamins business model, good ingredients, solid staff treated and supported as they should be, healthy, thin beers, all supporting a spectacular and high quality expansion and renovation of historic buildings.
Suggest they experiment with a few marquee beers, equalling the top local brewers, keep up the distilling program, with the same goals, figure out a way to make the food more tasty and tell their story, which is cool.
Don’t be afraid to order specials, or to be disappointed in their flavor. But if you have relatives visiting with bland food preferences, like from the Midwest, they are a perfect choice!

Kid friendly till about 10pm and dog friendly on the outside which is a good covered space. The food is decent, especially the deserts which normally I ignore but they had an oatmeal chocolate thing with vanilla ice cream on top that was really tasty even if quite rich. The beer is excellent all around, I haven’t had one I didn’t like yet.
The staff is cool too so why the low ratings here? Well I can only imagine it’s just not as unique and amazing as other McMenamins locations like Kennedy school but as far as basic pubs go it’s still great if you ask me.

There seems to be a McMenamins everywhere I look in Portland and I didn’t previously know there was one in Hillsdale. I saw it a few Saturdays ago while my Son and I were having Lunch at Salvador Molly’s next door. So the next day while the Kid was over at Other Worlds, I wandered for a solo lunch and some time on the iPad (courtesy of their free WiFi).
I think this McMenamins was supposed to open at Noon on Sunday, but I finally got in several minutes later. The Lunch crowd was light and I took an inside booth, rather than the patio on this cool and occasionally rainy Portland day. Service was pleasant and relaxed. I enjoyed my Portland Confidential Wrap (sharp cheddar cheese, Cajun tots, peppercorn ranch, romaine & tomato wrapped in a warm flour tortilla) and of course an IPA. I lingered, called Gayle up, read emails and FB posts, and eventually took my leave to walk over and see how my Son was doing. This Hillsdale Brewery location was a nice neighborhood place to hang out.