Ryan G.
Yelp
My parents and I came out a few weekends ago to try it on a busy Saturday night. We did our research on the location, hoped we knew what to expect and was unfortunately underwhelmed.
With our table saved and 2 charge cards ready (the only way you can try drinks is to load their own charge cards with a credit or debit account to put into the card reader to allow the draft system to work), my parents and I ventured around, looking for drinks to try. My parents were disappointed that most of the beers they wanted to try weren't there between what was on their website and what was actually there (not even in the take out coolers) but eventually found some they liked.
Unfortunately, if you're not a beer drinker, there's not much else to drink. The 2 seltzers available were not to my favor, nor did I want the 2 wines available (just red and white), so the only other options I had were water or overpriced Coca-Cola cans (Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite), which can only be ordered at the food kiosk (no one told us this and it's not mentioned on the website). The 1 water spout near the food window was clearly meant for glass containers as the plastic cups stored near the spout (as opposed to glasses for all the beer) cracked when pressed up against the trigger to activate the water flow (I just used my hand on the trigger and aimed the plastic cup with the other).
The 1 line for 2 food-ordering kiosks gets long quickly but was needlessly complicated and required a separate debit or credit card than the drink charge cards. One thing I don't get about the ordering system, while helpful about giving texts when your food is available to pick up at their window, it should be available to place orders from your phone as well for in hall ordering, if just for convenience.
The Lillie Q's Tri-Tip sandwich was just as good as I remember from getting it at the Blackhawks game or at their actual restaurant in the city. We shared the Salt & Scratch fried chicken and smoked wings and thought they were average, as well as the mac & cheese. My mother had the Pastor and Chorizo tacos from Chicano Taqueria but thought they were bland. This would've been the highlight of the evening if it wasn't for the added $10 "service fee" that was separate from taxes that raised the price closer to $90 for the food alone...
What really annoyed us more than anything, was our attempt to get "to go containers" from the 2 staff at the food window when we had leftovers. When my father first walked up to them and asked, he was met with absolute cluelessness on their part, at first telling him "we don't do that." Even after my father reminded them that you can order the food for take out on the website, they just handed him a little paper bag and nothing else as our "to-go container." It was only when my father then went up to the front desk and asked for a manager that someone came to our table with actual clamshell, disposable containers to put our food in. The manager seemed just as confused as we were by the interaction with the staff...
This place has a lot going for it. It's an interesting model, it's very clean and we'll definitely get some of the food to go in the future but I doubt we'll step foot inside again in the future. Their selection of drinks is not as varied as you'd hope, you're kind of out of luck if you don't like beer, and it's very expensive for not being a full service restaurant. And while it's made for people to stay for a long time, and there is overhead music and board games to play, there's not a single television to watch any sports, which I would think would be a major factor to keep even those unenthusiastic with the brew hall's model to want to stay.
Interesting but not for me, would've been 3 stars if the food was more reasonably priced and that last staff interaction with the "to-go containers" didn't go like it did...
