Tom A.
Yelp
I'm a longtime supporter of Greenbush. I've been a Mug Club Member for years. I LOVE the food - or at least I did. The first few years, I'd brave the lines during tourist season, wait 90 minutes or more to be seated, and hope the brisket wasnt already sold out. I'd even take colleagues who didnt drink any alcohol, for which Greenbush drink options are exceedingly limited, and tell them to suck it up because the food was worth it. The past 3 or 4 years, I gave up on waiting during the prime season, and only came off season, but damn, if the food wasn't great. So now you know my background and how tough this review is for me.
But, beside watching Greenbush's success go to their collective heads, and beside the prices which have skyrocketed, now the food is beyond bad. I took 3 colleagues there. We ordered two beers each, plus a full slab of ribs each. Memphis style, dry rub ribs. It was over $190 before the tip. Wow.
The ribs were not only poorly cooked - I run a smoker, and have cooked ribs 100+ times, they were tasteless and came off a steam table. No smoke. Meat wouldn't separate from the bones (which means the fat and muscle didn't render or cook correctly). The "dry rub" was a caked on glop of spice. As if you mixed grainy spice in water and painted it on. No flavor at all really, and no real way to eat it if you could. 3 racks undercooked, one was cooked right, but all were barely warm and soggy.
Sure they added a fryer (Why?!) and expanded the menu, but the food is now officially awful. Gone are the sauces made in house, replaced by bottled sauces with a similar recipe, but not true to their origins. For years they did the food right, the beer was decent, the music was loud, and the crowd was eclectic. Now, I'd rather get Arby's commercially smoked brisket and a forty ounce to go.
I don't know if they changed owners, or cooks, or Brew masters. I don't know if their expanding self-confidence inflated their heads so much they exploded and now cannot taste their own food. What I do know is it will be a really long time before I forget how awful the food has become and I venture back to Sawyer and Greenbush Breewing. I couldn't be more disappointed in what used to be such an outstanding place I would direct strangers to go there. Talk about a fall from grace!