Barley's Brewing Co

06/23/09

This place was great

by DOSTEEL at Citysearch

I just celebrated a birthday witha group of friends and had one of the best dining experiences of my life at Barley's. Although they don not take reservations they were able to seat our party of 10 in less than 1/2 hour on a busy Friday night. Our server was very freindly and when we were unsure about some of the beer choices shes let us try some to decide. They had a special "Firkin" beer on for Friday that she explained very well. Basically it is like beer was served way back in the day, like vikings would drink it! Awesome! The food was great. They had just started a new menu and everything we had was great and well worth the money. We basically had the compete opposite experience of "SKBeerFan" I wonder if he just caught them on a bad night or if he is just one of those unsufferably jerks that leaves bad reviews of good places because he is full of angst from living in his mom's basement :-)

• Pros: Best Beer Around, Excellent Food
• Cons: Parking can be a pain (but worth the trouble)

02/22/09

Four Dollars for beer in Columbus, Ohio?

by innergameboy at Citysearch

I lived in NYC for four years, and I got tired of paying four dollars for beer a long time ago. The atmosphere at Barley's is decent, but the Bartenders didn't pay attention to who was in need of a drink. I guess they are there to do something other then make money. Charging four dollars for a Budweiser is ludicrous for Columbus. I hope that the management reads this, because at these prices and service, I'll take my money elsewhere.

• Pros: The place was dead. Plenty of room to move around.
• Cons: Everything else. Didn't try the food.

02/07/09

Worst Customer Service - Decent Beer

by SKBeerFan at Citysearch

I've gone to Barley's Alehouse #1 for the last time. I recently visited with a group of seven friends. There were only about 15 other diners in the entire restaurant, yet the hostess would not seat our partial group until we met the arbitrary standard of "half our group present." Understandable if there was a waiting list or if the restaurant was full - but the manager told me that there was no room for flexibility on this issue. We would not be seated with less than half of our group. Unfortunately, the other half was outside driving around looking for a place to park (totally full lot and street parking - unless you wanted to pay $8 to use the garage a block away). In any case, this is not the first time I have experienced poor service - several other times myself or my friends have been dealt with rudely or poorly by the staff. The food is over-priced for the quality (which isn't terrible, but it's not remarkable either). The beer list is stagnant and, frankly, boring for a BREWERY. None of the wait staff knows anything at all about beer - but they can rehearse one line about each beer. If the Elevator had a single beer worth drinking, I'd recommend it. As it is, I will now go only to Barley's Smokehouse, where beer is important and exciting, service is much better, and the food is worth the price.

• Pros: location, beer quality is adequate
• Cons: customer service, prices, parking, beer list

12/04/07

Best Christmas Ale in Columbus

by sgrinstead at Citysearch

I specifically went to the Barley's on 12/2 to sample their Christmas Ale. The bartender was fast, efficient and very friendly.

There were probably twenty people in the restaraunt on Sunday afternoon, if Friday's are crowded stop by on Sunday to drink a pint of beer and watch a game on one of the TV's at the bar.

• Pros: Great beer, great service
• Cons: Even on Sunday parking was tight

04/20/07

fabulous atmosphere

by lori908 at Citysearch

Loved the inside of this pub. It was an old style, college style pub. Service was good, food was good and reasonably priced. Loved their wheat beer and had a good time in a good atmospheric restaurant. Definitely a place I would take someone from out of town. Even the parking wasn't all that bad!!

• Pros: Cool atmosphere, good beer and good food at a decent price
• Cons: very crowded on a friday night.

04/05/07

Best beer, great food

by beertram at Citysearch

One of my favorite restaurants. Their beer is awesome and they also have great guest beers. Their BBQ is very good -- especially the wings.

• Pros: Beer, BBQ
• Cons: none

03/07/05

Great Beer, Great Food

by milljack at Citysearch

The beer there was without equal for micro-brew fans, but most surprisingly, the food was excellent as well. Not the standard pub fare. The menu was what you would expect at a much more formal (and Expensive) restaurant. I had the crab cakes and the India Pale Ale (perfectly hoppy) and my wife had grilled Wahoo (some sort of fish which we both liked very much) and Russian Imperial Stouts. Overall it was a very very nice meal.

• Pros: Good Value, Friendly Staff

08/18/03

This drinker's treat may have the best ale in town.

by Contributor at Citysearch

The Scene

Drinkers of serious beer flock to Barley's, one of the finest brewpubs in the city, and one of the only ones located outside of the Brewery District. Right across the street from the Convention Center, Barley's has an oaken, spacious bar area, plenty of restaurant seating and a nice view of the brewing action.

The Food

The selection of American/English/Irish (and other) food is reasonably priced, with the sauerkraut ball appetizers topping the list of favorites. The extensive menu of beers changes seasonally, but there are several standard brews, like the pale and Scottish ales. The servers can tell you what's new and help you figure out which pint to try. Several of these beers have won awards at regional and national microbrew competitions. Virtually everything is worth sampling, but drink with caution: This is powerful stuff.

04/21/03

When in Rome...

by cmc at Citysearch

Barley's brews some of the best beer in America. I'm constantly amazed at how many people come in and order Bud Light or Guinness, when high-quality, expertly crafted cask-conditioned ale is available fresh daily. The food is good pub grub, but if you're going to order a mass-produced, watered-down beer, you may as well go somewhere else.

• Pros: real ale, good beer, nachos
• Cons: a lot of smoke, convention crowds

10/27/02

A good place

by Peaceman86 at Citysearch

Barleys Alehouse No. 1 may not be the most upscale of places, but the atmosphere is good, the beer is good, and the people are good. It's a great place to go and to be with friends.