Ate dinner here with my sisters and niece on a Monday evening.
The beer (Golddigger IPA) was great. Â I had a burger with blue cheese/bacon, and a side salad. Â Both were tasty, though I think the side salad could have been a tiny bit bigger. Â The bar area was packed, and it seemed like a lively and fun crowd.
But---
We started out on the back patio which was inundated with flies...completely annoying. Â We asked the waitress if we could move inside and she said she would check. Â 15 minutes later, we were still outside, so I went in and asked the hostess, and she seated us right away. Â There were flies on the inside, but not as many, and they weren't buzzing around us constantly.
The service was ok--our waitress was friendly. Â Seems like they had maybe no more than three waitstaff working the full restaurant and patio.
Not to crazy about the selection of beers. I give them the benefit of the doubt on the basis that I was pretty hung over and only tried like two of them. The menu looks decent but the service was a little less than average but fortunately the Alehouse burger saved the day. Had I not enjoyed that burger I probably would not return to this place. I am not quite ready to write this place off just yet.
Review Source:Auburn is a small town with a great history. Â The downtown has lots of shops and a few good restaurants. Â We chose the Auburn Ale House for our casual dinner and found it to be excellent. Â Our party of five enjoyed the food choices they made. Â I had the Jambalaya and it was very good, lots of goodies in every bite. Â Three others had the Steak Sandwich and although I didn't taste it, it was large and looked to be excellent. Â The fish tacos also passed muster. Â My only complaint was the dinner salad which was very small and lacked an appropriate amount of dressing.
Plenty of beer choices as well, all fresh and tasty.
So, after 5 solid, continuous & nonstop hours of drinking all sorts of beers at the local brewfest, what's the natural thing to do? Go to the local brewpub for more beer (& some food), of course!
That's how the girlfriend & I did it, anyway. & that's how we ended up sitting at the bar in the Auburn Alehouse late on a Saturday night. Located in a cute & charming area near downtown, Auburn Alehouse is a great looking joint that fits right in.
The bartender was friendly & fairly attentive. For food, we ordered some Ahi Tuna & a Cobb Salad. For beers while we were there, I had an Old Town Brown & the PU 240 Imperial IPA.
Our food was up before too long, but was perhaps a little slow since it wasn't busy. The Ahi Tuna was good quality & good tasting. The Cobb Salad pretty decent but nothing special. Both were fine for a brewpub, where the beer should be the star.
Now remember, I had just spent 5 hours tasting a wide range of different types & styles of beers. Within that context, I would say that my palate for beer was completely warmed up & has rarely been sharper.
Compared to everything I had sampled & tasted, I would say the beer I had at Auburn Alehouse was just OK, middle of the pack. Their Brown is sessionable, so that's nice but flavor wasn't remarkable. Their PU 240 Imperial IPA wasn't at the the level of some of the others I had at the brewfest.
Auburn Alehouse was an A-OK place to stop in to get some brew & bites. If I lived in/ near Auburn, I would certainly come here often because fresh beer is always the way to go. But compared to what all is available in the ever-expanding craft beer world, I didn't find their beer to be particularly exceptional.
The food and service here are very good. Hubby loved his Reuben sandwich with his huge side of horseradish. Eww. I enjoyed the seasonal pasta with a creamy tomato sauce. Â We noticed the prices on beer and entrees were very reasonable compared to other breweries. Â Parking is difficult but it's only 1 dollar an hour. Â They get really busy on the weekends. The wait was from 30 minutes but quickly went to 1 hour. I really enjoyed the cheesecake. It was a huge slice and for the price it was a generous amount. Â We plan on coming again. As for the growler they are 16 to 22 each and refills are 12$ and up. Hubby might get one sometime.
Review Source:Great food! good bartenders, amazing house brewed beers! and best of all, small home town prices. They have quite the selection of food and beer, you can't come here and not be satisfied, everyone will go home, happy, full and cheery ;) A must go if you are in the mood for some good old american style food.
Review Source:I'm a big fan of Auburn Alehouse so when a friend came from to visit from 5,000 miles away and wanted to experience some "American" food, we thought it would be perfect. Oddly, when we got there, they told us they had a limited number of menus and could we manage with 2 menus for a party of 4? We said sure and sat down, ordered drinks, looked over the menu. No burgers, no meat, nothing but salads and sandwiches. We asked and found out that their grill was out. So, the one restaurant we picked for a rather special occasion absolutely let us down. We stayed because we had already ordered drinks (and we had an infant who was already installed in his high chair), but they really should have just told us they had a "limited menu," not a limited number of menus! I'm sorry, but that's just unbelievably bad service.
Review Source:Started off great!! Finished great!! Â
Bartender was friendly and informative about the beer and the restaurant!
Beer was amazing!! I had the stout and Sarah had the Pilsner! Both get an A!!
Original brick walls and tin ceiling tiles make the atmosphere perfect for old town Auburn!! We will be back for some food soon!!!!
Ok, wrote this on my phone and haven't had a chance to post it till now....small update, we had the cheese biscuits and the sweet potato fries... HOLY YUM!!! Â Can't wait to come back for an actual meal!!! I am as close to giving this place a 5 as I can get. Â I just didn't get that "this place is a 5" feeling.... that's the only thing holding me back. Â BUT, I do try to reserve the 5 starts for the highest of high ratings.... just to clarify....
If you like draft beer, this is your place. Â They have a wide variety that they brew themselves, and there is bound to be something that you like.
And if you give me a pint of good beer, I can put up with slow service and variable food. Â Which is what they have. Â So what? Â You can get fast service at MacDonald's, but not beer. Â Come here when you have some time to spend.
Most recently I had the Reuben sandwich, which was very good.
3.5 stars overall (the extra star is for good service)
they have good fish tacos. fresh and light. you have the choice of grilled or battered (grilled is always good). juicy and done right!
the shanghai nachos were ok. i like the ahi but i think it was too much fried wonton skin and not enough other garnishments like slaw or pickled veggies.
pickled chips were interesting. a little too much batter for my taste and very salty (but hey it's pickles). would not get it again.
mac and cheese is over priced ($10 add $1 for bacon). it's very heavy and rich. i guess if you like that stuff then go for it. as for me i'll pass next round.
great friendly service which i love.
Couldn't find a seat at the Auburn Ale House bar. Misread the beer of the week that they cask pour so  I got a surprise beer- don't ask me to name it but it was smooth
good barley depth and a joy. Couldn't find a seat but that kept me on my feet and somehow reminded me of the awesome Gold Digger. Staff was really cool in standing room only situation. Food looked great but had to roll-I'll get back sometime.
Great beer and nice atmosphere. We sat outside on the deck. Lovely. The waitress was super attentive and not bugging you every 5 minutes. She recommended good beer. Her suggestions were right on!
I had the artisan cheese plate and my friends had pulled pork sandwiches. Everything was tasty. The sweet potato fries were perfect. Savory and sweet.
I will be back!
Menu is typical bar food with some standouts. The sweet potato fries were good and the Ahi Nachos were different and definitely tasty. The atmosphere is so so. Big bar, some high tops and a handful of tables. Our view was of the back of the servers station and then the kegs which had the lights turned off. The patio seemed nice and maybe would have improved the atmosphere for me. I had a shandy - beer and lemonade - for which they used their porter. It was refreshing. My friend ordered a cocktail off of the menu but that was not my thing. I would go again after another hike out in Auburn but to sit outside this time.
Review Source:This review is for the beer, and boy they have some good beer. We wandered to the Alehouse after a nice long hike in the morning, and it definitely hit the spot.
The Fools gold kick your butt with 7.5% alc though you'd never guess it because it is so smooth. The Cease and Desist was great with a flowery note.
Pints about 4.5$, growlers to go start at $16. The Sampler wears awesome and a great way to try all their beers in one go.
Definitely coming back with my growler for a fill
Packed on sat afternoon
Pathetic service. I went here for happy hour with a group from work, the bar was full so we were seated in restaurant (the other side if a 8 ft 1/2 wall six inches from the "bar") we tried to order from the Happy Hour Bar menu and were told that it was for "Bar" seating only. There was no capacity which we pointed out, the waitress says well I will talk to the manager and find out if we can make an exception. Some of the people in the group ordered a burger. A full 25 minutes later, they brought us drinks, a full 32minutes after that, they showed up with the burgers and none of the Happy Hour specials. Never even asked if we would like the option to choose something else. Patheticly, slow service, and overall a dismal experience. Only decent thing about this place is the ambiance.
Review Source:My mother and I visited the Alehouse a couple weeks ago.  We were in the Old Town area and thought we would try it out.  I'm not sure what was going on, it seems like most had a great experience from the previous reviews.  We were seated quickly at a window seat in the front, which was great.  30 minutes goes by and nothing.  So, I got up and asked the hostess if she could get our waitress/waiter so we can get our drinks while we are waiting.  The hostess ended up getting us our drinks.  Another 30 minutes go by and  still no waitress/waiter.  We just got up and left.  I gave the hostess some money for the sodas and that was that.  It was disappointing.  I like the decor and location, but what's the point if you never get food.
Review Source:This is my 3rd and final visit to the Ale House. Â I explained to my server that I had a short amount of time to eat, so I ordered soup - quick, easy, right?!?!? Â Ladel the stuff up, grab a piece of bread... Nope. Â I waited more than 30 minutes - for SOUP - and wasnt even able to eat before I had to leave. Â The food is okay, but nothing exceptional. I have consistently experienced long wait times and I simply don't have 2 hrs to devote to so-so meals. Â I can get the same food quicker and cheaper elsewhere. Â It's sad that as a local to Auburn, I now have one less place to eat. Â If you want a beer and nothing more, this is your place. Â Otherwise, dont waste your time - or mine for that matter!
Review Source:Quick update: Â The kitchen seems to have worked out some kinks and has improved greatly! Â The pizza is gone (boo) but I understand it's difficult to perfect pizza when it's not your specialty. Â If there is a special pairing - do it!! Â
The beer has remained excellent - if not gotten better.
Normally, I am not a big fan of breweries as I do not drink beer. But my partner loves beer and so I thought that I would give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. The food was delicious and the view (we were seated in the window) was awesome. The service was exceptional, prompt and friendly. My partner enjoyed his beer sampler, they have a very large selection. Get the cheese bread appetizer.... it was amazing....
Review Source:It's been 4 years since my last review...  and in that time, I've grown to love their beers as well as the kitchen. I've always loved the old town Auburn location and ol Shanghai building.   I've never had a dissapointing meal here, and the beers are some of the best you'll find anywhere, whether you're a hop head  (PU240, ZZ Hops, Gold Digger), a stout lover or anything else in between.  Brian runs a cool local place (though it still gets quite busy on weekend nights), and Bill is a master brewer!
Review Source:Thursday night at the Alehouse ordered beer sampler, Â ahi tuna, cheese bread with a terrific server named Mallory. Â This place is more fun than any place in the land of Auburnites. Â A definite place to visit and enjoy great food and even better beer. Â Be sure to ask for Mallory as your server. Â She makes an effort to explain all 13 tap beers and the specialty foods.... BTW you might want to make it in early. This place fills up fast and is very popular.
Review Source:Went here once last fall on a Sunday night. Â Boyfriend and I split a beer taster. Â (Fun, great deal, but whoa, high alcohol content so watch out).
My boyfriend did a good job ordering.  He  ordered fish tacos (pretty good, not awesome, but good). Â
But as usual, I only did an okay job ordering with the portabella mushroom sandwich. Â The mushroom was good, but the whole thing was kinda flavorless, needed more sauce or something. Â And 11$ for a veggie sandwich is pretty steep. Â Restaurants frustrate me when the veggie sandwich is the same price / more expensive than the meat sandwich, I hate having to pay more to eat healthier.
Things that are awesome: their pint glasses / brand. Â Bought 2 glasses for my dad for Xmas, and he loved them.
Fun place for small-town Auburn, but I wouldnt go out of my way to go back there.
This place is really something special! Great old town location, remarkable brews, exceptional food & fantastic ambiance & vibe!!!
The beers are brewed on site & world class quality. The pulled pork sandwich melted in our mouth and was as tasty, tender and flavorful as they come. The sweet potato fries, crispy fries & fried pickle chips were all served hot, crispy and delicious. Our group was very satisfied with everything we tasted!!!
We look forward to our next visit and highly recommend to our friends, family and anyone looking for a great beer, meal, people watching and something different from the boring chains that continue to dot our landscape.
Cheers!
This review is based on an average of about a dozen visits. There have been days where I would rate it a 2 star experience and days where I would rate it a 4 star experience. Never a 1, never a 5. Beer is not the greatest, they do have good ones but you're really taking a gamble if you're trying something new. Food used to be a lot better, quality has started to go downhill recently, although still O.K. for pub standards. They used to have pesto fries which were delicious, but they took them off the menu for some reason.
The most recent experience was not so great, the bartenders really need to learn how to pour a beer. 3 finger head on everything this brunette bartender was serving, I thought it was just me and the unlucky keg killer curse, but I watched half a dozen other dudes give the rolled eyes expression as soon as the bartender walked away. It seems pretty simple, hold the glass at an angle, but she would just set the glass down and open the tap until the foam got to the top. If it wasn't for the crap pour, I would have ordered a second and possibly a third pint, and I would have tipped better.
I saw the sign.
After passing by the sign on Hwy-49 (hey, that rhymes) numerous times and thinking to myself "self, you should stop there sometime", i finally stopped there. Â We stopped at around 7pm on a Saturday and it was packed. Â After a 30 minute wait for a table for three we got seated at a table made up inside (that's right, I said inside) the...wait for it...brewery room. Â Where else better to eat at an alehouse than with the still fermenting hops. Â The food is great, and the beer is even better. Â
Get the stuffed bread by the way. Â You can send me thank you notes later.
At least six trips to the Alehouse have earned this long overdue review.
This is a high-energy, loud place. You may wait a half hour or more during peak times (like after your Auburn Recreation Area day hike).
Tip: Call ahead (they'll add your name to a second list) and, if you must wait, there is a second "mini-counter" toward the back. You might be able to snag a seat here, if nowhere else. And, you can watch the kitchen staff working their magic.
The 10-glass brew sampler (3 oz. each =30 ounces total), at $10, was just right for us to share. It did take awhile for our ten little glasses to arrive, but when they did, our server took the time to describe each one. We ended up liking about half the brews, but being a guy, I made sure each little glass was bone-dry by the end of our meal. Our server also comped us a taste of a seasonal brew, ZZ Hop, a triple dry-hopped 9+% alcohol ale. It wasn't a hit for us, but I'll bet it would sterilize a wound nicely.
We shared an AWESOME, 5-star WILD salmon sandwich. And an order of sweet potato fries that, oddly enough, were breaded. Whatever. They, and the spicy aioli that accompanied them, were quickly dispatched between gulps of brew.
Service was mostly spot-on. The ambiance, though noisy, is warm and inviting with the earthquake steel beams contrasting with murals and old brick. Â And the view, through the picture-glass windows looking out over historic old Auburn and the county courthouse, is amazing. Â
There's also a nice wine bar/restaurant across the street if you're in the mood.
If you had a disappointing experience last time, I'd say give the Alehouse another shot!
We came on a busy Saturday afternoon, and we were OK with a 10-15 minute wait. After about that long, the hostess asked us if there was any way we would be interested in sitting on the patio, which had heaters. After a moment's hesitation, and being told it'd be yet another 10 minutes before we'd get seated, we decided to go sit on the patio.
The hostess turned up the heater, and as far as comfort went, it was warm enough. But we were the only people seated out there and we worried that we would be forgotten about.
And indeed we were. It took a realllly long time to actually get our server. In the meantime, we watched staff come in and out of the door carrying various things, and nobody even looked at us. I watched one guy run in and out of the door, and another time, watched him slide down a ramp with a barrel while running.
Still no service.
After about 10 minutes, the spouse said, well, I give them another five minutes and we're leaving. (I was secretly excited because I'd wanted to go to Carpe Vino, and the spouse said, well, I guess we can go to your fancy place.)
The server was lucky -- he came at T-minus 90 seconds.
We'd certainly had enough time not only to choose our drinks but also our food so we were prepared to order and when we said something to that effect, he instead took off and got our water and my beer.
The whole point of telling him we were ready to order was that we weren't sure whether we'd ever see him again.
He did return quicker than we expected, considering that it took him long enough to come out in the first place.
Now getting to the food part: I ordered the four cheese macaroni and cheese and added some bacon. The spouse had the O'Brien hamburger with goat cheese and a side salad.
We both liked the food a lot. It's about what you'd expect out of pub food, maybe slightly better.
But the spouse was pretty unhappy about the service, and when the spouse is unhappy, nobody is happy.
Because our service was indifferent at best, when our server came back to take plates away, the spouse asked for the check. We knew that if we waited, it'd be a while before we saw him again. To his credit, the server attempted to sell us on some dessert, but it was a half-hearted effort.
We won't be back. Nobody else was seated back there, for whatever reason -- though the hostess did attempt to seat a couple of people back there, and they left after one of them went to the bathroom.
(Three, maybe three and a half stars for the food, but two for service, being seated by ourselves. We don't smell.)
Best alehouse I have ever been to personally.
The place isn't huge, but the food was good and everything tasted fresh and came to us quickly. I had the turkey sandwich with a few modifications and it was perfect. My BF had a steak sandwich and he said it was great and basically cleaned his plate. They have a decent sized menu, but it is mostly sandwiches and pub type food.
Food is priced very reasonably for a stylish alehouse, I was surprised! Their beer is also priced right.
We came in on a busy afternoon due to the Auburn Street Festival. Even though it was pretty busy we were seated right away in a booth. Our server, Mallory, handled our questions easily and with a big, warm smile.
I would suggest this place after doing a little bit of shopping around downtown Auburn.
This restaurant is my go-to for when my family has visitors from out of town. The food is consistently good (though admittedly not amazing) and there is a great variety of beers to try.
My go-to is the pulled pork sandwich, it is one the best pulled pork sandwiches that I have ever eaten in a restaurant. Also, their fries are spectacular, wonderfully crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. A can't miss for appetizers is the cheese bread, its hard to mess up bread stuffed with cheese, garlic, olive oil, and balsamic. It's a great indulgence.
The only thing that is a negative for me is how the atmosphere has changed, lately there has been a ton of not good music just blasting through the building, whereas before it was just has more of a chill, laid back (and more quiet) mood.
Solid post-Tahoe dinner stop. Good beers (not great) and good food (not great). Downtown Auburn is really quite cute so would gladly return here and explore more.
Best item we ordered: pulled pork sandwich. Burger and O'Brien Melt were just okay. Service was decent - as good as we could have expected on a busy night while seated at the bar (long-ish wait for tables).
The 'Rye Not?' beer was the best we ordered. Also good were the Old Town Brown and Alt Beer. We didn't like the high alcohol Fool's Gold Ale.
8/16/2012
I absolutely LOVE this place! I have walked by it time and time again but for some reason, have never stopped in until now. Mannn....I've been missing out!!
Their Beer, Food, Service and Atmosphere is fabulous! I had met a friend in Cool, CA and she was here visiting. We decided to take the short drive to Auburn and have lunch. We used to come up to Auburn often, many years ago and were glad for this find!
It was a perfectly cool, early evening and we decided to sit outside on the back patio. My friend ordered a Beer Sampler. I didn't even know you could do that! I was excited when our server arrived with 10 - small glasses of beer. We got to sample nearly every beer that they carry. I was highly impressed by the knowledge our server had of each beer that was placed before us. He even knew which foods would go best with each brew, the alcohol content and explained the differences, down to the last detail. I felt like quite the beer connoisseur when he was finished! My favorites were the Auburn Export Lager, Gold Country Pilsner and the Fool's Gold Ale.
I ordered the Walnut Gorgonzola salad. It was absolutely delicious! The candied walnuts, gala apples, crumbled bleu cheese and cherry vinaigrette were a perfect symphony of flavors over the chopped butter lettuce and went down smooth with a few swigs of the Could Country Pilsner.
I also had their Auburn Alehouse Reuben sandwich. It was so rich in flavors, it's making me hungry now, while I write this! My friend ordered the Ahi Tuna. I'm not a fan of raw fish but it was plated beautifully and my friend said it was amazing!
I can't wait to go back!
This review is for the beer only. Â
A visit to Auburn Alehouse has been on my wish list since last year when I went camping up near Grass Valley. Â Unfortunately the timing wasn't right, being either too early or too late for a stop at the brewery. Â This time on my way back from camping I made a point to stop on the way home for some beer tasting. Â I'm so glad I did!
It was around 100 degrees in Auburn but we found a large parking lot just outside of the old town area with plenty of spots & some shade. Â Walking into the Alehouse we were greeted by a nice rush of cool air. Â Ahhh! Â We found ourselves a spot at the bar & checked out the beer menu while eyeing the yummy looking food that others at the bar were enjoying. Â Damn those fish tacos smelled good! Â But we had already eaten lunch so I'll have to try them next time around.
We decided to get the sampler. Â For $10 we got 10 generous beer pours. Â Just look at the pic! Â
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/b2w-zSoTWIzhUvhNj89cEg?select=sZUBtQtplvsKRD6ZYKoETg#sZUBtQtplvsKRD6ZYKoETg">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
This was definitely enough for 2, and seeing that I was driving I could only take small sips of each. Â But the best part about the sampler was the bartender who served us. Â I wish I would have gotten her name because she was amazing. Â She explained each beer in detail, told us the stories behind them, & gave us the alcohol content. Â You would think that after doing this several times a day she'd be bored with it all, but she was so enthusiastic it got me excited about their beer!
Since we tried 10 beers that day I can't remember them all, but these were the ones I really liked:
Fool's Gold pale ale
Gold Country pilsner (very refreshing on a hot day)
Miner's Wheat
Old Town Brown
PU240 Imperial IPA
There were a few that I didn't care for, mostly because they were too hoppy (the Triple IPA was too much for me!). Â But all in all it was such a great experience & I love that they have a beer to fit every person's taste.
They also sell growlers & a few of their varieties in 22 oz. bottles. Â I got me a 22 ouncer of Fool's Gold to take home. Â Why didn't I get a few more?? Â Well that just means I'll have to find an excuse to go to Auburn soon.
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