If you like cocky waiters and unimaginative entrees - this is the place for you. Of course, their specialty is beer,and they do have a lovely selection, but expect to be served boring food with a know-it-all attitude from the wait staff. Â With better choices in town, I wouldn't bother to go there again.
Review Source:I have been to Capital Ale House multiple times for beer ( they have a very impressive and extensive beer selection). However, tonight was the first time I actually went for dinner. It was a disappointment. We were a party of six, and we waited over an hour for our main courses. When we finally got them, all of our fries were cold (in which they compensated by bringing us all fresh plates of hot fries almost immediately... why not just give us hot fries to begin with?). We then ordered desert which took another 20+ minutes to retrieve.
They may have great beer (which I WILL return for)... but I would not recommend going to them for anything but.
I'm a huge fan of Capital Ale House. Excellent beer selection, and unlike Callie's before it, they have good quality food as well. Definitely put your hands on the Black Bean Burger on $2 burger night (Monday), and other daily specials. You get more bang for your buck. Only reason it's not 5 stars is because their beer can be a bit ridiculously priced. Â You're probably better off getting a growler and refilling it if you're just coming for beer.
Review Source:Went in for brunch on a Sunday. Â Server got both specials wrong, meaning brought out something other than what we ordered. Â I didn't want to be a problem, so let her know it was wrong but that I would have it anyway. Â My husband wanted the prime rib special so he sent his back. Â Maybe 5 minutes later they brought out his prime rib, it was not cooked correctly and was obviously someone else's meal that they could bring out quickly. Â When we got the check, we had been charged for 3 specials, instead of 2, and the waitress knew it. Â We motioned her over and she said "they didn't take it off...". Â We did not make a big deal, but her tip reflected our displeasure. Â She messed up our order, brought out substandard food, and overcharged us. Â We will not be back for brunch.
Review Source:We gave the Ale House 4 stars because of their excellent beer selection. Â They do need a new head chef though. Â Our dinners were served warm, not hot, and 1/3 of my pork chops were flat, and even too tough to cut. Â I know we'll go again so I'm already planning on having a hamburger as their menu has one pg. of just hamburgers.
Review Source:I've been to Capital Ale House a few times. Food is just okay. Expensive but not all that exceptional. My girlfriends and I went  there a few weeks ago for drinks and I was so excited they had my favorite hard cider on tap (Bold Rock). The bartender wasn't all that great and his tip reflected that. He didn't seem happy to be there at all and that's a shame!
Review Source:Oh, I really wanted to love this place. Â Like someone else said, maybe they haven't quite got their footing, but the food was definitely "meh". Â Selection of beer was OK but it's hard to compare with JB's on that one. Â The pork was pretty overcooked and the creme brulee was burnt so badly I didn't recognize it at all as a creme brulee. Â When asked to have it redone a little less scorched, our server returned with a CB untouched by a torch and told us the chef said it's supposed the be the way it was so he left this one untorched. Â The second dessert was cold custard with sugar sprinkled on it. Â Again, not tasty at all. Â Please inform your chef on how to cook a proper creme brulee, at the very least. Â It was a shame. Â Best of luck CAH!
Review Source:Kind of "meh" at best. Very long wait for food and drinks and food was just so so. My impression that they don't really care about food as much as beer was confirmed when we asked for some ketchup and it arrived in a generic bottle. If you don't care about the small things like ketchup in the front of the house, I don't even want to know what you are doing in the back of the house. Although after eating my dinner, I do have suspicions.
Review Source:We usually vibe with the flow projected by fellow Yelp reviews but on this spot we must disagree with our fellow reviewers to this point.
Our first night in Harrisonburg started with a wicked good burger at Jack Browns. (While a great beer selection in bottles, the lack of seating makes one feel greedy for coping a squat too long after inhaling the fare) so we set out to find more beer. What a great find right down the street! There are a fantastically redonkulous amount of beers on tap - in 10 and 20 sizes. Having eaten already we didn't get into the menu but it seemed like normal pub fare with a German twist. Several selections sounded appetizing - we'll attack them next time.
We spent a few hours working through a well detailed beer menu. The decor is a bit sparse but the background music is nice and the atmosphere is relaxed. The biggest drawback seems to be a lack of distinct style and flair - it has modern upscale decor, but there's just no soul. We had a fun server and some great conversation, but we can see how it could be boring for some clientele. A few flat screens, maybe a pool table and dart board and you'd have a spot to hang out with friends. But now maybe a quick beer before going somewhere fun.
I went here with a large group (12) to celebrate two birthdays. We had a table upstairs, I really liked how the layout was several smaller rooms up there.
We had two servers, one who was forgettable and avoided being attentive...she appeared pissed off that we were a group of 20-something college kids among a sea of older folks in the dining room. Whatever, we dropped some serious cash and they add on an automatic 20% gratuity to large groups. It doesn't take much to smile or be personable. The other was KB (I believe?) who was GREAT! Really friendly and helpful. We were dining with four vegetarians and she let us know that they could make any of their burger combinations on the menu using their homemade vegan burger (which I really enjoyed, definitely fresh and tasty).
What I didn't enjoy was an overall lack of attentiveness. With a large group comes refills that need to happen constantly, plates need to be cleared, etc. Management should expect this when a reservation is made and plan accordingly. Food runners seemed really disoriented as well.
I heard rave reviews about the burgers all around as well as the calamari appetizer. I thought the hummus was nothing special and over-priced. The beer here was good, a little too pretentious for me but I guess I'm not a beer snob.
I think a lot of people are griping about the prices here. It is probably the most expensive bar-type restaurant in Harrisonburg, but it has a great ambiance and one of the most impressive menu selections.
We will definitely be back on the special nights during the week when it is more affordable.
Service was fantastic, but the menu was disappointing. Â Pub fare with nothing that excited me so I ended up with an order of wings, which were less than stellar (though plentiful). Â Overpriced entrees. Â Friends had the prime rib (looked awful) and burgers (which they said they loved). Â Great place for beers, though with 100 taps.
Review Source:I have been there twice and it seems like with a few price tweaks it could be great. Â The beer selection is fantastic, however the beer prices are pretty high. Â The food is pretty good, but again its very pricey. Â However, there seem to be some really good specials. Â It is a little frustrating that there is really only one good night a week for beer specials considering its an ale house. Â The only thing that bothered me was the waitress telling me about how great the special that night was "$5 off growlers!!!" but considering the growlers are around $15 to $18, that's not a very great deal. Â If you have money to spend you can have a really nice time here, but I probably won't be coming back until there are more real beer specials.
Review Source:My girlfriend and I visited around lunch time mid week. Â We were seated immediately and after each deciding on a beer, were disapointed that they were both sold out. Â My next beer of choice was also sold out, but my girlfriend found a pilsner that she wanted to try, and myself an IPA. Â Most of the beers are labeled on the menu as available in "large" or "small" or with a specific pour amount. Â i.e, 8 oz. Â I asked the waitress the difference between the large and small and was told that it just depended on the beer. Â That seems odd. Â I want to know how much I'm getting for the money I'm paying. Â All the beers were overpriced. Â The waitress returned with an Imperial of some sort for my GF and a Chocolate Stout for me. Â I told the waitress our beers weren't correct. Â She seemed to not believe me, but said she'd go check the computer. Â She returned and told us that everything had been put in to the computer correctly..... Â OoooK. Â That's nice, but either the bartender poured the wrong beers or she picked the wrong ones up. Â She offered to get me "something else" Â insisting our beers were correct. Â I wanted the beer I had ordered, but I didn't feel like arguing with her anyomore. Â She brought me another IPA. Â We also purchased fries with different ailoi's which were pretty good but nothing special. Â
The manager met us on the way out and we told him of our experience. Â He apologized but didn't offer any compensation. Â (Granted we had already paid, and should have tracked him down before hand)
I'm disapointed that the staff of a beer restaraunt doesn't know the difference between a stout vs an IPA and a pilser vs an amber colored imperial. Â
I may try again if I'm craving a specific beer and not able to find it anywhere else, but otherwise, I'll go to Billy Jacks for craft beer.
Harrisonburg lost a great institution when Cally's closed shop. So there's my bias, but trust me, the vast majority of those entering these doors will judge Capital Ale House based on Cally's.
On to the review!
Service gets 3.5 stars. It was friendly enough but had a few squeaks. Servers didn't know the menu that well and had a hard time making recommendations other than just looking at the menu and listing things off. I noticed on numerous occasions those bringing out the food (including the manager) confused as to which table it went to.
Beer gets 2.5 stars. Yes, they have "100 beers on tap". I would characterize the selection by saying they are the 100 most readily available and predictable craft/micro/import brews available in Virginia. When I asked if there was anything currently available that was not on the menu, the server said there were... but then was not able to tell me what they were. Most normal ABV brews come in a small ($4-7) ~12 oz? and a large ($7-12) ~21 oz. The higher ABVs generally come in a 10oz snifter from $5-10.
Food gets 2 stars. I would say the menu is american with a smattering of german options. Meat salads, meat appetizers, meat sandwiches, meat burgers, meat entrees. I had the Jaegerschnitzel, the mushroom sauce was pretty good but the cutlet itself was way overcooked. The red and white sauerkrauts were the highlight of the dish. The salad was a really really sad bowl of 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 slices of cucumber and a pile of white and green frisee with a weird uncut "crouton".
Sorry Capital Ale House. I hate writing such negative reviews, but you've got a long way to go.
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