Brand new fan of this place!
Stopped in for a nightcap after a day on the beach at Tybee. Â Huge sign over the door on the inside proclaims what this place will NOT serve you - Bud, Michelob, Miller, Stella, Yuengling. Â :-) Â But bar manager promises that if you really want one of those, he has a craft option on tap that you'll like just as well if not better.
We started with easy drinking lagers to go with our fried pickle spears and pretzel bites. Â Surprising amount of spiciness in both - the pickles were the spicy part rather than the breading. Â And even the pretzels had a bit of bite to them. Â (They were heavy on the salt which was a plus for me but not so much for my tall handsome charming Brit.)
Real highlight of the visit was the Red Brick "The Lost Years" beer. Â High alcohol, 12 oz pour - of the best beer I've ever had. Â This is an end of the evening, sipping beer - definitely not a session brew. Â Dark, smooth, incredibly flavorful - due to the use of bourbon casks.
A bit off the beaten path but that means not as much touristy fuss and well worth the search.
Can't wait to go back to Savannah just for The Distillery!
Had lunch here this afternoon. Was very disappointed. Read the reviews and most spoke of great beers and good food - in think you must have to partake in the beers to appreciate the food because ours was below par. Fish was over cooked, coleslaw tastes sour, shrimp was tough. Then the service was almost nonexistent - server would walk by smile at us with empty glasses and keep going. I would not recommend this place to eat. Most expensive meal I have had so far in Savannah and certainly not worth the money or time!
Review Source:We visited Savannah this weekend with friends and took advantage of their special event, Brews & Clues, a murder mystery beer dinner. It was such an AWESOME time! We got to socialize with each other and with others attending the dinner, enjoy a special selection of beers from Sweetwater Brewing Company while learning about Sweetwater and the Distillery, and eat a specially crafted prix fixe dinner which paired with the beers.
The event menu incorporated the featured beers and it was great to see the chef pop up at every course to describe his thoughts around the dishes and how he put them together. It was so well executed, I hope they decide to make this a regular event.
I'm putting a picture of the menu up so ya'll can see what we ate!
Thanks Distilllery for giving us a taste of Savannah and putting Sweetwater Brewing Company on our "beer radar"!
Editing to include the menu (couldn't really see it in the photo)
Sweetwater 420
Amuse Bouche of Buttermilk pancakes, bacon bits and 420 infused syrup
Sweetwater Blue
Pan seared sea scallop with toasted sweet corn puree and Blue poached blueberries
Sweetwater Some Strange - Dank Tank Series
Stone ground honey mustard pork tenderloin with thyme infused Some Strange peaches, fontine grits, and fried onion
Sweetwater Centennial Peppercorn IPA Cask
Peppercorn encrusted ahi tuna with melon trio, jalapeño créme, and micro greens
Sweetwater 16th Anniversary
16th Anniversary braised beef short ribs, seasonal potatoes, local honey
Sweetwater Exodus Porter with Cocoa Nibs Cask
Banana Coconut tiramisu with raspberry Exodus sauce and baby buckeyes
Sweetwater Georgia Brown - after dinner brew :-)
My husband and I went to Savannah over the weekend & I was forced to go here! (I'm not a beer drinker) we sat at the bar and was immediately greeted by our wonderful bartender Jarrod. He was everything you would want in a bartender! Very outgoing & personable, he suggested the cheesesteak egg rolls, onion rings & the hog hammers. All of these items were outstanding and I also drank my first ever beer, that was actually pretty tasty. We are looking forward to our next visit & a deep fried moon pie!
Review Source:Great beer selection, even if our waitress got our orders confused. Â We tried to order a second correctly, and she did the same thing again. Â Food was one step above you're normal bar food, but the blackened chicken sand which we split was tasty enough. Â Full liquor bar available as well.
Review Source:This has become one of my go-to places in Savannah. Â It has a fun atmosphere to get together with friends. I really like that they play silent movies. Â Kind of just makes you stop and slow down a bit. Â Food is mostly bar variety but decent. Â The crab soup is extremely rich though, a cup will be enough. Â Tried the deep fried moon pie which was fine, but honestly I thought just tasted like waffles. Â The burgers are pretty good as well as the appetizers. Â The menu has something for just about anyone. Â If you sit at the bar, the bartenders will really help to steer you in a direction as to what you might like, if you're not sure about any of the beers on the list. Â I think it's fun to try something that sounds unique that I would never try usually. Â I'm sure they get a lot of tourists here but my work group likes to meet up here as well. Â It's not perfect, but it's one of the better places in Savannah.
Review Source:We ate here the first time back in April of 2012 and loved their craft beer selection. Â On top of that their food is fresh, simple and robust. Â I had the Bootlegger Hamburger.....WOW, and the fries are delicious. Â I cannot give a high enough recommendation.....right downtown near the Visitor's Center and in walking distance to the Savannah River.
Review Source:We moved away from Savannah 3 years ago, and when we came back to visit this place was on the list of must-go-to's. Bartenders are friendly, knowledgeable and never sloppy (even on St. Pat's weekend). Servers are also happy and they know what they're doing. Food is freaking delicious and Service is FAST. Try the fried pickles, crab cake sandwich and deep fried moon pie. Yum. Oh yeah...and BEER! If its your speed, the cinnamon infused whiskey is also fantastic.
Review Source:We first came here in January with our neighbors and on their advice had the crab cake sandwich. Â WOW!!! Â Big chunks of crab, little filling, great seasoning - this is how a Maryland crab cake should be made. Â I've had this twice and wasn't disappointed either time. Â The last time we were there I had the Savannah Chicken salad. Â The menu says it comes blackened or fried, but I asked for it grilled. Â The waitress told me it wasn't a problem, and the salad was fine. Â The honey mustard dressing was above average - not too sweet, not too mustardy. Â Hubby had the Hard-Hearted Hannah turkey sandwich. Â He's not a fan of cole slaw but he liked this.
We're not beer drinkers so I really can't comment on that, but I do appreciate the fact that they support microbreweries.  I recommended this restaurant to another neighbor and they've already been three times.  Both sets of neighbors are beer drinkers and they're  fans of the beer selections.
The only reason I didn't give this five stars is that the service was a tad slow. Â Not horribly, but they were busy each time we went and had to wait a little longer than normal to get our food. Â Other than that, the servers were friendly and made us feel welcome.
While visiting Savannah, I wanted to find a place to have lunch. Â After reading about the Distillery on the Visit Savannah page on Facebook, I decided to check out this restaurant. Â The Distillery has a nice selection of craft beers with a pre-Prohibition theme, as long as a decent food menu.
I sat at the bar, was promptly served a nice beer brewed in Georgia, since I was looking for a beer that I figured that I would not find back in New York. Â I also ordered a burger, which tasted great, even well done.
While I'm not sure when the next time I'll be in Savannah, I would definitely recommend this restaurant to others.
To: The Distillery
From: Me
Re: You impressed this serious beer geek.
The mister and I headed down to Savannah for a long weekend. I was slightly concerned if the microbrewery scene was strong in SAV, but boy, was I wrong. We went into The Distillery (which is deceiving name for a beer bar), and was greeted by excellent bartender, wonderful tap selection and an extensive list of bottles. Â In addition, we ordered some apps to enjoy.
All was good. Â I had great appreciation for the chalkboard message above the front door that says, "We do NOT carry: Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Yuengling, Michelob, Corona, Stella, Heineken, Blue Moon, Killians."
fun atmosphere. good food and best of all only good beer.
the selection of beer is amazing, all craft beer so if you only dink bud, bud light, miller or any regular old beer you wont get it here. i love dark beers and ipas, and lagers, they had good selection of all. even had beer from so cal when i was there ( green flash brew co.).
good place to try gator tail. comes deep fried and seasoned.
over all was good experience, and good service.
can not wait till i return to savannah.
Our bartender, Brooks, was absolutely fantastic. Super helpful and informative.
I couldn't even begin to say enough about this place. The food was good for bar food...but the drinks. OH MAN... THE DRINKS.
Jared, one of the bartenders, takes time to craft the infused spirits. They, too, were absolutely fantastic
The two days that we went in the spirits were an apple cinnamon irish whiskey, a cherry vanilla bean bourbon and a pickle vodka.
I couldn't pick a favorite but the apple cinnamon Irish whiskey in the rocks was much like a heavenly slice of apple pie.
If you're looking for that unique craft brew and specialized drink bar... this is the place. If you're a boring, run of the mill type of person looking for a Bud Light brewski or a Corona with lime... don't even think about stepping into this place as the menu does not include any type of Bud, Killians, Corona, Blue Moon... (etc) beer.
I would give The Distillery 5 stars except that as a vegetarian my choices are very limited. That being said, the black bean burger is to die for. Seriously, it is the best "veggie burger" I've ever had. And the beer list is obviously incredible. I love the service, the atmosphere and the food. I only wish that I had a few more choices.
Review Source:I thought it was a neat little spot however I was hoping for some more unusual brews. The one thing I like about Charlotte is that they have some unique combinations (Jalapeno, Coco-Loco etc.) and they didn't really have anything like that on tap. I will say they seem to rotate often so perhaps it was just the day I went. My first selection kicked before I could try it so I ended up with the Uinta Dubhe which was pretty tasty.
It was a little quiet for a  late-afternoon Saturday but it is off season. If you like beer it seemed to be a good choice but I didn't feel it was that out of the ordinary.
Also, I found it a little funny that they announce they don't serve "crap" beer such as Stella Artois (which I actually like...gasp) or Coors (which I do not), but they serve Absolut Vodka and other low-brow liquors.
This place has an excellent beer menu.
Does anything else matter?
I didn't think so.
The food is fine, but I didn't have super high expectations for a bar/beer-centric locale. The cream of crab soup is quite creamy and good. Some of my friends found it a little salty, but I enjoyed it. The $6 cup was a very nice sized portion and I didn't regret my decision to avoid the bowl.
The fish tacos are tasty and come on a generous bed of tortilla chips, which is nice. Lots of Mexican restaurants are stingier with the chips!
I tasted one piece of the Fried Alligator and I wasn't blown away. It tasted like a really salty piece of fried dark meat chicken. However, I can't fault the restaurant for the nature of eating such a beast. The dude who ordered them was quite happy with them...I don't normally eat meat, so take my review with a grain of salt.
The freshly distilled mint chocolate vodka is pretty amazing on the rocks. It manages to be even better with a splash of cream...
Came back to the Distillery for an early dinner as we were leaving Savannah. We were extremely lucky as the weather was near perfect and 3 tables on the patio opened up just as our group of 12 strolled in.
Part of our appetizers were the fried alligator tail which I found overbattered and overfried but still decent enough to eat. I don't think that we will order this again though.
SO settled on the bootlegger burger medium, but it came out pretty well done. I wasn't too much of a fan of this because of the goat cheese, but the bacon looked great!
I decided on the hog basket. The pork pieces were a bit dry and the bbq sauce was pretty gooey with not a lot of flavor surprisingly. But the sweet potato fries were still good.
Although everyone felt pretty average about their dinner, the deserts was what earned this review 4 stars. They were outrageously, crazy good! We had all 3 deserts: the apple pie, the fried moon pie and the pecan pie all served with ice cream. They even had one with a candle in it since we were celebrating SO's birthday.
The moon pie was the first to be scraped clean, it was addicting. I liked the apple pie second, the apples were large and just enough tartiness to them and the crust was pretty good too. The pecan pie was not very sweet which was great, but I am not too crazy about pecan pies in general.
was in savannah for a day so wanted to try as many yummy dishes as I can. my wife picked this place after reading the reviews. We passed this place once trying to find it because the sign is kinda covered by the big tree in front of the store..if looking for this place, keep an eye out for bank of america right next to it.
I got the crab cake which was really good. they also brewed their own beer here tried a beer kinda like guiness but better. staff was friendly and helpful explaining different beers they have.
they also have a fruit beer which was decent.
worth visiting..
The food is great and the beer is even better. There is a sign on the wall saying they do NOT carry - Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Yuengling, Michelob, Corona, Stella Artois, Heineken, Bluemoon, Killians -- No, No, No, No. For the true beer lover this should read as extremely good news. They have a nice selection on tap that continues into bottles and though my heart was broken to hear they ran out of Delirium Tremens I took that as an opportunity to try some drafts I have never heard of.
On the food side the Hog Hammer Basket is awesome and Buffalo Style is the way to go. They took me back to the amazing Hog Wings of the seasonal Smokehouse Cafe in Newport Rhode Island.
The food was great, the atmosphere was great... but that's not why I'm here.
The beer... oh Good Lord, the beer!!! Â I could have made thirty trips to the Distillery and STILL not come close to having everything on the menu that I wanted!!! Â In Alabama there's this nice little "open container" law. Â That law gets me laughed at when I go visit friends in New Orleans haha... Â Savannah doesn't have an open container law. Â I had just ordered a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, and my wife informed me that one of our tours was about to start. Â I admit, when the waitress said she would bring me a to go cup for my 90 Minute, I wept a little. Â I mean, 90 Minute... TO GO!!!
I will DEFINITELY go back to the Distillery, hopefully many many times!!
I went here a couple months ago, but forgot to yelp it. Anyplace that serves good sweet potato fries gets a nod of approval. However, the beer menu didn't have all the beers available. I went through my three first choices before I landed one that sufficed. So that was a bummer. The service was fair for the amount of customers that evening.
I'd try it again when I get a hankerin for some more yam fries.
Distillery, you had me at "fried pickles". Â (In fact, any bar can "have me" with fried pickles). Â I've been here 3 times in the last couple of visits to Savannah and I haven't been disappointed once (I can't say the same for Mrs Wilkes who hasn't been opened for any of my trips down). Â Great bar food with a twist (fish tacos, alligator tails). Â Great beer selections even though the last time there was some confusion as to what was the most current beer list as I kept ordering beers they didn't have that day. Â But the staff was knowledgeable of the many beers on tap, which is always helpful in deciding what to drink.
Next time I'm trying your Jumbo Lump Crab Balls...
If we had just come here once, it would have been a 5 star review, as our first experience was wonderful. Â We are beer geeks, and this place just happened to be right across from our hotel. Â We stopped here on our stroll through historic Savannah, and were very pleasantly surprised by what we found.
Their beer selection was the best that we found in the area, and would put many other "beer places" to shame. Â They had beers from all over the country, and while we were thousands of miles from home, my wife got a beer from a brewery a few miles from us. Â
The bartender that we had, which was late afternoon, was great. Â Very friendly, very knowledgeable, and very helpful. Â He helped us get just what we wanted and we had a great time. Â As this was our first stop, we wanted to check out more of what Savannah had to offer, so we got a beer to go (YES YOU CAN TAKE BEERS WITH YOU IN A CUP!!!!), and went on out way.
As our first experience was so good, we wanted to end our night there to and went back near the end of the night.
Our 2nd experience was just the opposite. Â The bartender was cold and dismissive. Â We didn't even finish our beer, we took it with us and went back to our hotel.
We are still fans of this place, and look to go back, but it was so close to being near perfect for us.
It was my first time visiting the charming city of Savannah; unfortunately my boyfriend and I were so hungry we ate at the first place we came across, The Distillery...
Good draught beer selection. Nothing really local though.
The service was poor, they say seat yourself and pay little attention to new patrons until you get their attention.
We only got the nachos, but they were SICKENING!!! How do you mess up nachos so badly?! The cheese must have been reheated because it was a coagulated, separated, curdled mess. I am still feeling ill picturing them. Blech.
I wold really stay away and find a place with more southern charm and edible food.
In the realm of Historic Savannah bars that I've visited, I think this one is my favorite. Â Friendly bartenders that know their beer will help you make decisions if you aren't sure what you want. Â The beer list, while not extensive at around 21 drafts, seems to be switched out frequently and contains a good selection of craft beers to try.
It's a nicely decorated place too. Â It's a typical old Savannah building with the brick interior, and it aligns nicely with the dark wood of the bar and the furniture. We'll definitely be back here on our next visit to Savannah.
When we got into Savannah our room wasn't ready. Â We asked the hotel for a recommendation for lunch and they recommended this spot. Â It was about 1:00 on a Saturday, and was still fairly crowded. Â It was a seat yourself situation so we found a table and waited...and waited...and waited. Finally I got up and asked a server if we could see menus. Â She brought them . Â My husband had already perused the beer list and ordered one of their craft beers. Â She came back after a while to take our order, but no beer. So we waited...and finally it came. And then we waited for our food...and waited...and waited. By now the place was about half empty. Â Finally almost 40 minutes after ordering it came. Â My burger was literally crisp, it was so overdone, and my husband's fries were soggy and only luke-warm. Â He'd ordered a second beer and it didn't come until he was half-way through his lunch.
So I second those who say go for the beer but not for the food,
20+ beers on tap and NONE of those are standard American swill like Miller Lite (sorry Andrea) or Budweiser. I love places that specifically call out beers they DON'T have (above named), and look down on anyone that orders it. Ballsy.
We walked over from our hotel based on other Yelp reviews and we weren't disappointed in the vibe or beer list. We almost came back the next night it was that good.
I have no idea on the food here, but if you're into beer this is the first place I'd go!
I went to this restaurant on a recommendation from staff at my hotel. My boyfriend and I are beer lovers, so we were really excited to try out this place just walking distance from our hotel. When we walked in, the ambiance was great and all appeared well...superficially.
And then we got our food.
My boyfriend got the crabs cakes, which at market price were $22. They were nasty, cold, overpriced, and not even slighted warm from a heated food lamp. He got luke warm soggy fries as his side. My steak salad was limp and not exciting.
The service was crappy. The waitstaff didn't make eye contact, threw the plates down and didn't make an attempt to smile or be nice.
The only thing slightly redeeming was the beer, but the selection was not good enough to make up for the sub-par food and service. I'd recommend coming for a brew at the bar, then escape before eating their food.
Rude! Â That's the only way I can describe the bartender. Â My husband and I walked in here for one last drink before going back to our hotel. Â Once we walked in I noticed it seemed like a Craft beer joint. Â Completely okay with me, but definitely not my husband. Â Since most Craft beer bars usually have domestic bottles available we stayed. Â Once the bartender approached us I asked if they had any domestics because I didn't see any noted on the board. Â She said they did and went on about how most of the taps were domestic, but when I asked for a regular old light beer (Miller Lite, Coors Lite, etc) she looked at me like I was crazy. Â I was polite and said "thank you", but then we walked out. Â
I know these Craft beer bars are becoming popular but I still think they should at least carry a simple Budweiser, etc. since not everyone has jumped on the Craft beer wagon.
The Distillery really is a mixed bag as far as good and bad.
The burgers and sweet potato fries are both really tasty. Service is fair and easy to get on with. The bar itself has some really cool details in the wood and overall, it has a good atmosphere, if a little rank of hipster. The beer list is huge and seriously impressive but the effect is lost when you order something and they're fresh out. And then again on your second choice.
Hell, I could make a massive list of craft beers and laminate it and present that list to people who walk in my door but really, what good is it if I don't have half of what's on the list inside my house? It's not a menu, it's like a list of possibilities.
One TV is playing classic beer commercials on a loop, which is great for conversation and hey, you can order Falstaff and get a laugh when the server apologizes and says they're out of that too.
Reminds me of Taco Mac with the extensive beer list without the brewniversity concept (all my taco mac people understand what that is, if not go to this website... <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tacomac.com%2Fbrewniversity.html&s=955b1b49a82ab23a836257d44aa5d2bb44c2e9b433e26910620310ceb1d6362e" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.tacomac.com/b…</a>).
I found the place charming. Different, but charming. They had some monkey television thing playing on the screen (it seemed like monkeys were playing characters meant for humans???) and I also witnessed a super drunk girl unable to pay her tab. I guess this place is a place to "watch out" if you're on a budget. Brews range from $4-$20+...depending on what kind you get.
Bartenders were friendly. The place to go to for people who enjoy brewskis.
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