Yes, the beer is good. Â Very good in fact, my beer snob partner took home a growler of the black double IPA he enjoyed it so much. Â However, you will be doing yourself a great disservice if you do not try the bloody mary. Â It was honestly the most delicious bloody mary I've ever had and I've had a lot of bloody marys.
Also, the bartender was nice and fun and it was enjoyable to spend a Sunday afternoon chatting with him.
looong wait for food, but good service. our waiter felt bad for how long it took for us to get our meals and kept apologizing, which is a nice alternative to the waiters who usually ignore the table in these situations.
when we did get the food, it was decent. the bread that they brought out while we were waiting was probably better tasting than the meals...the ingredients used did seem fresh, the food just seemed dull.
the atmosphere of this place was quite clean and stylish in a trendy bar kind of way.
the location was prime - right amongst the other shops in downtown Galena.
I'd see myself coming back here when in town - it's a good option if you're looking for some standard American grub.
Galena Brewery was a nice surprise. We're craft beer fans and try to stop at local places, but Galena really exceeded our expectations. We sat at the bar and ordered two sample flights, one of their standard, year-round beers and the other of the five seasonals. The bartender was friendly and a font of knowledge, eager to answer our questions and chat about the craft beer industry in general. We even learned about the new-to-us strain of "Galena" hops that they use in a couple of their beers.
The place is brightly lit and open, like many warehouses-turned-breweries, and their equipment is all on site. They seemed to have a setup for live music, too, but on a Saturday afternoon, it was relatively quiet, with a couple of TVs and a few other tables.
The summer seasonals were great, especially the rye saison and the tart. I really enjoyed their flagship Annabelle's IPA, too.
We shared a Cuban sandwich, which was ok. The emphasis is on the beer, not the food. Definitely come here for a flight of beers, sit at the bar, and enjoy.
First off I'm giving it 4 stars because we only came in for beers, not to eat. I do enjoy the open atmosphere and lighting. I hate dark places when enjoying drinks and /or food. My husband and I sat at the bar , greeted by a very welcoming, friendly bartender. Â We were just gonna do single beer options but saw a couple next to us had a "sampler". Â We decided to go with that option to get a taste of what Galena has to offer. Â You get 10 samples, 4 seasonal and 6 of what they serve regularly. I believe he said the sampler was $11 bucks... Can't be that! Â My favorite was the seasonal pumpkin (w cinnamon sugar rim) so tasty and I don't like dark beers! My second favorite was the fever river ale (hefeweizen). The rest were either too dark or bitter for my liking. But my beer palate is still in it's infant stages of development (hence why I enjoy the sampler, which helps me develop my palate). Â
I was on my phone (lame AT&T service which makes me phone usage nonexistent up here) and the bartender told me on use wifi and gave me the password! Scored points w me ha!
All in all very friendly service (which in today age, since everyone is a critic... is very important...good customer service has me coming back even if food isn't that great) and enjoyed my time here ... Would come back to try food.
Great beer! Good food! HORRIBLE service. I'm not sure why but the waitresses always seem unhappy and like your bothering them whenever you ask for anything. Never the less, this place is a fun place to hang out. Â I would recommend checking out some of the bands that they book on weekend nights. Â We've caught some really good rockabilly bands here..
Review Source:An amazing little gem in the middle of Galena. Good food and great beer! That's all you need, right? They had some live acoustic entertainment while we were there which was very nice and added to a cozy ambiance. Galena is far from home but I would travel there just to go to this place again!
Review Source:Can we please put this into perspective??
1. this is a Brewery/Brewpub ....not a gastropub.
Go for the beer ...we have been to gastropubs, brewpubs and tasting rooms from coast to coast. Â Food is certainly a bonus, and if it is not great.....who cares, the little bit you got into your stomach will allow you to consume more beer!
Like the beer or hate it. Â Since it is a matter of taste, do not hold it against them for your taste buds...Galena has solid, well crafted, beer offerings here.
They will pour you a tasting of any brew, or, get a flight, and see all that they are. Â I know for sure, that I do not like certain styles of beer, but I will definitely take a few sips to experience what a brewer has to offer.
A. Come here for beer
B. Go back here for beer
Repeat
PS. Â Gastropub is just a short Google search away
Great beer, TERRIBLE service.  Went there at 4pm on a Thursday.  There was a total of 6 people  in the place including one person literally sleeping at bar.  Seated ourselves and were greeted by a bartender who gave us drink menus and said they would bring us a food menu.  15 minutes later the same bartender greeted us like she never saw us come in.  Never got a food menu, had to grab one of a table from customers that left irritated.  We had to order our drinks from who i think was the owner just passing through.  the bartender spoke to everyone except us including people who came in after we did.  Food was tolerable at best.  Service was horrid.  Excellent beer though.
Review Source:Nice place to stop and have some beers and apps. I had the Krystalweizen - a nice wheat beer that wasn't overly fruity. I can't remember what the husband had, but he liked it.
They had a wide variety of beer selections and customized flights. We shared some nachos and chicken tenders that were frankly a tad below average and uninspired (yes, chicken tenders and nachos can be inventive and inspired!)
Service was prompt and friendly. Not sure if I'd go back for food, but definitely for some afternoon or evening beers!
All the beers we tried were very good. Â I especially liked their seasonal brew, Calabasas Ale - a pumpkin ale, which came in a glass rimmed with pumpkin pie spice sugar. Â Yum!
We also tried four different small appetizers (their "tapas" menu) - a decent value at $5 each but they are definitely small portions. Â I would say 3 out of the 4 were good. Â We enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms, the coconut chicken skewers & the goat cheese bundles. Â The shrimp skewers, however, were bland and the overcooked so the shrimp was like rubber.
They only had 2 servers working Friday night that I could see so service was definitely on the slow side with 2 large groups there. Â We did come back our last day to purchase 2 growlers of beer to bring back - one for us and one for the inlaws.
Never got to the food, had a Sangria and my daughter had soda, our server Kathleen totally ignore us, this was the worst service ever. My husband had to go to the bar to get a beer sample that she was supposed to bring us but never did. We complained to her and she simple said she was too busy.... and there was only a handful of tables occupied, she only had our table.....
Review Source:Typically my favorite spot to visit when I'm in Galena. Â The food is alright(I'd recommend the BBQ'd Pork Sandwich) the beer is excellent. However our last trip there was underwhelming to say the least.
We usually order flights of beer rather than pints and the flights came half full(some maybe a quarter full) and we were told this was because of a new law in Illinois. Not sure if this is true or now. Â However, later that night at another bar in Illinois we ordered flights with the same number of beers and they came full. Â If the flights are supposed to come half full they should at least make sure the glasses are actually half full. Â Some of them barely held a sip or two and all were filled to different levels. Just looked tacky.
If a state law screwed you over, that's fine...but at least make the presentation look decent.
Things I like about Galena Brewery:
1. Â It's in Galena.
2. Â There's good beer.
Things I do not like about Galena Brewery:
1. Â Everything else.
Alright, the real problem with this place (besides the pop music) is this: Â You cannot make your own flight. Â Nor can you get a sample size. Â So, it's either THEIR flights or NO flights. Â I was really bummed because my friends and I wanted to try a bunch of different beers but we were riding so didn't want to get full pours. Â Â
End result:
The beer was good (especially the IPA and Black IPA), but you better like your beer because you are stuck with a 20 oz. pour in most cases.
Good people, good beer, good location - in the heart of downtown Galena, IL, which is a Harpers Ferry-like old town (albeit larger than Harpers Ferry) in northwest Illinois (home of Ulysses S. Grant). Â I hadn't planned on taking the tour, but as they were so enthusiastic about it while I was drinking my second IPA, I just had to join them. Â The brewmaster is a recent college grad, very well spoken and intelligent and he conducted a relaxed, informative tour. Â The beers are good, not great, although I did enjoy their "Cream Ale," which invokes thoughts of Genny Cream Ale (enough to send shivers down the spine of any beer fan). Â But Galena's cream ale was smooth and light; they call it "their version of Bud Light" (I would consider that an insult, but it was infinitely better than Bud, or Miller, Light).
The food is basic brew pub fare; some of the other Yelp reviews act as if this should be a four star restaurant. Â There are plenty of other food first, alcohol second spots in this town. Â Besides, how can you not like a place that offers bone marrow on its tapas menu? Â And if that's not enough, their sandwich list includes a peanut butter and jam sandwich (and it's not the kid's menu). Â I had the grilled cheese, perfect for soaking up the ? number of IPAs and cream ales I had......well worth the trip.
This place is a mixed bag.
Nice location and ambiance. Â Good for a couple, a group or a family. Â They were setting up a band on the night we were there, but we left before they started. Â Not to generalize, but I am assuming that like every other bar band, they were going to play at an annoying enough volume that you cannot talk to the person sitting next to you. Â Maybe I am wrong, but you don't bring that many speakers to play some nice background music.
The beer is great. Â We had a group of 8 and tried a lot of their brews. Â Great IPA, Nut Brown and Amber. Â They also had a few seasonal beers that were very good. Â If going here for the beer alone, this is a 4 to 5 star place.
The food is where thye are lacking a bit. Â The 2 lb pretzel is worth the visit. Â This thing is huge and the leftovers heated up well the next day. Â If I go again, it would be beer and the pretzel....that's about it. Â I will say that we had a few tapas trays and they were actually quite good too. Â Their main sandwiches were so-so. Â The worst was the Signature Pulled Pork Sandwich. Â There is no doubt that this is not made 'low and slow hand pulled pork.' Â This is the same garbage that every other restaurant serves out of a frozen 10 lb tub. Â I understand that you cannot make every item authentic, but do not put this as a 'Signature Item.' Â This should be buried deep in the menu and left there to die. Â
Service was pretty good, but nothing too great.
Would visit again, but would stick with the basics on the menu and avoid anything that sounds like they are making it themselves. Â It's most likely sitting in their freezer ready to make when you order.
I'm all for fairness when writing a review. But issues must be pointed out to improve and learn from mistakes. A site like Yelp really helps as most visitors are probably tourists who have one shot at a nice lunch. This place doesn't deliver whether food or drink. Our table of 10 struggled with the food. It came out 2 or 3 meals at a time and so slowly that 8 people had finished eating by the time the last 2 people received their food. Â It's pretty clear they don't have things together in back of house.
The taste of the food left a lot to be desired. Everything was dull with no dishes standing out from flavor. The large pretzel, while fun, didn't have salt on top. It's these type of details that left a bad taste in our mouth when added up. Â Combining the flavor of the beer, the food, and the general service, I won't be visiting here again on repeat trips to this little town. I like the idea but not much else.
Love this place! We are frequent Galena visitors and this is a must-stop for us. One of the best micro-breweries in the region. I would highly recommend trying a flight of all the beers they serve. The staff is very knowledgeable, so if you have questions ask!
Entree portions are GENEROUS, and could easily be split between two people. We have enjoyed the food and had great service every time we have visited.
It is a BREWERY, so keep that in mind. It is too bad to see these reviews from people who were seemingly expecting a pub or bar & grill and were consequently disappointed.
This is a nice place. The beer is on the not-so-hoppy side -- I like their IPA, but it only comes in a 10 ounce glass. You definitely pay extra for the higher ABV here.
The kitchen is acceptable, they used to have better pricing, where by ordering multiple tapas appetizers you got a discount. That is gone and they raised the base price from four to five dollars. Our favorite thing was the local meat/cheese plate.
Also, they wouldn't fill a growler that wasn't purchased there -- the only brew pub that I've been to that has this policy.
Stopped in while in town about a month ago...
WORST SERVICE that I've ever experienced. Â We were ignored completely for the majority of the meal. Â Our entire table had empty glasses and no one even asked if we wanted another or were ready to check out. Â And what kind of a bar menu doesn't even have a burger on it? Â Even without a burger, the menu was quite small and very strange, although I was happy to see that they did have multiple vegetarian and gluten free options. Â (That's the only reason for the second star.)
The beer was pretty good, but not at all worth coming in for.
The beer? Â Amazing! Â My husband and I split the sampler, which came with the normal selection and some seasonals. Â Each beer was unique and nicely flavored. Â
The food? Â Mediocre at best. Â We split some tapas. Â We had mushroom caps, which were quite good. Â DO NOT order the empanada. Â It's not an empanada. Â It's phyllo dough covered in gravy, stuffed with oversalted filling. Â I'm not exactly sure what the filling was. Â
Galena Brewery is a good time. Â Come for the beer. Â Leave for the food.
Came here from a road trip to Chestnut Mountain and had to see what Galena can brew and I had to have the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. I thought this beer was very tasty and if you like dark beer, such as Guiness, then this is the beer for you. It had a lot of hop in it, but it was not flat like a Guiness. It had some fizz to it, but it wasn't really carbonated. Not sure if it's from the chocolate, but I like it!
There was also a live band playing, so it made the night very entertaining.
I'm only going to a give it a 3 star rating, only because I didn't came for the food. I didn't get that full dining experience, so I can't really go higher than that.
This place is ok. I really like the space itself, it's large and open and has a nice big bar with lots of seating. The beers were good, I always enjoy trying local brews. But the menu is weird. This place needs to figure out whether it wants to be a gastropub, or a brewery that serves traditional bar food. It should pick one or the other because it's too hard to do both. I say it should go the traditional bar food route and ramp up those offerings into good stuff. There's nothing wrong with regular bar food done really well. Plus, I wasn't thrilled with the beer cheese soup. It didn't taste much of cheese or beer.
Review Source:My wife and I tried this place out back in April of this year and weren't impressed. The 'tapas' are hardly by any means considered the tapas that you would expect to get in a Spanish restaurant. But, this isn't a Spanish restaurant, so I digress. Even so, a variety of cheeses shouldn't constitute putting the kind of cheese I would find in a lunchable out on a plate and call it an appetizer.
The beer selections are not half bad, but that is where it ended on our first visit.
We came back to Galena last week and were looking for a place to go grab some food and drinks. We warned everyone not to get the 'tapas' but that we had confidence that the regular menu food items would be good. How do you mess up a Brat? Tell me, seriously. I ordered a Brat (plain) and it came with mustard on it. Now mustard and I do not get along, but perhaps I wasn't clear enough to the waitress. I let the waitress know that a mistake was made and she annoyingly took it back. I am 99.9% confident that the same brat was brought back, sans mustard. It seemed like the brat was washed off in boiling water or something. When I order a brat I expect the juices to be flowing. Okay, so this isn't a tapas joint and it isn't a brat joint. What about the rest of the 10 people I was with? Everyone was disappointed in the food. The consensus was everything was flavorLESS and unoriginal.
If this place is going to survive they need to make some serious changes in the kitchen.
Also, forget about asking to split the check. We were denied that option at the beginning.
Overall, I was embarrassed for lobbying for this place to my friends to try it out. We won't be coming back for a third time.
Good beer, mediocre food and service. Â Yet another example of a brewery trying to be something it's not.
1 vegetarian option that's not tapas. Â Cheese plate tapas had miniscule portions for $4 and nothing to eat it with. Â Bread, please? Â I'm supposed to just cram my mouth full of cheese? Â Come on. Â The Papas Bravas are just potato wedges, nothing special - again, a small portion for $4. Â You guys know that tapas are meant to be shared, right? Â I don't see how this would be possible given the portion sizes. Â
My mother's Italian beef sandwich inexplicably came out with cold meat? It was really weird and she was displeased. Â My step dad's salad came out with no dressing. Â My boyfriend said the pulled pork was dry, and it came with chips instead of fries which is just super weird.
To top it all off, we were never brought any waters and the drinks we ordered took ages to get to us. Â Our chicken wings appetizer was dropped off with no plates, silverware, napkins - anything. Â Three people had to just eat off the one plate and put the bones on napkins that my boyfriend had to fetch from the bar. Â They finally brought plates after my family had already finished eating the wings. Â
Blah, sub par experience. Â At least the beers I tried were great. Â I recommend the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout and the IPA. Â But I wouldn't bother eating there. Â Also, to the guy that came in and ordered a Busch Light.....whaaaaaat...??
The good: The beer was okay; the beet salad and pulled pork were good.
The bad: Pretty much everything else. The restaurant was unbelievably warm (I should have known better when we walked in and saw other patrons fanning themselves with menus), and the service was barely mediocre. We were there for 25 minutes before our drinks were brought over, and even then it took 2 requests to get ice water along with our beverages. The beer bread had no flavor, and we sent the soup back because it tasted disgusting. (And really, who charges extra if you want another loaf of bread? Especially bread that's nothing special??) The chicken wings came with the wrong sauce (hot instead of mild), and we never even offered refills on our empty drinks.
All in all, a pretty terrible experience.
BONE MARROW ON TOAST.
They have it on the menu. Â They have a lot of tasty-looking things on the menu, but the marrow on toast caught my eye because I've always wanted to try it.
It looked scary. Â It tasted rich and salty and delicious, but it did look a little scary. Â Just close your eyes while eating it and all will be well.
My companion and I also shared the Stuffed Mushrooms and the Apple Bacon Cheddar Crostini. Â The mushrooms were good (fairly standard), and the crostini tasted like Wisconsin. Â But in a good way. Â I don't know what that means.
The beer was decent, the service was lovely, and the prices were surprisingly affordable for touristy Galena. Â Stop in and have some bone marrow for me!
I love craft beer, and am getting into the habit of stopping by local breweries when I travel to new places. Galena Brewing Company did not disappoint. I tried the Cream Ale, Hefeweizen, Amber Ale and Stout, all of them were delicious! (Not a fan IPAs, so I skipped that one.) We bought a growler of Cream Ale to take home with us on the last day we were in town.
We did not try the food, as both times we were there (after 9pm), the kitchen was closed.
Even after reading a questionable review or two here, my husband and I decided to try this place on a visit to Galena. Ironically, we didn't try any of the beer because we were there for an early lunch and just didn't have the stomach for it yet, but we had a few of the tapas and an entree each. We had the apple/bacon/cheddar crostini, coconut chicken skewers, and the stuffed mushrooms from the tapas selections. The crostini were amazing, the chicken was very good (not too sweet, which many coconut-flavored things can be), and I liked the mushrooms (but my husband LOVED them). These tapas are definitely not traditional Spanish tapas, but the size and spirit of the little offerings has the same intentions.
My husband ordered the Cuban sandwich and loved it (although not exactly like traditional Cubans that we've had at real Cuban places in Chicago and Miami). I got the flatbread (basically a long, thin crust pizza) with chicken, red onion, BBQ sauce, and cheddar, which was really huge compared to what I was expecting and awesome. The BBQ sauce was the best I've ever tasted- there was some kind of alcohol in it, and it was just awesome. The only thing is (and as I major cheese lover, I can barely believe I'm going to say this), there was almost too much cheese on it. I mean, not enough to make me upset about ordering it, but if you are not a major cheese lover, you might want to ask for easy cheese on this item. Overall, we were very happy with the food we ordered. Along with our meal also came a little loaf of their house beer bread, which was warm and yummy and had great beer flavor.
As for service, we had a great server, although we were only one of 2 tables at lunch on a Monday, so I can't say we had a lot of competition for his attention. But he was funny and inviting, and was sure to let us know about the two things they were temporarily out of for the day before we ordered. We left full and happy!
My wife and I attended the Valentines Day Beer and food pairing this past weekend. We had a wonderful time.
It started with a tour of the Brewery by the Brew Master himself. Then the meal was done over five courses, each one coming with a beer hand selected by the Brew Master to accentuate the flavors of the food and vice versa. It was a good time. We ended up going back the next day to get a better taste on some of the beers we liked.
Just like every brewery, they had beers I liked and ones I don't. I love stouts and was not impressed with theirs at all. Their Heffeweizen was excellent!
The service was slow. During the dinner there were long down times between courses, I didn't want to ruin my palate by drinking too many beers, but I found myself wanting to order one while waiting, unfortunately I was never asked if I would like a beer. At the end of the meal, it took a long time for us to get our check and then when we did get it, it took a long time for the server to come back and collect it. Even the next day when we went back, the place was empty and we had some down time waiting on getting served.
Overall I enjoyed it. I plan on going back.
Yikes. I'm not sure what's happening here. This place wants to be vibrant and fun but it appears to have left quite the opposite impression on me.The Musical act was not very good and they were using some of those preset tunes from a Casio keyboard (not the venues fault but perhaps they should research their acts better and take a look at the age group of the crowd). The beer is good but it tasted like any old beer and not like we were drinking it in the place it was made, make sense?
Food is mediocre and i'm not quite sure the people running the joint actually know what tapas are. Food options were kind of lame, atmosphere in the place is very blah, the space is large and feels like a warehouse. Overall just very boring and not what you would expect from a brewery/restaurant.
ps. The staff was nice though
We had dinner reservations at 6:00 at Perry Street Brasserie, but walked by the brewery at 5:30 as the Wisconsin Iowa football game was winding down. Â It was a nail biter, but Wisconsin pulled it out in the end - GO Badgers. Â
So I had a good time here, but it had nothing to do with the service or the product. Â Of the two bartenders one kept his back turned to us, and I couldn't for the life of me catch his eye, the other finally took our order after being prompted by a waitress. Â Got a flight of 6 beers. Â Two of them were good, the rest were fairly mediocre beers. Â Nothing to write home about. Â
That being said, the space itself is pretty cool. Â As we were leaving the owner made an announcement that he'd be giving a brewery tour. Â Plus I had a coupon for a free pint glass that I put to use. Â This place has some good stuff going for it, hopefully it just needs a bit of time to mature. Â I would come back, in hopes of being able to give a better rating.
Galena Brewing Company/Galena Brewery is AWESOME! Â The beers are awesome, the staff is awesome, and the decor is awesome. Â
When we went, the second and third nights after opening, they only had two of the beers available. Â The two beers were both great.
From Sean, the Brew Master, to Mike and Megan, the bartenders, the staff is incredible. Â They are very friendly and knowledgeable. Â Sean also give awesome tours of the brewing process.
I would HIGHLY recommend going to the Brewery, and make sure to go when you can take a tour with the Brew Master.
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