I stopped in at OBB Co with a local, not really knowing what to expect. Â The parking lot was packed (Friday night) and the wait was about 40 minutes, but I was pleasantly surprised. Â A Great brewery/restaurant atmosphere with solid beer choices and a couple of specialty taps to boot. Â The prices are comparable to other brew-pubs in the area and offer quite the selection of pub fare. Â I thoroughly enjoyed the Homemade Chips & Bacon Dip appetizer - BACON CHEESE DIP, WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO SAY? Â The Mesquite-Smoked Ribs were also hitting the mark, very savory and tender.
I'd like to make this a Greenwood frequent stop, with beer and eats like this - you can't go wrong. Â Cheers.
Many years ago, when I was an avid cigar smoker, some of the guys I would sit and smoke with perked my ears with mention of beer made in Indiana. In Greenwood. At this point, I had only mild interest in craft beer. I had never really heard of any beers being made in Indiana. So, I put it on my list to check out.
A long relationship ensued. I grew into a loyal fan and went as often as my wallet (i.e. my wife) would let me.
There have been a few dry spells, my latest caused by a terrible bout of service on my last visit a year or so ago. The wife and I have grown to really enjoy chatting and hanging out with the general manager here, so we decided to go again to see him.
The memories of my first Indiana beer, fall off the bone ribs, juicy steak sandwiches and burgers came flooding back. The beer is actually pretty damn decent. Superfly IPA is one of the better in the state. They have a nice slate of seasonal.
It really is a nice, local, comfortable place. The menu may appear very typical and boring at first glance. Looking closer, you can find treasures full of imaginative and tasteful delight. Korean BBQ beef quesadillas, for example. Nice. Very nice.
Even their more standard fare has always been pretty good with a few misses (nothing major.) The burgers are pretty good. The ribs, as mentioned, are some of the best I have had. I would put them against any in the rib universe. Though, I am not an expert on ribs. I didn't finish my rib-eating bachelor's degree because they said I wasn't passionate enough for the art of ribs. Oh well, all you can eat on Monday. Succulent and consistently so.
The staff can sometimes seem like they are just kind of there. The teenagers chill by the hostess stand, waitresses can seem tepid. Not always, just inconsistent on the service front. A few great exceptions exist here, though.
And, the main man, Mike Budak, is a fantastic individual and this place will only continue to grow better under his leadership.
It was our first time there out of a recommendation by friends. The service was awful. The server was almost throwing dishes at our table and had a look on her face like she just had a fight with someone. Even taking our order she behaved like she was obliging us. The food was alright. The beers were definitely the best. It was a sheer delight to have tasted them. One should go in there just to try the beer selection. All in all, I could go back in there again to give it another shot. May be the server was just having a bad day and we were just there at a wrong time.
Review Source:I was very disappointed in the service here. Â I worked in the restaurant industry for four and a half years and I've seen customer service done well and I've seen it done poorly. Â I will never go back to this restaurant and I have told dozens of people to not go there as well. Â Here's my experience: it was advertised that Monday nights were "all you can eat ribs." Â It was my friend's birthday and he LOVES ribs so we decided to splurge and get some ribs. Â I took a party of 12 people for dinner and 8 of us ordered the ribs. Â After the first rack of ribs came out, we were told that the kitchen only had three full racks of ribs left. Â I tried to have a positive attitude and told the server that that should be enough for us. Â Without any further explanation, the server brought out three half racks of ribs for us to share (half of the promised amount). Â I calmly asked him about it and he began to rant about how it was our fault for bringing in such a large group without a reservation. Â I remained as calm as possible because I knew that it wasn't the server's fault that they ran out of ribs, but I was upset that he would blame paying customers. Â After the meal, I went to speak to the manager and described the situation to him. Â He promised to "take some drinks off or something..", but when the bills came, no discounts were added and no explanation was given by the staff. Â I hate to be the entitled American, but I paid for and was promised all-you-can-eat ribs, and I got one full rack. Then I was blamed for the poor management of the restaurant.
Review Source:The beer here is very good and brewed completely on premises. All the burgers are good. The tenderloin is better had some where else. Can't go wrong with the ribs and the spicy shrimp is to die for.
The only problem with this place is the noise level. When the place is busy, you cannot even hear the person across the table from you.
Everything I tried at dinner here was pretty darn good. The homemade chips and cheesey bacon dip on the appetizer menu was killer! The pumpkin beer was tasty as well and wished i lived closer to buy it all the time. My husband had the breaded tenderloin, it was a thicker style but it was tender and something I would go back for. It was  a little busy, but a good hangout I thought. It was cool seeing planes fly over us in the parking lot.
Review Source:As a non-beer drinker, vegetarian, finding anything to eat or drink at Oaken Barrel is a bit of a challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed the "Cowboy Caviar" - which is a type of nachos with cream cheese, beans, veggies, and chips - but it is seemingly one of the only vegetarian options on the menu. The appetizers are pretty good, including the bavarian prezel and hot cheese sauce (yum!).
The service is normally pretty great here and the menu is full of affordable options. I have been here several times for parties and other luncheons and their party room is a great place for a big group. Â
Vegetarians. Oaken Barrel is not your place. No complaints otherwise, just wish they'd add a few more options to be vegetarian friendly!
My best friend took me here last week and I thought it was great! I tried several of the house brews and both were good. My favorite was "Superfly" which is an APA. The beer garden has lots of seating and shaded areas to keep it cool. If you want to sit outside, arrive early because by 7:00 the garden is packed! If you are interested, there is a mug club, so you can fill your own cup and come as often as you please.
Our meals were delicious (I had Mediterranean pasta) and the portions are big. Bring an appetite! Also, the potato skins and nachos are great appetizers. I will definitely return to the Oaken barrel if given a chance.
So I was gonna do take out with my friend. Â We were gonna share the shrimp app ad split a rack of ribs. As we walked in, we checked the specials board and saw an all-you-can-eat for ribs that was $3 cheaper. It had our names written all over that. These ribs weren't from some anorexic pig; this pig might've gone to a biggest loser competition if it made it. The Razz-Wheat beer was a recommendation from some Indiana natives (relocated to Florida because of the cold winters) we met around the pool. We told them we wanted some local food and they unitedly directed us to Oaken Barrel. Meanwhile, we asked the front desk lady at our hotel the same question and she directed us to the Waffle House and Bob Evans down the road. Â Oaken Barrel offers locals a dining club card where each visit earns you a point. 100 points gets you a glass mug and 500 points gets you and engraved mug to hang at the bar. Our waitress told us those people easily had 1500-2000 points. My mouth was agape as she mentioned this. But with the kind of smokey, tangy, perfectly sauced, meaty ribs that OB offers, if I were an IN local, I just might have a few mugs myself.
Review Source:One of my favorite Brewhouses/Resturants..
They have some great brews as well as seasonal brew. The food specials are always great as well. A must try in my book is Razzwheat beer unless the seasonal Apple Buzz is available. The idaho Nachos are always a hit in my book for an appitizer although I like Shallos Beef Tips better. They always have excellent soup specials too, my favorite is Pizza Soup. You can ever go wrong with their Steaks, Salads or Tenderloin.
Great place to be, love the outside seating as well!
Great food, decent beer and pretty poor service. They do brew their own beer so props for that and $5 growlers on Thursday is the best deal around, but their only great beer in my opinion is SuperFly. The Gnawbone and Snake-pit are also decently good beers.
Best brewery in Greenwood, I'll put it that way. $6 six packs on Sunday if you're feeling thirsty.
+ beer is reasonably priced and good. I like the Superfly IPA quite a bit. The other OB beers I have had have all been pretty decent as well.
+ seats in the bar have a decent atmosphere and TVs for watching things. Seems like it would be a good place to watch football.
+ the food is ok. I've had pizza here in the past that I remember liking. The cajun beef tips were so so. The Idaho nachos were huge and pretty good but how can you go wrong with waffle fries with cheese and nacho crap dumped on them?
- not a destination place for me. I'd pop in if driving by.
- service was friendly but a bit slow. It took a couple requests to get water. Refills were slow to happen.
- food is just ok. I've had some pretty amazing and original food at different brewpubs. This is basic pub grub and not much more.
Overall its a pretty decent place. I'm sure I will be back sometime.
I like the seared tuna appetizer. I QUITE like the Snakepit Porter. I love the butter pecan bread pudding. This place is seemingly in the middle of nowhere though! What gives? It's in a kitschy semi-abandoned looking strip mall.
If you are in Greenwood, this is a great choice. If you are elsewhere, rest assured the time and effort you put into getting down here will not be in vain. The food and beer are both good, and the service was pretty good too. It always irks me when I specify "no lemon" and there's lemon in my water. It makes me wonder if the server also forgets to wash her hands. But then, I'm neurotic.
Portions of this place are louder than others...be sure to specify if you want quieter dining.
Stopped in here on our way to Chicago. I like to check out Yelp to find places that are not the standard highway fare, yet are still close enough to the Interstate to make it a reasonable stop. This place fit the bill on both those counts. Â And it had plenty of free parking.
Since we were driving we didn't sample the beer - though on this late afternoon just a week before Christmas many people were doing just that.
My husband had the Greek salad, I had the grilled chicken buffalo sandwich. Both decently priced and good. We also shared the home made potato chips. I'm not a big fan of potatoes in any form, but I will say these were tasty. I couldn't stop eating them.
Reasonably priced as well for how much they served. Â All in, decent meal for two with tax and tip at $25. We would stop in here again.
One of my local favorites. Â Great menu. The chicken enchilada is fab! The bavarian pretzels are hot & soft. Idaho nachos are always a fave. Â Bar staff is kinda slow. Â But sometimes its ok when your having an app & beer. They have a great selection of their own. Â I think they should expand to serve liqour as well.
Review Source:Great bar food: love the Cajun Beef Tips -- spicy and so tender; the onion rings are above average. I sampled the Razz Wheat beer : it does have a strong raspeberry flavor but I don't know if it qualifies as a beer. :) Â Don't remember what beer hubby tried but he enjoyed it. Will definitely come back when we visit Greenwood, IN again.
Review Source:As someone who works at a brewery I can, with confidence say, the beer is good. As someone who loves ribs, I can say the ribs are to die for; fall off the bone yummy. The service was borderline acceptable. The waitress was busy and not very helpful. She was short with us and her co-workers. We had to ask what the specials were. She said ribs. We haf to ask if there was a seasonal on tap and she said yes and told us the name and nothing about the beer. If you are a brew pub your waitress should talk about your beer. I would go back, and hope for another waitress.
Review Source:Made a visit to Greenwood with my Mom for a late lunch. Â The staff was very friendly and helpful, however the server only looked at me when talking about the beer.. A fairly fatal mistake in my opinion when serving.. Â
I get it, I get it.. Guys like beer, blah blah blah.
The food was average at best and was definitely not a highlight to the visit. Â We were very hungry so just about any food at that point was necessary.
I'm glad we made the visit and would most likely return, but I'm not in any rush. Â
Also, the Apple Buzz did not live up to the hype.. I didn't hate it, but they have better quality beers available.
I'm a regular here for as long as they've existed, so this is not a one visit review. I get in from once/week to to once/month. The atmosphere is typical brewpub. There's a bar area, family area, and outdoor seating.
They have a good selection of award winning beers. My usual is Alabaster, a Belgian wit. Snakepit Porter is a solid beer. Gnawbone Pale and SuperFly IPA is for the hopheads. I like variety, so I always try the seasonals. The regular beers are true to style and the seasonals can get more adventurous. Generally 1-2 seasonals are on tap. They sell wine, but no other beers.
Appetizer I like include - cajun beef tips, heavily coated with spices and served with horseradish (big flavor, but not hot), Idaho nachos are like nachos with waffle fries instead of chips (awesome and enough for the whole table), Cowboy Caviar is a black bean and cream cheese dip with corn chips.
They have a good hamburger, chicken sandwich, tuna sandwich, and my recent favorite the steak sandwich on a crusty roll with cheese and au jus. I like to get fresh fruit as a side instead of fries. Black bean soup has always been good. I like their pizza - the five cheese and chicken pesto are my favorites.
The greek salad is awesome - I get it with shrimp. It's got lettuce, tomato, cucumber, black olives, feta, and pitas. They have good ribs, which appear to be one of their most popular items. My favorite for a bigger meal is the filet medallions served in a nice rich reduction with mushrooms, Â mashed potatos, and veggies.
They're pretty crowded on Friday and Saturday night, so expect a wait  from 7-9pm. Sometimes I've been surprised with a wait for a table on a weeknight.
This is one of the last Indy area brewery/brewpubs I hadn't been to, but I took care of that yesterday, and I'm glad i did.
Well, actually, I had been there with my wife last year, but we didn't have any beer, and the visit was through no fault of the 'Barrel, .. creepy. :D
Anyway.
We went in, sat at the bar and ordered up a flight as we usually do at brewpubs/breweries that offer them - and they ALL should.
The bartender was quite generous and gave us samples of more than just the brews that were on the sheet. Â All of the brews were good; see BeerAdvocate for that info. Â I particularly liked the JD Stout and the Alabaster.
If it was only a brewery, I'd probably award 4 stars. Â But, it's also a restaurant, and that's why they're getting 3 stars.
The food's good. Â Problem is, unless you're with a huge group, or like to eat "way too much," it's a little hard to order off the menu. Â My wife and I usually share appetizers and entrees when we go out. Â It's easier to maintain heath doing that, in this "ZOMG HUGE PORTIONS!!!!" culture.
A lot of places now will do 1/2portions of apps and entrees; OB does NOT. Â And their app portions are HUGE. Â The bartender was willing to run down what ISN'T huge, though, and that was helpful.
We ended up getting cajun beef tips and chips-n-salsa, both of which were good and nice portions for splitting.
If they'd offer 1/2portions or smaller portions, I'd probably give them 4 stars - the beer is VERY good and the food is good too. Â It's just too much food. Â People don't NEED that much food. Â /sigh.
I'm not a huge fan of their food, but the beers and price more than make up for it. They offer the usual styles of beer, but I usually go for the Superfly IPA and the Indiana Amber. The IPA is no joke at 7.5% ABV and 100+ IBU.
There is a nice small outdoor dining/drinking area which is great when the weather is decent.
Thursdays are my favorite day of the week to visit because they have Indiana Amber for $2 a pint and growler refills are only $5. Only $5 for 64 ounces of goodness, including the aforementioned IPA!
Don't forget to sign up for the free points card. After every five visits, you get a $5 gift card. Hey, that's a free growler fill on Thursdays!
One negative is that they will only fill their own growlers, whereas joints like Sun King and Broad Ripple Brewpub will fill any and just slap their sticker on it.
Aint nothin' wrong with this joint. Â It's got a nice, albeit very Greenwood, atmosphere, good food, and pretty damn decent beer. Â Now, just because there aint nothing wrong with it don't mean it's the best place ever.
As a full blown lush, I really think that OB needs to focus on its beer more than its food. Â They have some pretty good beer over there and they need to focus on it a little more! Â Now, I say they focus on their food more than beer, but that's my own perception, it's not like I sat down with their owner (a guy named Kwam or Kwal... something cool like that), and he told me that's what they were doing. Â I also realize that the alleged food focus is probably good for business. Â The place is located in Greenwood, and Greenwood-ers (or whatever you call us) aren't traditionally known as adventurous drinkers. Â
Now that that's out of the way, I can get onto the beer. Â My favorite is the Alabaster. Â It's a traditional Belgian wheat beer and it's perfect for a hot summer day. Â The Snake Pit porter is also pretty banging. It's thick and rich, just like any self respecting porter.
OB also does some great rotating beers. Â They had one a few weeks ago (April and March 2011) that was great. Â I can't remember the exact name, it was an irish red though, and they poured it with a nitrogen push. Â Which earns them a massive amount of street cred in my opinion. It was smooth and creamy, and I drank my first in about three minutes, because it went down so easy and tasted so spectacular. Â OB's irish red really put George Killian to shame!
All in all, I really do like OB, despite them having some mixed up priorities in my opinion. Â The only thing that really irks me is some of their clientele. Â I was once enjoying a beer at the bar and a group sat down at one of the tables in the bar. Â The served walked over for the drink order and one of the people got a damn Coors Light. Â I've got nothing against Coors, but seriously? You're gonna get yellow fizzy stuff when you're at a brew pub? Good job buddy. Â Anyhow, like I said, it's a good joint despite that one asshat. Â Definitely worth the drive if you live somewhere not so close!
PS! they sell their beers for damn cheap! I'm talking about 3 bucks a pint! That's darn good for a fine local brew!
On our first visit to Oaken Barrel, we found ourselves stranded in Greenwood by a snowstorm. Â To our surprise, there was a small brewpub in town, so we sought it out.
What a pleasant surprise! Â The food was ample and good. Â We got the tuna sandwich and a hamburger - both were good, but the hamburger was better - moist and delicious. Â But of course, the real reason to come is the beer. Â
I've tried most of theirs, and they are all solid.  Of the ones I've had, though, the RazzWheat is the real star.  It's a smooth, tasty wheat beer with raspberries in it.  Unlike  a lot of other fruit beers, RazzWheat gives you the tasty fruit flavor without any cloying sweetness.  I've given it to a lot of people who don't like beer otherwise and they like it as well - but this is no berry juice masquerading as beer. Â
I like the Indiana theme to the beers and look forward to trying the Gnaw Bone IPA next time I'm there. Â Whenever I pass through Greenwood, I think I'll stop by here to get a meal or some beer to go - the prices on the take-away six packs are quite reasonable. Â Reasonable prices and good beer, tucked away where you could easily miss it.
While in Indy I stumbled onto this place and decided to give it a try.
Typical brewpub feel, the brewing operation was visible through windows. Ample seating with several televisions playing sports stations. Unfortunately we were seated in an area where the brewhouse was not visible.
The food was average, lots of choices, but average at best. The beer menu was decent for a small brewpub, I think there were 5 or 6 beers available. My wife had the sampler, and I had the Indiana Amber. The amber was decent, a little forgetable, but not bad. Among the beers on the sampler was a belgian witbier, an APA, a porter, a rasberry wheat fruit beer, and the amber. The belgian witbier was OK at best, but I would not order it again, and the Rasberry wheat beer was pretty bad. The APA and the porter were decent. Unfortunately, they did not have any guest taps, so if you are less than blown away by thier offerings you are out of luck...
The service was disappointing, our server knew nothing about the beer, and rarely checked on us to see if we needed anything else. I think they need to do a better job at training thier staff on the beers that they offer.
Overall this place was not bad, but it was far from stellar. None of the beers were good enough to draw be back in there for a repeat visit.
Jon: "Got any greens?"
Waitress: "Nope." In the back of her mind, "but dude, we have amazing beer -- that's the real food here."
She's right.
Gotta hand it to 'em here... not having greens as an option for a side dish is really sticking to their Greenwood guns. Should I expect anything else from my banal yet oh-so bizarre hometown?
Sure, they did have "vegetable medley" as a choice to accompany the pork chop (but long ago... the lunch ladies of Greenwood frightened me off). Apparently squash was the main veggie in the medley... but I didn't believe them... so I was forced into a beautiful space of a pork chop & fries to go with the beer. Pork chop: hearty & on the bone but tough. Fries: fries.
Enough with the veggies... let's get on to the real food, the beer: brewed on site... crazy fresh and styles a plenty. From seasonals of Imperial IPA & Pilsner (that Pilsner was frothy, crisp & whole... like a good German) to house Pale Ale & Amber & Witbier.
Carry out six packs available... along with growlers of the fresh keg beer. (I'm noticing growlers left and right -- not just in my kitchen -- it's becoming the thing to do around these parts... oh, wait... I just frequent places that offer growlers so my purview is limited to the kind-hearted, friendly folks that drink damn good, local beer. A fine purview I should add.)
We were there on a crazy busy night (Brickyard 400, Subaru of Indiana Club) so it was a 7 minute wait until the host figured out what to do with the chaotic room. We were sat at the table we wanted... good form... in the Brewhouse bar section (cozier... not as much of an eatery).
Located not too far from I-65, so for commuters like myself... it's not sooooo bad.
It's stellar beer. I'm proud it comes from Greenwood. Somehow someone in Greenwood had their act together for something worth traveling to.
The Shepards Pie was hearty and paired well w their Indiana Amber craft beer. Â I ordered the flight of beer to make sure I didn't miss anything. Â Gnaw Bone, Indiana Amber and Snake Pit were my favs (in that order). Â
After working in Orlando, w acess to no good beer, I was desparate & went to Yelp for help. Â Yelp delivered!
I sat next to a local that has been enjoying their craft brew for 15 years. Â His Fish & Chips looked really good. Â
.
The Oaken Barrel maintains a very bar-like atmosphere. Â While many microbreweries come off like restaurants with an oddly triumphant selection of beers, this one feels like a bar that has a more robust menu. Â What I mean by that is that the lights are darker, conversation is more subdued, and the service can contain a lot of "do it yourself" elements. Â That's not to say it's bad, this just isn't the kind of place mom and dad would take the kids to.
The aforementioned menu contains mostly heavier foods that go well with beer, and, like most places that focus on drinking, there are many European pub-esque dishes. Â The food is good, it's well-made, and you pretty much know exactly what you're getting when you order it.
They don't have a whole lot of specials on their stuff, instead favoring generally lower prices.
As far as Indy brewpubs go, I put this one behind only Brugge. The beers are consistantly good, decently hopped, flavorful and unique. The Porter and Amber are always good selections, and on my last visit, they featured a nitro-stout they named Midnight Oil, and it was one of the best beers I've had at a brewpub, and I've had a ton.
The food is also above average. The sandwiches never disappoint, and the ribs are very good, and come clean off of the bone (but are never falling off the bone). The desserts aren't worth your time or calories, however. Have another beer instead.
For more details and more area brewpubs, visit: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kingsbrewpubtour.com%2FWeb%2520Pages%2FBrew%2520Pubs%2FOaken%2520Barrel.html&s=6bb6b9a8e44bbe5b06e11662c6d4a884a0ddcbce674038e595de4a5a08dd7ee4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.kingsbrewpubt…</a>
YUM
My first brewpub experience when I moved to Indy in 94. Â It's still a great place. Â Food is excellent with my favorites being the Idaho Nachos and Cajun Beef Tips to start. Â Always a tough choice. Â All of the sandwiches are good, so I don't really have a favorite per se. Â When it comes to entrees, my son loves their ribs. Â I'm a big fan of the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta and the Shepherds Pie. Â Another tough one, but you really can't make a wrong choice here.
The real reason for all the stars is the craft brewed beer. Â My favorite is the Double IPA which is a winter seasonal there. Â When it's not available, there is something else in the seasonal line up that's just as nice. Â Whether it's a nicely balanced Indiana Amber or a hop bomb like the SuperFly IPA, there is something for everyone who appreciates good beer.
The beer garden is also a nice place to enjoy a warm evening with good company and great beer.
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