The Old Toad

adamette

Ohio

4.35/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

We loved this place! My wife and I felt like were were in an English pub at the Old Toad. Part of the ceiling (near the wall opposite the bar) is starting to collapse and there was some strange sort of perfumy smell throughout but otherwise it is a charming wood furniture English pub staffed by college students from England. Our waiter explained that all of the servers there are in town for 12 month stints learning the trade and that he had been there for only one month. He is from Liverpool and he had the accent that confirmed that. He was patient with all of my questions about the Beatles and the Psychedelic Furs. The style and presentation of the decorations were very appropriate. Images of English stars and singers, a few clocks which show "London Time" and plenty of those metal beer signs including Belgians, American Micro Brews and Brewery Ommegang along with the expected English Beer signs and coasters. Bar seats only about 12 but it is a great wooden bar with 3 banks of taps. There are about 4 distinct rooms in the Old Toad. Possibly the most distinctive is what I referred to as the "Queen Room" in which there is a portrait of an English Monarch and it looks like a living room with couches and chairs and a carpet I believe. I spent a lot of time looking around and my waiter along with two other waiters were very patient with me as I asked questions about where they live in England and could they point it out on the map on the wall. There is certainly a "homey" feel there.
One negative is that upon our arrival I asked for a draught list. Our waiter said "we don't have a list since the taps change so often." I was a bit frustrated since I had looked online before our visit and I was looking forward to ordering certain beers. I had forgotten their names, however, and needed the list to remind me. I took a look at the taps and ordered the Old Toad Nut Brown Ale (really a great, appropriate, English tasting beer brewed elsewhere for the restaurant) before discovering that the updated draught list appears above the bar. Again, he said that he had only been there one month but that would have really helped.

Atmoshphere. See comments above. I loved this place.

Quality. Very good. Even though it has a "homey" feel it is not unclean or anything.

Service. Good and they were extra patient with us as well.

Selection. Really good. Not the greatest but really good. There are about 15 taps, at least one cask and about 100 bottles in a wide range of countries...all quality beers as I recall from browsing the bottle menu (it is separate!).

Food. Very good. Wife had shepard's pie and I had a curry pork and both were very "English" as well as tasting very good in their own right. I can recommend going to dinner there for sure.

Value: Pretty good. My $4.75 Nut Brown Ale and two dinners for $27.00 before tip. It was reasonable.

Notes: Really good impression of this place. I would not drive 4 hours simply to go back to this place (that is how far away that I live) but anyone in the area for another reason could do a lot worse than the Old Toad.

10-24-2008 03:05:33 | More by adamette

olivianjeremie

Quebec (Canada)

4.51/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.75 | selection: 5 | food: 4.25 | $$

The food was very good. Had the fish and chips, which was their special. They had a great selection on tap as well. The service was very friendly and able to suggests what to try with what I wanted in my beer. I would recommend this place, and I maybe a regular in the future.

05-12-2013 00:52:28 | More by olivianjeremie

DonBar

New York

4.26/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Great beer selection here, bottles and taps. Great English appeal. Love the food and selection. Great authentic menu over all. The place is a little cramped but generally a nice person crowd. I will continue to go to old toad for the unique experience.

04-08-2013 19:13:08 | More by DonBar

hungryghost

District of Columbia

3.45/5  rDev -20.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

I visited the Old Toad on a Monday afternoon for lunch. They had experienced a busy (or maybe regular ?) weekend and were out of all the popular and highly rated food items.
Quite a disappointment. What I did have was tasty.

The beer selection is pretty decent as far is English pub styles go. At the time of my visit they did not have much in the way of hoppy or 'big' beers. The local staff is knowledgeable.

They decor is unique to the area and interesting. Overall the prices are a bit higher than other establishments in the area, but worth a visit.

12-18-2012 21:14:34 | More by hungryghost

Bowersm

Connecticut

4.58/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Great place for beer and food. Once inside the atmosphere is difficult to top. Beer ranges in quality, but is generally very good and fairly inexpensive. Only real complaint I have about the beer is that the wider selection tends to be more in the bottle as opposed to on tap, but that's ok given that what's on tap is generally of high quality. Have frequented this place since the late 90's on through until I moved away from Rochester in 2009. My wife and I try to make it back whenever we visit.

07-12-2012 18:09:00 | More by Bowersm

Hopdaemon39

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

I was in Rochester for an audition and a friend of mine at Eastman told me about this place (knowing that I was really into beer) and we went there on a Friday night. The setting is awesome- it's meant to be an English pub (indeed all of the bartenders I spoke with were British) and has a very clean and warm atmosphere. Upholstered booths and well lit. They had a good number of beers on tap and many many more in bottles. I had a beer brewed for them called Smokin Toad Porter on draft, which was excellent, as well as Mission IPA on draft and Peak Organic Mocha Stout on draft. It was rather expensive, especially for it being Rochester, but it had a great vibe, nice and knowledgeable bartenders, and a very good selection of beer. If you're willing to spend a little money, this is a great place to visit.

01-29-2012 21:09:12 | More by Hopdaemon39

keithmurray

Louisiana

3.73/5  rDev -13.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Visited on 11/23/2011

Atmosphere - was the nite before thxgvg, so was pretty packed, was fairly easy to get a beer up at the bar, but there were several servers walking around, yet they never came to our table and asked if we needed anything.

The beer selection is more than decent for the Rochester area, a mix of local, regional and international/imported beers. I tried the house IPA on the reccomendation of a friend that turned out to be good. Also had a fullers london pride on tap, which was also good. The prices are decent. most beers are around $5 for a pint.

Overall Old Toad is a good place to get your craft beer fix on in the East ave. section of the ROC. Park in the lot in the back of the pub, parking is $5, but you end up getting $3 off of your first beer, which isnt a bad deal.

11-27-2011 02:37:50 | More by keithmurray

fx20736

New York

4.05/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Visited on 11/11/11.

Met some friends on a Friday early evening and the place was already filling up. Atmosphere is sort of old school clubby and slightly too bright for my tastes with lots of lights. Nice breweriana and memorabilia decorated walls, some nice wood paneling.

Servers are all friendly and speak with British accents which is nice.

Had a Peak Organic Pale from the cask. It was nice, properly served ~ 55f but nothing memorable. Also had a Smokin Toad Porter on cask, again nice but nothing special.

Friend & I split a cheese board which had a tasty Gorgonzola and a few other nice cheeses. My main course was a decent Fish & Chips.

After dinner we moved to the bar and I had a tasty Fuller's London Pride on tap and from their impressive selection of Single Malts I had a Glenmorangie 12 y.o. Lasanta which may have made a convert to Scotch of my friend.

It was a pleasant evening and we enjoyed the bartender from Derby. These days I'm not much of a Pub goer and this place is not close to where I live and parking is a hassle but I will definitely go back again.

11-20-2011 14:38:20 | More by fx20736

alee42

Massachusetts

4.86/5  rDev +12.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

My friends and I were always raving about this place back in college. After going out a bunch of times, a bar-crawl, a Halloween night, and almost every Sunday, I can firmly say this place is utterly exceptional, in every shape-or-form.

It sits in the bar district along Alexander and East. Although there are many places to get your booze (Monty's and Murphy's I like too), this is the place to get your quality imports and microbrews. OT's signature beers are made at Custom Brewcrafters in nearby Honeoye Falls. Beers on tap are written on the long chalk board above the bar. They have a quality selection of beers, wines, and spirits featured on their menu - it's updated quite frequently.

The "Bar" area literally smells like an orgy of hops and malts. Cut off from the side room, or more characteristically the "dining area", the Bar consists of about 10-12 bars stools encircling the actual bar, with all assortments of glasses hanging from the rack above. There are booths with small tables that hit your knees along the sides, and a dart board that completes the scenery. Sunday nights are great for playing, not too many people around.

The staff members are the most helpful and active bunch. They say a cheers to you after ordering your drink, but the best part is they have British accents! Well, maybe not all, but the ones that have served me are quite the 'mates.

I definitely recommend this place to BAs and others that want to enjoy a night out, without the booming music and noisy crowds most commercial bars get. It's worth it.

07-25-2011 00:52:50 | More by alee42

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

My aunt and uncle told me about this place when I was visiting them last summer. They ended up taking my girlfriend and I to lunch there before we came home.

We got to the pub and went inside it was around 1pm I think. There were a few people there, it was rather quiet at the time. There was a lot of soccer memorabilia on the walls along with beer banners and such. The table we sat at was small and wooden very quaint. The pub in the back was really nice looking too.

The menu was pretty extensive, there was a lot to choose from in way of food and drinks. The one thing that impressed menthe most was their home-brewed Double IPA. I ordered a couple of those along with my meal. It was all very good. The best thing of all was the Bourbon Vanilla Bean Creme Brûlée. I'm a fan of that dessert anywhere but this version was so over the top.

The service was very good too, according to my aunt she said that all the employees are students from England who are studying abroad. It's explains the English accent that they all had. They were all very knowledgeable about the business and helpful with questions we had.

I would definitely go here again, everything was very enjoyable and I even managed to buy a bottle of Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence from a few years ago. Awesome stuff!

04-16-2011 18:15:06 | More by Knapp85