Goat Hill Tavern

SwillinBrew

California

4.14/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I dont know why i've waited so long to review this place. I've been coming here for 19 years and it smells the same, fricken awesome.

The Goat is a total dive bar with a sports bar like attitude. Dingy but full of charm. There are stickers all over the place. On the walls and ceiling are surfboards, lamps, street signs, a stuffed moose head, pictures of early orange county, xmas lights and probably the kitchen sink. It's like a garage sale was pasted up there. There is a front door and back door which once in awhile allows a breeze to flow thru the bar... if you're lucky, and the breeze flows from back to front, you get a great aroma from the infamous bathrooms. Just a solid dose of aged puke and stewed rankness... it just has to be experienced. I wont say more on the bathrooms because it looks like other post already took care of it, but damn, i'm so glad i'm a guy and dont have to sit down. Hell, i cringe when i stand in there.

There's several areas. The main bar area, behind the bar area and the patio. There are plenty of TV's with various sports on. Perfect to watch while your draining your pint.

You can smoke where the pool tables are even though it looks like a room. That's because at one time it was a patio and it's been since covered up except for a few holes... thus it's still a patio and thus outdoors. It's great when rains. Big puddles form, mix with the peanut shells and just add to the stank... AWESOME.
There's over 130 taps. I was just here with IPAviator and i had some Deschutes Inversion IPA, Arrogant Bastard, Old Rasputin, Oggi's Blond and a Stone IPA. There's a good and solid selection here. By the way, dont let the interior here fool you. They just had their beer lines and keg cooler redone. It's very orderly and clean.

What can i say. You need to get here and experience the Goat.

10-10-2006 17:23:48 | More by SwillinBrew

86sportster883

New Jersey

4.14/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I've been to the Goat Hill a number of times, usually in the early evening of a weekday. As you might expect the clientele, at that time of day, tends to be the after work, let’s stop out for a beer crowd. This time, I stopped in after dinner with some co-workers and wound up staying till closing. This is a fun place with decent music, a primarily young crowd (20s – 30s), lots of entertainment (pool tables, foosball tables and shuffleboard tables), and numerous flat screen TVs throughout. The selection of tap beers is expansive, although you’ll have to drink your beer out of a plastic beer mug. They list their beers on a large blackboard hanging over the center of the bar. On this visit they had listed Stone’s Oaked Bastard, but unfortunately the bar had already kicked the one keg that they had gotten. I settled for a mug of Arrogant Bastard, since I hadn’t previously had this on tap. This was followed by a Stone IPA and finally a Mirror Pond Pale Ale. The beers were fresh, the bar staff was fast, and the crowd was friendly. I go here mainly because of the very large selection of good beers on tap. And, unlike other places with a large selection, I’ve never gotten a beer that tasted old, or off. As for the décor, the place is pretty much a dump, but with lots of mildly interesting crap strewn about. Overall, a fine place to stop in with a some friends to have a few good drafts. Recommend you eat before you get there though, as they don’t offer any real food.

12-15-2006 00:44:02 | More by 86sportster883

Myk

Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5

THIS PLACE RULES
the atmosphere, is my type of place, a nice saw dust on the floor bar with old classic signs everywhere. proably close to a thousand or two, old handpumps screwed into the ceiling, a giant hole in the ceiling in one room so that it can be considered a patio for smokers. an amazing amount of taps with mostly good beer. bathroom is pretty nasty. i think my shoes caught some sort of disease in there. don't touch anything, but added to the whole of the bar.

quality and selection of the beer was pretty good. lot of different stuff ranging from old rasputin to budweiser to goat hill black sheep, still not sure who brews it, forgot to ask.

service was very friendly. school teaher brought a bottle as a peace offereing between NY an SOCAL. it worked well, and the barkeep put it on ice for us. he also gave a guided tour of the keg room, which was something i would like to have in my house. they didnt mind that someone was sleeping on the table or even that i got my ass beat by two other BA's, good times.

and the best part was the food. if u are hungry u have the choice between, peanuts, hot dog or pickled eggs. WOW.

07-28-2003 00:59:02 | More by Myk

blitheringidiot

Pennsylvania

4.06/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

***THIS PLACE ROXXX!!!***
Not only is the Goat Hill Tavern easy to find for this traveling Idiot, but there is parking available right out front, or across the street in a huge lot. Why the Goat Hill Tavern gets a 4.5 is because it's a perfect DUMP! What? Yes It's a dive but in a beautiful artistic manner that must be seen to be appreciated fully. Dirty windows adorned with rustic neon welcome you into a sawdust and peanut shell laden wooden floor that unveils about 1000 tap handles on the ceiling. It's a helluva sight for a beernut! Old signs of every sort decorate the walls like a beer buddies basement. What a relaxed kicked back vibe! One of the most rustic worn 'n weathered interiors this side of Portland's Horse Brass. Enjoy two pool tables, dingy booths and smoking for all.

If this place were my bar, I'd ditch the plastic mugs in favor of glass pints. Some of us got plastic mugs. Ugh! Also, with 141 taps, as advertised, a few are kicked but still on the list. A noble feat would be to keep the eraser board updated. Just a gripe.

Service consists of flagging down a haggerd 'tender that is two feet away pouring pitchers for the 20 something crowd that swarms this place like a frat party on a Wednesday! Not that I'm complaining about an attractive crowd, but the 'tenders seemd a little ho-hum and I was UMM...thirsty.

OK, lets talk beer! 141 aps is daunting, but for even this uber beer nut, there was a tap selection to please. West Coast Nut Brown, Rogue Brutal Bitter, Lagunitas pilsner, Stone Arrogant Bastard, and there are 141 in all. Wow!

As far as the Cou;d you take your Mother here test? HELL NO! This is dick in the dirt Cadillac quality which is my favorite. The bathrooms alone would offend John Wayne Gacey. Nice!

Last call: Bring a sticker to slap anywhere. $1 or $2 peanuts are both huge. A new fave spot of mine! Thanks Ken H. Also, 5 minutes away from the BEST beer store Hi-Times.

08-18-2006 04:56:35 | More by blitheringidiot

drewbage

California

4.04/5  rDev +1.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5

The mystical magical place that is the Goat is best summed up in every beer geeks first reaction... "Jesus.. this place is flithy.. cool stuff though.. gah.. what's that smell?.. Ohh.. beer taps.. lots of beer taps!"

For the well travelled beer drinker, the goat probably doesn't offer much in the way of exciting new discoveries, but it does offer a lot of choice in one place.

The atmosphere rolling out of this place is pure grungy din, but the atmosphere alone makes up for any ickiness you might feel.

Go.. play some foosball or shuffleboard.. drink a few brews. While this place may not hav all the spit and polish of the Yardhouse up a block, but the atmosphere in here is a lot more homedown and friendly.

06-27-2004 21:36:09 | More by drewbage

Dukeofearl

California

4.03/5  rDev +1.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 1.5

After driving by this place a number of times (usually going to Hi-Times Wine for my lambic/gueuze fix), I finally made it last weekend to this place for Extreme Beer Fest West, a mini-BA Meeting of those us us who don't like the cold weather in Boston.

This is a place of extremes- my first experience when I walked in was to see someone smoking! In a bar!! In California!!!! This does not happen anymore- not for years! Well, it turns out that there's a "patio" full of tables and chairs and booths and foosball and pool tables, and one tree at the far end- with a hole in the "patio cover" for the tree to stick through. It looked just like another room to this rundown dive bar. Unbelievable.

So we sidle up to the biggest table (proudly wiped down to remove stickiness sometime in the last decade) and meet some other BAs to begin the day. But first--- 141 taps!!! OMG!!!! All jammed together so you can barely see one tap handle behind another, and a lot of them are craft brews, quality brews, haven't seen that before brews. Exceptional. Mostly domestic beers, with a few UK, German, and a couple of Belgians for good measure.

Service was ok, but they were understaffed (one bartender) which meant lines- no table service, you have to go to the bar.

Prices decent, but by no means cheap.

The extent of the food menu is $1 for a small bowl of peanuts in the shell, and $2 for the large. We were there 6 hours, and headed out halfway through to hit the taco place across the street. A decent break, actually.

This place is a hoot. Great selection, great place to relax and let your guard down, but not something I will frequent (it's a little too far from home).

02-02-2005 21:05:50 | More by Dukeofearl

janedoe

United Kingdom (England)

3.9/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $

How could you NOT like this place?

The Goat Hill laughs in the face of those other bars that put crap up on the walls (in pathetic attempts) just to be hip. This is the real deal for sure. Peanut shells and sawdust on the floors, knick-knacks on the walls and ceilings; this place savors the heritage of SoCal through years and years of randomness as patrons have added their own flavors from near and far. One can't get bored with the sights and sounds (and smells!) of the Goat Hill.

And if that's not enough…there's their 141 brews on tap. The plastic mugs are unfortunate - but befitting to the roadhouse environment - as it could easily be a venue where Jake and Elwood would perform without reservation.

05-25-2007 22:52:32 | More by janedoe

OlieIPA

California

3.86/5  rDev -3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Located right off the end of the 55 freeway in Costa Mesa, Goat Hill Tavern is place to definitely enjoy a good beer! With about 60-80 so beers on tap, a fellow BA has plenty to choose from. They even have 8 or so RIS's to pick from (Old Rasputin was my choice) and several other beer styles to go along with it. Their selection includes several quality craft brews, including: North Coast, Stone, Alesmith to name a few. The atmosphere is pretty good, but the best time to go is probably before 9pm or so on the weekends...it gets way too crowded after that time. The only thing I'll have to criticize about the place is the glassware they provide you. The beers come in chilled plastic beer mugs. I think they could do a lot better then that. Other than that, this is a place that is worth going out of your way to at least try once...maybe even more then that.

08-26-2008 00:33:56 | More by OlieIPA

jmatthew

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2.5 | $

Grimy, filthy, and fantastic! From the sawdust floors to the plastic mugs and junk hanging from every possible surface of the interior, there are absolutely no frills to this establishment. It's a down and dirty dive bar with a kick ass beer selection. This is not a place for sipping beers; this is a place for throwing them back gregariously. A young beach crowd dominates the scene, which is always lively any night of the week. I don't know what the food tastes like because I can't recall ever eating anything other than peanuts. Lots of CA beers to choose from: North Coast, Lagunitas, Stone, Lost Coast, Marin, etc. Some bottled offerings but not much worth talking about. Taps are a bit unorganized and often kicked. But then again they don't offer any pretense of being a great beer bar, so expectations are kept in check. It's a decent place just as it is. Bar staff is fairly prompt despite the crowds, and serves up a bit of friendly attitude.

09-11-2006 17:11:25 | More by jmatthew

drewmprs

California

3.8/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

This is one of the places where I drank when I first started drinking good beer. It isn't a hardcore beer geek bar but it is great as an entry level place to take friends that want to drink better beer.
Totally different vibe compared with Yardhouse across the street. There are peanut shells all over the floor, people smoke in here, and the tables are a bit sticky.
Very few beers above 8%, with about half the taps dedicated to BMC, heinken, newcastle, pyramid, etc. There are a few decent IPA's on tap but sadly they seem to be past their prime as most of the clientele order pitchers of bud light.
Typical pub food, occasional eye candy, decent prices. I would prefer yardhouse for happy hour but late at night goat hill is a good place.

03-19-2011 00:48:30 | More by drewmprs