The LAB (Lexington Avenue Brewery)

NoCurse2012

South Carolina

3.22/5  rDev -16.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | $$

I had the IPA, cream ale and rye ale. Wife had a bloody mary. Atmosphere was great with seating right along the sidewalk for people watching. Service was a bit to be desired as I sat and watched the bar tender check her text messages for several minutes prior to finally coming over to take our drink order. We decided to move out to the side walk seating where the service was much better. I would go back again.

04-10-2013 23:57:22 | More by NoCurse2012

MarcatGSB

Michigan

3.7/5  rDev -3.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Interesting lay out, and overall appearance of the bar. It looks very "club" like, with lights lining the underneath of the bar, and strobe light like fixtures all over the place. They have numerous TV's, including one really big like 10 foot projection screen. Once again, definitely has a rather club feel to it, even during the afternoon when we stopped in.
The bartender was nice enough, albeit not really a beer geek. We talked sports more than we talked beer (which is fine with me).
We sampled their sliders, and they were very good. I was actually impressed with the quality and taste of the beef. I appreciate that. It's a nice stop, again easy access right in the middle of downtown, but not a destination by any means. The Imperial Stout I had was enjoyable, and worth trying again.

12-26-2012 18:34:23 | More by MarcatGSB

Lukafer

Indiana

4.16/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

Stopped in for a quick beer on my honeymoon, ended up getting their flight and stciking around for 2 more pints.

The layout of this place is fantastic, you walk in through a covered patio/breezeway of sorts, and into the bar which also has open, garage style windows. There's a huge bar which wraps around and goes over to huge windows that show the fermentors. There's also a back room that has a stage and had someone plying accordian, and I saw some people dressed in leiderhosen, so it was probably and Oktoberfest celebration (I hope). The special of the night was $3 Nitro Raspberry Stouts. Really? Okay, we'll have them all, thanks! Great place and the beer ws fantastic, recommended.

10-06-2012 18:19:17 | More by Lukafer

jfindley

New York

3.46/5  rDev -9.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | $

We went here on a Thursday night specifically to see a band after we had gone out to dinner.

A - Nice open bar with seating open to the sidewalk and street and a really cool wooden bar. It's all lit and done in a really hip club style. But also fairly comfortable and warm for basically a really big concrete room. People at tables, people at the bar, people standing, and busy but still usable.

Q - The LAB beers are just average brewpub fare. Decent at best and totally boring at worst. Meh, on average. We tasted a couple and the only saving grace was Deviant Dales on tap. I always feel bad for a place when the best beer and only thing I want to drink is not theirs.

S - Service was good overall. It had been a fairly busy crowd that was calming down before the night so it wasn't overly busy. But we got good service and prompt attention.

S - The selection is okay. Their beers covered a good variety and then the added Oskar Blues. But I rated selection down due to the quality. It doesn't matter how many you have if none are memorable.

F - Had to give an N/A as we didn't have any food. They do have a diverse and large menu. We had walked by a couple times prior to visiting and the food all looked good for what that's worth.

Overall we got the impression that this place is living on a past reputation that it no longer lives up to. It's likely one of the more popular and established places in Asheville but it just isn't all that. There are better bars, better breweries, and certainly better beer to be had.

*non beer related content follows*
Lastly, they have a really nice music venue in the back with its own bar. And we had a great time seeing a couple bands. But they have exactly zero promotion or information in the front bar and restaurant about who or what is going on in the back. Not even a tent card on a table. If we hadn't looked it up online prior to going we wouldn't have even known there was a venue in back.

10-04-2012 01:55:10 | More by jfindley

smac1094

Rhode Island

1.95/5  rDev -49.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 1.5 | service: 3 | selection: 1 | food: 1 | $$

My wife and I went to LAB on a Sunday night. They only had four beers on tap, two of theirs, Blond Ale and something light, and two from Sierra Nevada, Kellerweis and Stout. We got a pitcher of Blond Ale, and it wasn't good. It tasted old, or maybe the lines needed to be cleaned. Not only didn't we finish the pitcher, we both left beer in our glasses. We ordered two appitizers. The fried chicken appitizer was one small drum leg, some OK cornbread, and greens. The cheese plate was supposed to be a selection of local cheeses. There were about six to eight small slices of cheese with half a dozen crackers. Neither seemed to be a good value. The bar tender, who seemed nice enough, said, "Yeah, that's the way it is." It's too bad. It is a nice space, just bad beer and small over-priced appitizers.

09-21-2012 21:18:11 | More by smac1094

MattN373

4.88/5  rDev +27.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

This place was AMAZING!!! My girlfriend and I went here for the first time in July 2011. The Atmosphere is incredible, the staff was awesome, the food was high quality and priced just right, and the BEER was Bodacious. The reason we didn’t give the selection a 5 is only because they didn’t have any beers other than their own. (which we tasted all of them and loved the tastes) We highly recommend to add the LAB as you first and last stop when visiting Ashville, and maybe throw it in as a mid vacation stop as well. We skipped out on staying at the Sweet Pea above the LAB, but will be staying there this coming September when we go back again.

Honorable Mention... Don’t miss out on the Thirsty Monk, also a great bar. Read my review.

09-13-2012 16:59:00 | More by MattN373

adam42381

Florida

3.6/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$

The wife and I were in Asheville a couple weeks ago and decided to check out BeerAdvocate to see where we should visit and we decided to check out Lexington Avenue Brewery since we were close by. The layout of the place was very cool. I ordered a French Dip sandwich which was very good (I can't remember what the wife ordered). To be honest, their beer was pretty good, but nothing special. They didn't seem to have anything available besides their brews which is cool (if not disappointing because their beer wasn't that great). It's a place that would be worth checking out, but I think it's probably more of a nightlife spot than a place that true beer lovers would frequent.

06-27-2012 20:57:40 | More by adam42381

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev -10.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | $$

Located, appropriately enough, on Lexington Avenue. With our unofficial tourguide, our first destination.

Atmosphere: I love the patio area - a breezeway between Lex Ave. and the dining area that has a few tables and seats right along Lex. Perfect place for people watching. Inside, past the bar, seating and brewing areas is a dance hall that I'm sure gets out of hand later at night. We spent an inordinate amount to time watching the people though. There are also some stray boulders that you can sit on.

Quality/Service: We were greeted and seated and then visited often - no complaints on that front. It was also too early for the lunch rush. The neon in the brewing area is a nice touch.

Selection: A little disappointing - only 4 beers on tap: A white, an IPA, a black IPA and a stout. None were stand outs unfortunately.

Food: There is a full menu, both lunch and dinner, but we didn't eat.

05-29-2012 17:45:08 | More by akorsak

jbolts

3.06/5  rDev -20.3%
vibe: 1.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

I have seen a few reviewers refer to this place as non-douchey. I respectfully, but whole heartedly disagree. This "brewery" is the antithesis what Asheville breweries were intended to be. It is, if nothing else, 100% douchey. Don't waste your time. If you want good beer and to mingle with real (not necessarily normal, but real) people, go to French Broad, AVL Pizza, or the Wedge. If you want to check out the latest jeans fashion, listen to techno, and drink mediocre beer, the Lab is your kinda place.

03-09-2012 21:22:49 | More by jbolts

JdoubleA

North Carolina

3.85/5  rDev +0.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 2 | food: 4 | $$

A- Good modern feel with an curvy bar, concrete floors metal chairs, and a roll-up front wall. I always dig being able to see the brewing equipment behind the bar. They've got a nice extended bar-type area that seperates the dining room from outdoors so you can face the street while you're there. I like it.

Q- Good. Because it doesn't really fit anywhere else, I really enjoy the Dyson Air-Blade in the bathroom. It's how everyone will dry their hands in the future.

S- Good, no problems to speak of. When they were under construction my wife and I walked by and were peeking in, and the owner or brewer, or somebody in charge took us on a tour of the place. I thought that was nice.

S2- Pretty much all LAB stuff, so I can't give them a great score, but if you're going their specifically for their stuff, you won't be disappointed.

F- I've liked all the food I've gotten there.

V- In line with Asheville.

02-10-2012 19:37:55 | More by JdoubleA