Cannery Row Brewing Company

augustgarage

California

3.96/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

Cannery Row is such a strange grotesque place, the pace of new mall-like outrages is so precipitous that one wonders if the city's power isn't derived entirely from Steinbeck spinning ever-faster in his grave. Tourism absurdities aside, I'm pleased to find a watering hole in town where one can find such a wide selection of draft offerings (even if everything with their name on it is contract brewed). In addition to a good number of craft brews, there are a large number of superior imports as well (including quite a few from Belgium that I would never expect to see in a bar catering towards the Bud-Light and car-bomb-chugging crowd).

Crowded on a weekend, the service is still rapid and friendly. The lines are meticulous and the beer is fresh and served in appropriate glassware. Prices range from decent ($5.75 for a Bigfoot) to the outlandish ($10 and up for most Belgian beers). The bottle selection isn't terrible, though the mark-up is such that it makes much more sense to pick up what you want at Bottles n' Bins then head back to your hotel to enjoy it.

I did not have the food so will withhold comment there.

A noisy cavernous place and something of a meat-market despite being primarily a restaurant. There is also a room downstairs for sad private parties. Most of my fellow patrons appeared quite soused. I managed to find a tiny table outside near one of the gas fire-pits which provided some respite while still allowing for amusing people-watching.

Despite the downsides, you'll be hard pressed to find a better selection anywhere near by.

10-20-2011 16:03:11 | More by augustgarage

DoubleJ

California

3.65/5  rDev -3.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

A brewery? Well, I can add a few new ticks under my belt....oh, they actually don't brew? Well, that dampens my chances. But there's 75 taps....ok, I'm going in....

The location of Cannery Row brewing is great. It's just a few easy blocks from the waterfront of Monterey, and as a bonus, there's ample parking nearby (you'll need to pay though). The interior is dark, large, and is held by high ceilings. Several different televisions are at the bar help make the time pass by when you're alone (like I was). Well, either that or the 75 taps which are available. Many American beers were pouring, sprinkled with a few imported varieties; Allagash, Abita, Lucifer, Mardesous, Erdinger, Bear Republic, Stone, Firestone, Deschutes. In addition, there are 30 varieties of bottles.

Service; good. Beer breat with garlic fries; good. Prices per pour; not so good. Food prices were alright, but beer is where it gets expensive. There are many $6.50 pours, even on something like Blue Moon. I did see Anderson Valley and 21st Amendment at $5.75 per pint. At least you can order a half-pint of something, only then to see it poured into a rocks glass.

Cannery Row brewing has a few small setbacks, though it isn't enough to setback any future visits.

11-12-2012 18:55:52 | More by DoubleJ

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.8/5  rDev +0.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

A new bar to me, not having been down in Monterray for 35 years. A good sized place overlooking the main tourist street (the Ocean would have been awesome). Loud Claifornia oldie music, but you can still talk loud and be heard. Most of the tables are close enough to the bar . Servers unknowledgeable about the beers, which with WIfi and 72 taps I made do. I would have liked to find small new brewery stuff. Still, a good representation of out of state taps. Pints are reasonably priced but I would have appreciated a half pint option to try more. I also would have liked to try the house ales which they were out of.

11-11-2012 01:03:25 | More by northyorksammy

scottfrie

California

3.68/5  rDev -2.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$$

Huge seating area but me and my buddy still had to wait for dinner on the weekend. Atmosphere is similar to a BJ’s. Tap list is huge (70 something) and the bottle list is almost as expansive. They have plenty of great beer to choose from, but freshness of kegs was a (slight) issue, and so was the price. I think a bottle of DeuS was $70, and a magnum of Chimay Blue was like $600! Craft pints were about $7 to $10 depending on what you got. There were some unique things on the food and dessert menu, but again you’re paying for the privilege of eating in Monterey. I enjoyed my meal well enough, but it wasn’t amazing or of the highest quality ingredients (for the price). The dessert doughnuts were pretty damn good though. Overall not terrible but I would rather go someplace smaller, less crowded and more “local”. This place feels a bit forced and a bit mainstream.

03-08-2012 02:04:08 | More by scottfrie

marksweiner

California

4.08/5  rDev +7.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in on my own while in town for work. Based on the previous reviews here I must say I was apprehensive. Place turned out pretty good for a predominantly tourist-trap area.

A - typical faux-brepub atmosphere (place does not atually produce beer - their house lable is brewed by St. Stans). Not overly-impressed, but definately nothing to complain about. There was pre-season football and MLB on so the bounty of HD panels was appropriate.

Q - Approximately 75 taps with the following notables: Big Foot, Deschuttes Hop in the Dark, Speakeasy Double-Daddy, Schneider Aventinus, and many belgians. All the beers I tasted were well-served and in the appropriate glassware. Lines were clean.

S - I had no complaints here - all three of the barkeeps that served me were friendly and attentive. Perhaps the table service was lacking - I suggest the bar.

S - I guess I kind of covered this above, but I thought there was a vast selection for the area. They had a lot of bottles as well.

F - Did not try it.

V - not bad considerring the zip code. A tulip of Bigfoot (which is out of season) was $5.75, pint of Doubledaddy was $6.50. It is not Toronado prices, but not too bad.

08-29-2011 00:49:38 | More by marksweiner

afksports

New York

3.2/5  rDev -15.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2 | $$

Visited here recently on a trip down the PCH. Solid atmosphere for a place on Cannery Row, which is a fun spot apparently. The beer / tap selection is the best in the surrounding area, from what I can tell. Several Deschutes taps, probably 24-32 taps in total, 20+ craft. Reasonable prices on the drinks. Just about everything else is subpar though.

Especially for what you'd expect from a spot in Monterey that does the volume this one does.

The food was pretty bad. The group had some decent garlic and beer battered fries, but a terrible sandwich and an unfinishable burger. The soft pretzel earned high marks all around, though. Anyway - at $10+ for a sandwich with no extras, I'd like something to taste better than paper.

Some things that occurred with the service:
-fly in the water glass
-no silverware
-told us a beer was local when it was from the UK
-brought merlot when we asked for cab
-had to ask for napkins
-didn't know my girlfriend's drink order
-poured extra water into a cocktail glass and bussed the actual water glass
-couldn't get us into the beer pong private party downstairs (tongue in cheek here, but we had to try!).

Truthfully, this spot is only getting a decent grade because of the beers. My recommendation: if you find yourself here, order a few beers and finish them before doing any eating.

It'll help.

03-14-2011 07:27:00 | More by afksports

WVCanuck

West Virginia

3.33/5  rDev -12.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 1 | selection: 5 | $$

I had high hopes for this medium sized pub with 73 beers on tap. The beer selection was incredible, but it took a great deal of effort to be served, even though the bar was only about 3/4 full. Thankfully a couple of young ladies took pity and flagged down a bartender for us, otherwise we might have gone without a pint.

My other gripe with the place was the menu. I'm not of the bifocal generation, but the selections were simply too scrunched together. Yeah the selection is great, but why not separate the beverage menu from the food menu?

10-20-2010 02:42:59 | More by WVCanuck

jeffjeff1

California

4.63/5  rDev +22.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I went here with my wife on our honeymoon. First thing that I noticed when I got there besides the cool neon beer signs in the entrance(totally retro) was the menu. One entire side of the menu is nothing but beer. They have 73 beers on tap. A very good selection. Then they have the specialty beers which are more expensive but are more expensive and rarer beers. They have a lawnmower beer section for those retro beers like PBR and that type. The waitress we had when we went there was awesome. I had the Tipsy Seagull Pale Ale which was good. The sampler was good too. Food was very good. The manager was very nice too. We had nice conversations with him and the waitress. He comped me a beer which was awesome. Left a 20 dollar tip for the waitress because it was so good. We went back a second time and they remembered us. The manager comped my wife a dessert and our waitress from the first time came by and said hi. It made me feel good to have such good service with good beer.

08-16-2010 04:12:08 | More by jeffjeff1