Columbus Brewing Company

crashdavisinoh

Ohio

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

I am fortunate enough to live right next door to CBC and can walk there w/ ease. The first thing I thought about the place was it is in an odd location. Really...there is nothing around it. A grocery store (Kroger) is probably the closest thing and it is a 5 minute walk. Unless you go looking for CBC, you aren't going to be in this area. Not going to be driving by and say...oh...let's stop. I like the atmosphere in the bar (I have only been into the bar area). It is well designed. It is a rectangular bar with plenty of room to walk around. The bar is filled with windows and has seating/standing room along the edges as well. The patrons range from sports fans to professional types there after work to just plain folks. The service has always been average. Not bad...but nothing that warrants any special mention either. They have all their staples on draft...IPA, (which is amazing on draft), etc. They will usually have some draft only type things as well as their seasonals. You may do a sampling flight if you like as well. The full menu is available at the bar. The food I have had has been pretty good. The pizza, nachos, quesadilla may sound like standard bar food...it isn't. More a gourmet version. The desserts are pretty good as well. The banana upside down pie...get it. The prices on the food menu are a little above average as a whole but the drinks are reasonable. The price of a pint is 4.50-5.00 during regular hours with it dropping to 3.50 for HH. Everytime I am there, I enjoy myself. But, as at least one other reviewer noted...it feels more like a bar in a restaurant than a restaurant in a bar. I love the bartenders...they are each fantastic. In any event, if you are in Cbus...check it out. Or...if you are just traveling through on either 70 or 71...stop...it is just off the interstate. You can see it from 70 even though you can't recognize what it is. FYI...they are closed on Sundays.

12-29-2010 14:17:17 | More by crashdavisinoh

projectflam86

Ohio

3.95/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

Wanted to grab a bite to eat with the wife before the Blue Jackets game. We thought, where better than CBC?

Located out in the boondocks of the old brewery district, it seems to be the only place still up and running. Kind of a shame, I think the business would be alot better if they picked the place up and moved it over to the Arena District near Nation Wide.

Anyways, we got seated near the windows over looking the fermentation tanks which was a cool site to see. We ordered the IPA and Porter with our meals and then had the beer sampler, all of which was reasonably priced at around $5 per pint.

The food was pretty good but a little pricey and the waitstaff was very nice but not really all that knowledgeable about their beers. Seemed more like a chain restaurant with good beers rather than a brewpub.

Overall a decent place with some hidden brew gems. The regular IPA is really a fantastic brew and the pub exclusives were good as well. Its a shame they don't' distribute outside of the Columbus area. If the IPA made its way down to Dayton I would pick up a 6er regularly.

10-31-2010 16:57:30 | More by projectflam86

DoubleSimcoe

New York

3.78/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Columbus Brewing is my least favorite brewery in Columbus to go to, but I love to drink their beers on tap all over town.

Nothing really wrong with it, it is a nice brewpub/brewery with better-than-average food, a nice restaurant and patio and good brews. But is it out of the way, in the dying Brewery District of Columbus (which should have been a great 'hood but never really took off). The beers are good to very good, but you can have them all over town without having to come here.

They have a nice happy hour and some good pizzas, also growlers at reasonable prices. But... I would rather go to Barley's or even Elevator. Also, the ambience is nothing great, feels like a chain more than a local brewery.

09-14-2010 03:43:21 | More by DoubleSimcoe

MbpBugeye

Ohio

3.88/5  rDev +2.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

I am lucky to be living in the brewery district now, so this place is right down the street from me.

The food here is great. Its more of a upscale casual restaurant that brews on premise.

They dont have any guest taps. All of their handles are for their own stuff. They have a very good IPA, a pale ale, porter, Scottish red, apricot ale and currently are doing their "Hop Odyssey" which is a new hoppy beer every month this year. So far it has been very good.

The tapping parties of these new beers falls on the first Thursday of every month. I always go down there on Saturday, try the new beer and bring my growler along. If I remember a growler refill is in the $12 range.

All of their year round brews along with one seasonal (usually a summer and winter respectively) are on shelves and bars all over town. I love being able to get a 6 pack of Columbus IPA down at a gas station on my way home from work.

I would like to see some guest taps here. They make good beer, but it would be nice if they really brought the whole craft scene to the brewery district.

03-30-2010 17:33:37 | More by MbpBugeye

bigkingken

Virginia

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

I walked in with a friend on a weekday afternoon between Christmas and New Years only to find the place completely packed - a good sign. Rather than wait for a table, we decided to head over to the bar.

I didn't get a chance to really check out the entire restaurant, but I remember I loved the place; exquisite decorating, modern design, solid colors, straight lines and a relaxed yet modern atmosphere.

The menu had a lot of tempting options. I was debating between Cajun jambalaya, a pizza featuring smoked provolone, allouette, parmesan and goat cheese with fresh spinach and fire-roasted red peppers, and a soup, salad and chicken salad wrap combo. I chose the latter.

The soup and salad were delicious. The chicken salad wrap was decent. But thanks to their dedication to using fresh, local ingredients simply and effectively, the chicken and vegetable soup was some of the best soup I've ever had. And the salad featuring spinach, oven-dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, red onion, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette was simply divine.

The food here rocks.

And the beer ain't bad either.

My sampler consisted of an Apricot Ale, Pale Ale, 90 Shilling Scottish-style ale, 1859 Porter and an IPA. They were unfortunately out of their Christmas seasonal. Each beer was very true to style and extremely good. If I had to pick one, though, it would be the Pale Ale due to its floral notes, soft bitterness and balanced malt. It was refreshing.

The restaurant was packed and the bartender was having to deal with a lot more food orders than normal, but he did a decent job keeping up. And I wouldn't expect much banter since I was seated with a female friend, with whom I was having a long, in-depth conversation.

All in all, I would have to rate Columbus Brewing as the best brewpub in the city. I'd come here time and time again if I lived within 45 miles of the place.

01-27-2010 21:53:02 | More by bigkingken

timmlimestone

Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

I think I alway shit CBC at the wrong time. The place is dead, but it is out of the way. It is pretty impressive that they pull at all on off days in this corner of the city. Nice interior, nice volume on the speakers. Very nice people working there. I like the beer. Everything is very sound technically. Very good, and very palatable. I wish I lived in Columbus, then I might be able to see the busy side of CBC. Granted I have only gone there during Black Friday on both occasions. That might now help....???

11-27-2009 21:52:09 | More by timmlimestone

jbird3030

Ohio

4.4/5  rDev +16.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

This has become my favorite restaurant here in Columbus. I've been here twice so far and have really enjoyed myself both times. The beers are generally good, although not outstanding. The food is excellent and pairs well with the food. Last night, for instance, I had an excellent pot roast with a pint of their tasty 1859 Porter. Their Apricot Ale is extremely fruity but good. The IPAs that I've tried have been merely ok. Their Oktoberfest was decent. I actually tried that along with their rare tuna appetizer, one of the few items I don't actually recommend there. I look forward to more visits in the future!

09-27-2009 18:20:03 | More by jbird3030

nrbw23

Ohio

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

This place is very modern, trendy and up scaled.
All the beers they have on tap are their own. Usually right around 7 brews including a seasonal. Most of them are 4 and change depending on what you get. One can also order a sampler of all their brews for right around 5.

Overall, I'd say this place is more of a restaurant that serves beer, than a brew pub that serves food. If you're coming through its good food, touch on the pricey side. The beer is not bad you probably won't be blown away by it though. My favorite is their IPA.

04-06-2009 03:54:49 | More by nrbw23

amietaj1

Ohio

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

CBC is definitely a nice beer stop in the area, but I wouldn't be at the top of my list if I were visiting. It is located in the Brewery District section of downtown Columbus, and can be a touch tricky to find if you aren't used to city driving.

CBC is (or at least was) owned by Cameron Mitchell, who is a big name in the central Ohio restaurant industry, and has that typical Mitchell atmosphere of the restaurant (subdued colors, modern design, lots of space, relatively loud and busy, etc). And as with the rest of his restaurants, the service and food are both excellent, with a constantly changing menu.

As far as beer goes, they typically have 7-8 of their own offerings on tap, with an additional seasonal or two thrown in the mix. The beer is good and definitely well-crafted, but nothing that is going to blow you away or that you should seek out. As mentioned in previous posts, the Apricot is one of their best offerings, along with the schilling and porters.

For you BA's out there, eventhough the restaurant is great, this would be my only complaint -- it is more of a restaurant that serves beer, than a brew pub that serves food. If you live in Columbus, this is worth the occasional visit, but if you are only in town for a few days and want to get the best beer geek experience, I'd skip this for a few of the other more beer-centric locales.

02-11-2009 20:46:32 | More by amietaj1

wingman14

Ohio

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Stopped in on a Friday night for dinner with a bunch of friends. Most of the place was full with a nice atmosphere, not too loud, some TVs at the bar and a nice amount of seating. We were seated right away because we had a reservation. There is a good selection of food, some of which is pricey, the beer prices were around $4 or $5 a pint. I had the pulled pork which was good, a decent portion, but nothing amazing. Most people ordered the beer samplers, I went with a pint of the 90 Shilling which was tasty. The beers are good, everyone enjoyed the beers they tried, no real complaints. The service was good, the waitress knew a lot about every beer, and was able to give great descriptions of everything on tap. I was torn between a bit pricey and reasonable, but I was still hungry after my pulled pork and fries. A place worth checking out, more for the beer than the food, but still a nice place that has a relaxed atmosphere and some good beer.

12-12-2008 04:09:21 | More by wingman14