Brick Store Pub

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4.14/5  rDev -11.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A very nice pub in a good neighbourhood. Seats outside and lots inside. Clean and decently appointed wood seats. Very good selection of beer, particular Belgians, though most are available at Green's, the best local store. Service is good, but the staff outside of bartender do not know their beer, however they do have the patience to ask. Much better than average bar. Had a good time, courtesy of impromtu Beer Advocate sharing with dano213, smchnsgy, blitz134. Great place to meet in late Northeast's winter, when it's clearly spring in Atlanta.
UPDATE: Went back in early 2008 and was happy to find a new dedicated Belgium bar, and even more great beers on tap. It's getting better not only older.Worth going out of the way to Atlanta for.

03-06-2006 19:22:05 | More by northyorksammy

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4.66/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

So I finally, and seriously finally get a chance to stop into the Brick Store. I have been down in the Atlanta Metro about 3 times in the last coupel months, but just did not make it over here, schedule, location, traffic, whatever the reason, I am a slacker and should have been here sooner. This trip I made sure I would be able to get in here. Very easy to find, right across the mall like thing from raging burrito, I noticed some nice patio seating. Walking in to a nice cozy place. Horseshoe shaped bar downstairs with maybe 10-20 taps of various seasonals, BCS, Anchor OSA, Sweetwater Festive, among others. Got to hang out and chill with Ding, bonus there as well. Bottle selection is insane and really just too many too really list. The upstairs wasnt open yet, but the beer list, I have never seen anything close to this in the SE before, wow.Overall this place was about the top of its game, I havent yet seen its equal since I left the NE. I will make it a point to stop in here nay chance I get. Only downer was the 4 hour drive home if rush hour traffic in Atlanta, no fun. Next I go earlier and leave alot later!

12-16-2007 15:27:31 | More by mikesgroove

DoubleSimcoe

New York

4.21/5  rDev -9.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.75 | $$

Of course I had to go the famous Brick Store in my one and only visit to Decatur. It was rather busy in a weekday evening, but the wife and I found a seat at the bar... she had been there a couple of nights before and the friendly bartender remembered her.

The atmosphere is cozy and warm, kind of dark, feels like a place frequented by locals... it's got that hunting-lodge feel. Tables at the front, then the bar and an upstairs area with more tables.

I counted 15 taps (not the 25 BA lists): Allagash Interlude, Brooklyn Black Choco Stout, Bruery 5 Golden Rings, Founders Backwood Bastard, Westbrook IPA, Mikkeller From Via To... plus a bunch of Belgians.

Servers are sort of hipster-ish/hippie-ish, what with their beards and plaid shirts, but they're all approachable and cool. Ravi Shankar playing on the stereo to boot! Weird and cool.

I wasn't super impressed with this place but I'm glad I stopped by and checked it out. Next time I'll go to Leon's and see what's up.

03-11-2013 03:35:21 | More by DoubleSimcoe

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4.53/5  rDev -3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

What a cool place to have a drink or dinner. Very easy to get to, a short walk from the E6 stop of the MARTA. When I stopped by the tap list included:
DFH Aprihop
DuPont Cidre Bouche
French Broad Rye Hopper
Fullers London Pride
Oskar Blues Gordon
Reisdorff
Schneider/Brooklyner Hopfen
Smuttynose Finest Kind
Sweetwater IPA
Terrapin Rye Squared
Victory Hopdevil (cask)
Weihenstephaner
Weyerbacher Insanity
Weyerbacher Slam Dunkel
Alagash Black
De Ranke Guldenberg
DuPont Foret
McChouffe
Ommegang Rouge
St Bernardus ABT 12
Unibroue Terrible
and more...

This might be enough for the review, but the bottle list was really long too. The atmosphere is just about perfect too, well laid out. If you're in Atlanta you should stop here at least once. I'll be back again in the future.

04-29-2009 01:45:49 | More by TurdFurgison

SaCkErZ9

Florida

4.71/5  rDev +0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Visited the Brick Store at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Finished work a bit early and decided to drop in for a pint and finish some computer work. I wish I lived upstairs!

The downstairs bar is somewhat small but very cozy and comfortable. There are no tv's or entertainment otherwise, but with the beer selection, who needs entertainment. The lady working the bar, I think she is part owner maybe, said "We dont really have anything to connect anyone to the outside world". Perfectly fine with me.

The draft beer selection was very nice. Ayinger, Franziskaner, Sweetwater, Lagunitas Cappuccino stout, and about 15 others. More Belgian drafts as well. About 400 or so bottled beers to suit anyones fancy. I have never been to a bar with such a selection.

Service was awesome. I was promptly greeted and given the specials and new arrivals. Beer may be a bit expensive but with the selection, I would not argue. If within 30 miles of this place, check it out.

11-14-2006 19:49:00 | More by SaCkErZ9

GCBrewingCo

North Carolina

4.95/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

The Brick Store is pretty easy to find on a little turnaround called Court Square in Decatur. What is not easy to find is parking. The deck that is off church street is the closest and had nightly parking for $3. There are meters in the turnaround and on the street, but I never saw an empty one.

I walked in and the sign was sit anywhere so I plopped down at the bar. Very quickly the barkeep gave me a beer menu and a menu. The beer menu was filled with the 25 tap selections and hundreds of bottle selections mostly Belgians. The downstairs tap selections were imports and micros while the upstairs, an area not really noticeable from downstairs, was Belgians and was even called the Belgian bar.

I settled in with my selection, a micro served in a 20 ounce glass for $4.50, and asked for an appetizer. It seemed I had only mentioned it when it appeared from the kitchen. When I order my food it came just as fast. The only slight delay was when I ordered a beer off the Belgian menu and had to wait for it to be fetched from the mysterious upstairs. The roasted red pepper hummus was very good and the chicken salad melt was magnificent.

The interesting thing about the place is that it was 100% smoke free...none, nada, zilch. The downstairs was noisy and busy. I finally ventured upstairs and found a much more quiet environment with a Belgian beer bar where they rinse the glassware and then pour the beers. The glass assortment in and of itself is quite a site. Darn near every beer is served in the proper glass. The only outliers I saw were Skulsplitter and some Sweetwater beers. They got some small beer glasses instead of dedicated glassware. The pours were generous and the service spot on.

I knew I was home the minute I saw the Old Foghorn kick and then the barkeep went to the back and produced yet another keg...I'd go back in a heartbeat!

Here are the drafts tonight:
Dowstairs
Old Foghorn
Adventinus
Celebrator
Boddingtons
Blackthorn Cider
Guinness
Highland Oatmeal Porter
Hoegaarden
Paulaner HefeWeizen
Pilsner Urquell
Red Seal
Dead Guy
Sweetwater IPA
Spaten Maerzen
Terrapin Rye
Warsteiner
Weihenstephaner

Belgian (upstairs)
Hennepin
La Chouffe
Cinq Cents
St Bernardus 12
Corsendonk
Gulden Draak
Brooklyn Abbey
Delerium Tremens

05-18-2005 01:50:56 | More by GCBrewingCo

GJ40

North Carolina

4.7/5  rDev +0.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I stopped into the Brick Store Pub a couple of times while in Atlanta; most recently while visiting the area with my family.

This place has one of the most authentic feeling interiors of any pub I've visited in the US. You walk into a deep and fairly narrow room with worn woods, high ceilings, exposed brick and an inviting U shaped bar facing you. This initial room is impressive enough but when you head upstairs to the loft-like second floor, it gets even better. The second floor has low ceilings with exposed beams and wanders with 4 - 5 separate areas. It includes a second bar and lots of aged but solid wooden tables, chairs and booths. It's as relaxing and peaceful as can be. I'd really like to spend a long night there some time.

They have at least 40 beers on tap including Americans downstairs and Belgians upstairs. I had a Reissdorf Kolsch, a Hebrew Jewbilation 12 and a Rogue Imperial Porter. They have lots more beers in the bottle (including just about every Belgian you could find in the US).

The food is very good as well. I loved the Brick Burger and my family enjoyed the Brie appetizer. Everything we got from the salads to the fries to the burgers was excellent.

The area around the pub is pretty impressive too. There's a huge, historic courthouse across the street and lots of little shops and restaurants. It's got something for everyone.

This place has lots of character and some damn good beer. It's one of the best pubs in the US.

01-03-2009 13:07:51 | More by GJ40

dirtylou

Washington

4.2/5  rDev -10.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

kind of an infamous place - leads to pretty excessive expectations.

located in Decatur - not a fan of Atlanta in general but Decatur shows some signs of life and culture that are encouraging. The brick store is located in a pretty cool little area with live music filling the air and dark bars spilling onto the sidewalk.

cool exterior, cool interior - dark, lots of brick and wood, old casks and barrels.

tap selection was strong, but for a #2 rating in the US, you'd have to expect more. The bottle list was pretty great too, but there are a handful of places in NC that would win out on both accounts. I dunno - I suppose its all relative.

great service - got some samples and some pointers. I would come back anytime I was in Atlanta, but expectations need to be benchmarked against the state

09-24-2011 02:05:55 | More by dirtylou

crossovert

Wisconsin

4.86/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

It is hard to rate this one on value since I didn't actually buy anything form it.

But I attended their big beer gathering event and it was amazing. The atmosphere is perfect for a beer bar. The metal music downstairs was also a nice touch.

The story goes that me and my friend attended this event and there just happened to be 2 bombers of some pretty good beer (Sierra Nevada 30th Grand Cru and Hopfenstaark Altbier [thanks to whoever left it]) that we each had.

Eventually some ladies wandered up and sat with us and what they were ordering was impressive. The waitress came out with perfectly chosen beers one after another. Now the prices seemed fair, but of course i wasn't buying them.

The cellar is amazing and cool.

Just a kick ass place.

03-07-2011 01:05:42 | More by crossovert

shivtim

Georgia

4.72/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$$

Edit: I've been back to the Brick Store multiple times now that I live in Atlanta. My review below is still pretty accurate. I bumped up the service score by a half point, because at less crowded times the service is actually really good and the servers are all quite knowledgeable about the beer lineup, how much is left, and whats on deck. The selection is better than I thought because they get some amazing rotating casks and kegs. They also have events with absolutely fantastic tap lists, like the Hop Harvest Festival and annual "Holy Mother of Gatherings." So selection gets an a solid 5.
Food is variable- I've had some really good stuff and some-what average pub grub, but it tends to be good, and the price is right. Certainly the best beer bar in the Atlanta area, if not all of Georgia or the South.

***
Hit this place up while I was visiting Emory University for a day. It was crowded on a Thursday night, but I found a spot at the upstairs bar. Atmosphere was pretty cool, the downstairs is big and open with brick walls (although none are for sale... what a misnomer), and the upstairs is almost maritime themed, with a low ceiling, wood panels, and ship-like lanterns. The selection is great, with a focus on Belgians (and quite a few on tap), but also some great USA brews. Service was decent, nothing special, but I got my beers. The crowd didn't seem to be beer focused, quite a few people were drinking wine and/or mixed drinks. They did use proper glassware for everything though, down to the brand name on the side of the glass. Some of the stuff was a bit pricey, but not too over the top. I didn't try the food as I'd already had dinner.

04-10-2007 16:04:23 | More by shivtim