Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill

Frozensoul327

Michigan

4.15/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

I've been going to this place at least once a year since 2003, and i've never written a beerfly review. Time to get to it!

This place is off the Main St. lane of Frankenmuth shops and stores, right near Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. Nice presentation, as the decor fits the German themed town very well.

The atmosphere is do-able. Nothing special, but not lacking either. A nice view of the brewing facilities from a dozen or so booths was well thought out. An appealing bar is also noted, with plenty of taps and seats.

The overall quality of the beers is quite good, considering this place is nearly unknown. Each beer was appropriate to the style and well crafted. It's obvious the guy making this beer cares about quality. The food is very good as well, with a wide variety of items from Surf and Turf, to burgers, brats and even Italian. Nice.

Service was cool. The waitress seemed to know about the beers and the menu, and offered man options when it came to food preparation. Definitly a step above what i've had at some other establishments.

Selection is good. You'll find something for everyone, including the kids (kid's menu is available). I could eat here several times a week and have something totally different each time. I like that.

Quality of the food was very good. I had the weekend lunch buffet, and every thing I had was great. The brats, beans, salads, potatoes, chicken, it was all very good and easily worth the 10 bucks I spent on it.

Overall value is great. Good beer, good prices, good food and good service. Wish this place was closer to my home. If you're on I-75, it's a 5 jot off the highway. Give them a try nextime you're in Mid-Michigan.

12-11-2005 23:32:21 | More by Frozensoul327

CSFerrier

Michigan

4.43/5  rDev +20.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.75 | food: 3.75 | $

The actually resturant is quite good if you're into German food, which I am. If you're not and you get something that isn't German, well then it's pretty normal. The beer; it's really why yo go.

Want a few Growlers? Well, you can get one from Black Forest for 15 to 25 dollars, full of beer. Once you've gotten one, you can refill it for as cheap as 10 to 20 dollars. Most places I've ever been have charged twice that.

Also, their selection of beer is always changing. Which is cool. They have a stout and a red or two that are always on tap, but often have barelywines of IPAs introduced for short times throughout the year. This really is a great little place. Underrated if you ask me.

Also, damn good pizza.

05-18-2013 01:48:11 | More by CSFerrier

LilBeerDoctor

New York

3.6/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Reviewed on 6/30/2010.

A somewhat odd brewpub (maybe more of a restaurant) located in a little Germany in Frankenmuth. You'd think that the place would serve German food or even German beers, but it didn't. The place was fairly empty at ~3:00pm on a Friday - however, I saw that when another party came in later, they were told to wait for their table, even though there were clearly many tables available. Also, apparently this place hosts wedding parties upstairs. The beer was surprisingly very good (especially the Lost Sailor IPA - definitely try if you can) and they have a large selection of taps (maybe 9 or 10). The food menu was a little uninspiring (maybe perhaps because I was hoping for German food) so we just got a sausage plate and that was pretty tasty. Anyway, this place is worth a stop for the beer alone, although the atmosphere leaves something to be desired.

12-23-2010 22:10:24 | More by LilBeerDoctor

bozebus17

Michigan

2.36/5  rDev -35.7%
vibe: 1 | quality: 3.5 | service: 1 | selection: 3 | $$

I stopped in here on the second night of a weekend trip to Frankenmuth. Driving up, the building looks very cool from the outside. My excitement ended shortly after walking through the door.

The decor inside of the place is a bit of a let down. It kind of feels like a Friday's or Applebee's. This really isn't that big of a deal, but it was a sign of things to come. We sat down at a table in the bar area. There were not many patrons there and I got the feeling they were mostly regulars who knew each other. We waited for the waitress to come by, but after 15 minutes she never arrived. I decided that for whatever reason she wasn't interested in serving us, so I walked up to the bar. The bar was not crowded and I stood there for a couple of minutes before the bartender acknowledged me. I ordered a beer for myself and girlfriend and was finally served, although not very politely.

The beer itself was pretty good. I ordered their red and enjoyed it. It leaned towards the malt like a good red should and I found it very drinkable. I did not sample any other beers as we felt very uncomfortable in this place and left immediately after finishing our drinks.

Overall I was greatly disappointed with this place. I have never felt more unwelcome in a bar or brewery in my life. The staff tried their best to ignore us, and I felt like we were getting strange looks from some of the other patrons in the bar. I would think that an establishment in a town that depends on tourism as their largest industry would be friendlier to visitors, but I was wrong. If I could do it over again I would have gone to the other brewery in town (Frankenmuth Brewery) for a second night in a row as opposed to going to this place. Next time we are in town I will definitely skip Black Forest and will spend my money elsewhere. It really is too bad, because the beer itself was good.

03-29-2010 13:59:16 | More by bozebus17

rrwiltse

Colorado

2.4/5  rDev -34.6%
vibe: 1 | quality: 2 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 2 | $$

Disappointing. The inside of Black Forest looks like a chain family restaurant, especially Perkins. Uninviting, and just plain ugly. The server was good,and seemed to have fair beer knowledge. The food was really dull--not bad, but certainly not good. Very much like, well, a Perkins! The beer selection was better than I had expected--unfortunately, the quality was not. The Porter and Stout were both fine, but every other beer we tried was either bland, or bad! The Pale ale seemed tasty at first, but slowly developed a very off taste, very unbalanced. The red was virtually tasteless, the scotch strong ale was undrinkable, and the farmhouse was just plain weird, the spices just didn't work in this one. And there was a light beer too. Yeah. Sadly, the best beers there were the two Lindeman's lambic taps. Very disappointing. Swing by if you're in town, but don't go out of your way.

01-15-2008 00:29:20 | More by rrwiltse

MillRat

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%
vibe: 2 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Frankenmuth is long-standing German-themed tourist destination that has a few places with character that were built 30-50 years ago, and a lot of larger facilities built within the last 10 or so years that slap up a few Deutsch flags and shelf of steins and think they're ready to pull on the lederhosen and polka. Unfortunately, this place is in the latter category, but with the closing of the Frankenmuth brewery, it's the beer lover's best option out of an astoundingly poor to mediocre selection in a town that claims to be the Deutsch-fruend capital of the midwest.

This place puts the brewery in the center of the main floor, and indeed the beer here is the only reason that I have bothered to review the place. My wife and I shared an IPA with west coast hops, a schwarzbier, and a porter, and found them all to be well-crafted and worthy of a recommendation. The service was attentive and knowledgable.

We didn't order food as we had eaten elsewhere, but did note that the menu featured a couple of fairly standard German items. The rest of the selections were pretty standard American tour-bus fare. I would not go out of my way for the food, but the beer is worth the trip in a tourist-trap sort of destination that with its German trappings and history promises the beer aficianado far more than it delivers.

05-31-2007 14:06:51 | More by MillRat

Salo

Michigan

3.9/5  rDev +6.3%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

We stop by Black Forest every time we're in Frankenmuth. It is behind Bronner's coming into Frankenmuth. It's a Bavarian Style lodge setting with high ceilings. The interior and crowd is a little Bill Knapp's for my taste, but the beer and food make up for it. I have had the IPA, stout and Octoberfest and all were fantastic. You must try the appetizer sampler. Everything is fresh and you will be stuffed for $9.95. It includes ribs, handmade mozerella sticks, local sausage on a skewer from Willi's Meat Market and buffalo wings. The bartender knows his stuff and for hopheads check out the collection of growlers lining the ceiling.

03-06-2007 14:40:58 | More by Salo

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.83/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Found this place completely by accident traveling from Bronner's to Frankenmuth Brewery. It is located on Heinlein, which runs pretty much parallel to the main drag and is in walking distance from Bronner's. There is a large parking lot in front of the establishment.

Inside, the atmosphere does not lend itself to a brewpub look and feel. It looks more like a Perkin's. Unattractive green color scheme and chain-restaurant look really hurt the appearance. However, a live piano player and a really impressive collection of coasters behind the bar are a couple of saving graces. The bar is on the left side of the seating area, and the aforementioned coaster collection is featured around a large mirror.

As for the beers, the selection is decent. Black Forest offers 7 beers from a Light to a Robust Porter and Stout, along with the usual brewpub offerings and a couple interesting seasonals. There are also a few guest taps available. The beers are available in a sampler as well.

Service here is solid. The bartender was well-versed in the beers that are on draught and was happy to fill us in a little on the history of the establishment.

The only food we had here was an appetizer called Brew Haus Nacho Fries and frankly it was unique and delicious.

Overall I am happy to have stumbled across this place. Putting aside the lack of imagination on the interior design, the beers and food make up for it. I would definitely visit again.

10-15-2006 01:41:01 | More by Dogbrick

BeerFink

Ohio

3.18/5  rDev -13.4%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | $$

To be fair, there was a wedding reception upstairs and a wedding anniversary downstairs. We only saw the ground level, which wasn't very impressive. I am willing to go back and re-review this place on another night.

Overall, the Black Forest Brew Haus was a bit of a disappointment. My fiance and I ended a night in Frankenmuth here, and were hoping for a cool place to relax for the remainder of the evening. First of all, the overall atmosphere of the place was more on par with a Ponderosa or a Denny's than a brewpub. We first arrived around 10pm, which should be a great time for a brewpub, but the staff seemed half-asleep and the rest of the patrons seemed lethargic as well. The "entertainment" was a really lame acoustic singer doing Bob Dylan type stuff to a drum machine background. Not exactly a cool place to be a on a Friday night.

Although I was skeptical, we stayed for a few beers and my fiance ordered their Black Forest cheesecake, which we both thought was very good. I don't think its fair, however to rate the food based on a dessert, so that was left with N/A. Their best offering in my opinion was their American IPA. Although they didn't have a huge selection of beers on tap, the range was decent, and I was happy to see that the beers weren't served ice cold. They were actually served a bit warmer than most places (which could have been due to our sluggish server), but it was appreciated.

Even though I was a little disappointed by this brewpub, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to the two receptions they were hosting that night. The beers were only $3.50 a pint, and were tasty enough to warrant a return trip to re-evaluate the next time I'm in Frankenmuth.

Bottom line - don't expect a great place to hang out, but stop in and enjoy their beers if you are in the area already.

05-14-2006 01:50:58 | More by BeerFink

oberon

North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev +5.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

A place owned by the Sullivan family that owned a few family restaurants around the Saginaw/Bay Caity areeas when I was kid not sure how many there is around the area now.Anyways it sits right across from the tourist trap known as Bronners I took many trips there as a kid as I grew up only twenty minutes away and both of my sisters are managers there now ok enough of all that to the place.We showed up at 4:05 and they open at 4:00 for dinner hours during the week wow this place was huge and with nobody in there it seemed maybe larger than it was, a decent size bar greets you in the dining room with alot of tables situated trhu out it trys to come off with a German flair but doesnt really in my mind.Our server was a trainee and a recent graduate of CMU and he seemed very nervous and liked telling me and my wife his life story but he was harmless and at times amusing,the beers available ranged from a very good German doppelbock,to an English mild wich was quite good as well.Sullivans was always known for their fish and chips as I recall so my wife ordered the fish sandwich wich was large and very good I got the locally made brat with sauerkraut wich was also very good (it should be here in Frakenmuth) the artichoke dip appetizer was pretty good as well.This place has a big banquet hall attached and hold live music there with Bobby blue Bland coming soon and recently had Johnny Winter two blues legends wish I could have seen them.Anyways when in the touristy town of Frankenmuth hit this place up.

05-10-2006 14:33:10 | More by oberon