Bear Republic Brewing Co.

willjschmidt

California

4.46/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A brewpub located just off the square in beautiful downtown Healdsburg. I'm sure everyone is familiar with their beer, so I won't get into that much. It's universally fantastic. They had about 8 of their regular beers on-tap. These are the ones that are bottled and widely available. They also have about 6 seasonal beers. Prices are very reasonable. I did not have any food but it's a typical brewpub menu. Even though it's in a touristy town this place has a very local feel to it, especially if you sit at the bar. Bear Republic is highly recommended stop for anyone that finds themselves in Sonoma County.

08-11-2010 18:18:57 | More by willjschmidt

Jodi215

Arizona

4.25/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.5 | $$$

This was our 2nd visit to Bear Republic. The atmosphere is casual dining comfortable. They have a nice patio and it is very family friendly. Decor is metal tables and carved bears with some racing stuff around. Loved the mural painting in Ladies room. Healdsburg is a really cute little town with a central park plaza and lots of overpriced shops that are fun to look in. While the quality of our visit was good there was a crying baby that needed to be taken out.Service was very friendly and fast, thanks Adrien. beer selection was great but no guest taps. Food was excellent pub fare. I had the fish and chips and the fish was fresh cod from Bodega Bay, excellent! Others had hamburger, excellent and panini which was excellent. Value was a bit pricey on food and a little better on beer. We will return.

06-15-2013 19:54:31 | More by Jodi215

WheelsRule

California

4.71/5  rDev +12.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped here on our Spring Break 2013 California-Oregon Road Trip. I had read the good reviews, but had only tried Racer 5 in a bottle, which I found to be good, but not my favorite IPA. This experience (and Apex) changed my mind. I have a newfound respect for Bear Republic. They do it right. Also: Dogs allowed in the back area!

Atmosphere - Excellent. Comfortable indoor/outdoor seating. Friendly people (servers and guests alike). We enjoyed being here. It was relaxed and friendly.

Quality - Excellent. Beer especially. Racer 5 is a solid IPA, but I think Apex is a fantastic and extra-special Double IPA. A must-try, if you like that style of beer. I tried a few more, but I'm stuck in my ways...my girlfriend enjoyed the different beers she tried.

Service - Our service was excellent. The bartender was knowledgeable, helpful, professional, and friendly. He made good recommendations and seemed to be happy doing his job. We sat out back and the service back there was good as well.

Selection - Good. Plenty of different beers and food to choose from.

Food - Solid bar food (tough food competition in wine country). We had Calamari and a salad. It tasted fresh and delicious to me.

Value - The prices were excellent for a high-quality product in a very expensive area.

Summary - We will definitely come back here. Food, service, beer, and all else was of high quality. We thoroughly enjoyed Apex and wish Bear Republic would bottle it. A delicious brew.

Location - Healdsburg tiptoes the line between being a bit snobby and just being a great place to be - it's clean, safe, friendly, and easy on the eyes. It's 'boutiquey' as one reviewer mentioned, but overall, a pleasant place to be.

A few tips: The Wurst Sausage Grill right off the square (and just a few minutes walking distance from Bear Republic) has fantastic food and serves Racer 5. We mostly drank at Bear Republic and ate over at the Wurst. Also, you can get a fantastic deal on weekdays at the Best Western Plus Dry Creek Inn which is about a 15-minute walk from the square, Bear Republic, and the Wurst. Don't drink and drive, fool!

05-23-2013 23:53:25 | More by WheelsRule

Pumpknrdge

Florida

4.56/5  rDev +9.4%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4 | $$$

One of my favorite stops on the west coast. Fantastic beers and great food. I could drink the racer 5 everyday no problemo. The brew pub is really nice, right downtown in Healdsburg. They had growlers to go in rubber bladders when I was there last. Finally getting this good stuff in Florida.

02-10-2013 04:23:14 | More by Pumpknrdge

DoubleJ

California

4.08/5  rDev -2.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

Another of Andre's requests, having been impressed in the past by its Hop Rod Rye. Guilherme was interested too. I would have prefered Lagunitas, but I knew Bear Republic would be an acceptable alternative. We had a little trouble location the brewery because it's located away from the street. We found someone on the street to give us direction, and then we parked our car in the back and found ourselves outside Bear Republic.

The tanks are clearly visible from the bar, but seperated by a glass wall. Yet the interior did have the scent of malted cereals. We chose to sit outside, where the patio is enclosed from the cool outside air. We even had our own heatlamp. But we weren't forgotten by the staff, whio came by a number of time to check on us.

16 different house beers were pouring, including Grand-Am, Hop Rod Rye, Newport Rebellion, and Global Kolsch. Naturally, we ordered a flight of all their beers. If you want a full pour, you can get one for just $4-5! The beers we tried were solid to good, though I'll admit a few that I've had before seemed a little muted (of course, visiting Russian River before may have disfigured my palate).

I had never been to Healdsburg before, and Bear Republic was the reason for breaking that spell. Bear Republic lovers will certainly enjoy their visit here.

11-12-2012 22:14:53 | More by DoubleJ

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.98/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Here I am at this must visit place, to try the beers they never bottle..and the rare time I can find them I have been beary pleased. The bartender is John and we are talking beer. He is giving me style and another style. Is it the style? I had a great pale, and an unusual sour beer, among others. A large square bar, many tables, tempting merchandise. Great service, not to busy on a cold Monday night. Parking down the street. A beautiful and very safe town.I understand the food is very good, and a big step up from your your usual bar food.

11-11-2012 00:56:03 | More by northyorksammy

elNopalero

Texas

4.38/5  rDev +5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

For a place with nearly national distribution their brewpub had a laid back, small town feel to it. Even on a weekend night when places just down the road were packed and lively my party still managed to find a table without any wait and enjoy a few beers. Food was on par with expectations—nothing dazzled, and the prices were about what I’d expect to pay. The real plus here was the service—the servers were exceptionally friendly and welcoming across the board. Good beers, good people, good times.

08-31-2012 02:52:13 | More by elNopalero

DrunkenMonk

California

3.95/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Had a nice lunch here on Fathers Day 2012. Good food, excellent service and good beer. I was surprised the waiter wasn't prepared to offer pairing suggestions.. I ordered a burger and asked his advice on what to pair with it. He kept telling me a hamburger, so I figured he misunderstood and didn't know what I was talking about. No problem.

I ended up with a sample paddle of MANY beers that were draft or brewery only, and not sold in stores. The wine country wheat beer was a bit grapey. Many of the others were hop-centric. I'd eat and drink here again.

07-22-2012 06:06:32 | More by DrunkenMonk

WeedKing4

Ontario (Canada)

4.14/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stopped here for a quick 'beer' lunch. The beer selection was very nice. All their regulars were available with some nice specials/limited beers too. They even had the Texas brown ale on tap. I enjoyed an oak iipa as well. We only had the roasted garlic spread appetizer for food. Good selection of clothing to buy, and the service was very friendly as well.They were even brewing behind the bar. it smelled awesome. Would love to make this place a regular stop if I lived here. lots of seating as we were out on the patio to enjoy a beautiful spring day.

05-02-2012 15:00:26 | More by WeedKing4

beerwolf77

Wisconsin

4.4/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

My wife and I spent an afternoon drinking and carrying on with the locals here. It's a fairly nice brew pub but nothing I haven't seen before. The beers were all good especially the 10 year old barley wine. The best part of our experience was the bar staff and the locals. The bar tender was filled with stories and silly jokes. Had us cracking up the whole time. Plus the locals were very friendly and fun to chat up. It was like being back home in a bar we had been to a hundred times. After several pints we got hungry and ordered some food. It was very good but standard fare for a brew pub. This was a great stop on our way up to wine country.

02-15-2012 01:41:13 | More by beerwolf77