Great Lakes Brewing Company

frazbri

Ohio

4.15/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

I visited GLBC Sunday after a Browns game. We went downstairs first. The basement feature a couple plasma TV's, a bar, and 8 or 10 tables. The menu downstairs, is limited to a couple sandwiches and appetizers. It's not roomy, featured no table service, and the lone bartender seemed a little ovewhelmed with the crowded room.

The main floor restaurant was a little more relaxed. The menu is not overly large, but does contain variety. I started with a bowl of Stilton-Cheddar Ale soup, and had free range porcini stuffed chicken as my entre. Both courses were delicious. Great Lakes also has a very nice beer garden for those better weather days.

And now for the important part, the beer. Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Dortmunder Gold, Elliot Ness, Locktender, and Anniversary were available. I had two beers not in there bottled Line-up: Cleveland Brown Ale, and Octoberfest. Both beers lived up to Great Lake's bottled line-up.

Stopped Sat. (5/20/06) before taking thier "fatty wagon" shuttle to an Indians game. It was very busy, but worth the wait. As of May 1, closed Sundays, except for special events.

Saturday (8/26/06) sat in the newly renovated beer garden. This is gonna be a great year round addition for GLBC. Lake Erie Monster & Octoberfest worth a stop at the pub.

10-19-2004 01:59:31 | More by frazbri

Dithyramb

Maryland

4.13/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5

Oooh yeah. It is things like this that make me ever so glad to have found BeerAdvocate. In getting ready for my trip to Cleveland, I bothered folks in the Great Lakes forum and the two Beerfly guides for Cleveland. All of them, plus every person I spoke to in Cleveland, told me to get to Great Lakes. I was not disappointed.

It's in Market Square. I went straight in from the 'burbs and went straight out, so I can't tell you what it is near. It was not overly difficult to find and there was off-street parking within a few hundred feet of the front door.

The first thing you notice is the wonderful smell of the brewing beer billowing out of the brewery near the parking lot. The chewy goodness was making me very hungry before I even saw the parking lot. Inside, the areas are perfectly segmented for just about everyone. Want TVs with football and close tables--go to the basement. Quiet bar with conversation--there's one right near the front door. Tables with a cool view of tanks--they got it downstairs. A quiet old timey looking restaurant where they serve great food? Just go upstairs.

The beer quality of the Great Lakes brews is just stellar. They had about 8 on tap in the first floor bar (I just poked my head into the cellar bar). They had the XMas, the Cleveland Brown, an Anniversary Triple, and about five regulars. I had the burning river and Dortmunder through a trade, so I had the porter and Eliot ness. Both were just awesome. The only thing that disappointed me in CLE was that both Buckeye and Great Lakes were both out of Nesferatu. Excellent advertising, it has me wanting some, so I will be scoping for a few through the site.

Our waitress had a great grasp of the beers. She had us pair the hearty porter with the kick a$$ cheese soup and barley pretzels. The Eliot Ness perfectly complimented the brats and perogies.

When you are in Cleveland, make the trip.

10-14-2004 23:32:09 | More by Dithyramb

diamonddave

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5

Started with the tour of the brewery, which was very entertaining and informative. The guide was knowledgable and had no problem fielding questions re: the brewery and the Great Lakes beers. This might have been because I was one of only four people on the 2 PM Saturday tour. Perhaps the later tours have a higher attendance. A lot of fun, and even my girlfriend (who's not exactly the hugest beer fan) enjoyed it.

The restaurant has the old-building-in-Cleveland thing going on; elaborate woodwork and a cozy, comfortable environment that makes you sad for how beautiful a city Cleveland once was, long before any of us were born. There's a smaller bar in the basement that seems a bit grimier, like a regular Clevo bar.

The beer selection is- surprise- all Great Lakes. No complaints here. They have the standard GLBC brews plus some pub specials. When I was there, the specials were the Anniversary Ale and Glockenspiel. Most of the beers are $4/glass or $4.50/pint. They have happy hour Mon.-Fri.

I was warned beforehand that the menu was a bit pricy. I'll have to ask the person who told me that where they're gonna find a cheaper place in downtown Cleveland that doesn't have a drive-thru. Apps and sandwiches are $6-10, entrees $10-20. I had the Dortmunder Chicken Sandwich, which was tender, juicy and goddamn tasty. My gal got potato soup with bread made from cracked grain from the brewery and ice cream made with the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. It was all great.

If you're ever unlucky enough to have to spend time in the Festering Anus of the Midwest (also known as Cleveland), make it a point to check this place out.

09-27-2004 03:57:04 | More by diamonddave

masterbruewer

Ohio

3.8/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3

We ate there on a slow Sunday afternoon.

The place is very cool looking, Old wood bar with an outdoor patio and a very cool cellar bar. The atmosphere was hard to judge since there weren't too many people there. Those we saw seemed pretty cool.

Service was spotty. Despite making professions of my beer geekness and trying to engage the bartender in conversation, she seemed more interested in talking to other staff and folding napkins. To her defense, it seems many restaurant employees do this when business is slow.
I was beginning to get a complex from being ignored, but the bartender pulled out a good save. After the napkins were folded, she began asking me about my vacation that was just ending and about the four other breweries I had been to that week. She made me feel a little better and turned out to be very nice and helpful in my purchase of glassware. (By the way, of all the breweries I'd been to: Pearl Street in Buffalo, Martha's Exchange in Nashua, NH, Wachussett Brewery in Westminster, MA and Northampton Brewing Co in Northampton, MA, Great Lakes had the best prices on glassware.

The quality of all Great Lakes brews I've had has been great. The two I tried that day, Owen's Olympic Pilsener and the Elliot Ness, were fine. Strong flavored and smooth.

The beer selection is pretty good. About 10 choices in a variety of styles.

The food was a little high priced and not too much variety, but it was pretty good.

08-23-2004 02:56:44 | More by masterbruewer

Wildman

Ohio

4.33/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

Okay, most of the times when I go to Cleveland, it is fairly late at night to attend a concert. So it seems I rarely have time to stop by Great Lakes. Well, since I was going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I decided I could drag my friend to Great Lakes finally.

Well, The interior is mostly wood and seems to be a fairly old bar. The bar area where we sat is totally closed off from the other main seating area, which I liked. Not a particullary big bar. The choices were the standard for that time of year with one house beer, Ohio City Oatmeal Stout. I apparently had just missed the Anniversay Ale on tap. The service was good and the bartender was informative. The food was the more upscale that some brewpubs lately seem to be aiming for. Unfortunately this means the meals are more pricey and there are less sandwich options. But that seems to be the trend even in Columbus at Columbus Brewing and Barleys. The downstairs wasn't open, so I really couldn't check out the atmosphere of that area. The store that sells things is next door and the brewery is behind it. Definately worth a visit when in Cleveland.

07-26-2004 23:40:58 | More by Wildman

garthwaite

Virginia

4.7/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5

Great Lakes is one hell of a brewery & restaurant. Those living in Cleveland are lucky, lucky humans to have this fine establishment nearby. Big & clean with all kinds of outdoor seating, multiple dining areas, a large underground private room, & an intricately constructed, gorgeous dark wood bar. Service & products were impeccable. Menu has a great variety of unique & affordable meals. The spicy artichoke crock served with banana peppers is magnificent, as is the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter ice cream. Beers were phenomenal, really hard to beat fresh taps from Great Lakes. The following brews were on tap when we visited:
Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Burning River Pale Ale, Locktender Lager, Dortmunder Gold, Anniversary Ale, Erie Monster Double IPA, Eliot Ness, & Holy Moses.
I'd skip the Locktender, but do yourself a favor & sample absolutely everything else. They do have beer to go at reasonable prices & both sell and re-fill growlers, which unfortunately are a bit expensive (I'm used to Old Dominion's $5 refills). Overall, I can't recommend this place highly enough.

07-15-2004 12:42:49 | More by garthwaite

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.6/5  rDev +8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

I feel like an absolute idiot. I lived in Cleveland for 3 years back in the mid-90's and never went to Great Lakes. My excuse is that I wasn't into good beer at the time, but still.... I remedied that huge oversight yesterday when I popped up to Cleveland for lunch. I was home visiting my family and the brewery is about 90 minutes away. When looking for the brewpub (it's a very short distance away from the actual brewery), I pulled into a loading dock and came face-to-face with several large pallets full of all varieties of beer. I have rarely seen a more beautiful sight.

My friend and I got there at opening time, so getting seated wasn't a problem. Within 15 minutes though, the place filled up with dozens upon dozens of patrons, all in search of good food and drink. What I wouldn't give to live or work in the area again. The interior has, no doubt, been well-described by now, but I just wanted to mention how impressed I was with the ornate, carved, dark-wood bar. The food was the usual pub-grub. It didn't seem to stand out to me, but to be fair, I only had one thing. I had a Moondog Ale which I though was very good (I'm waiting to review it from the bottle) and a Lake Erie Monster Double IPA which was ok.

I wish that I had had the opportunity to stay longer and have some of my favorites on-tap, but we were pressed for time and had to go. I did manage to stop in to the attached gift shop and pick up a t-shirt, poster and several pint glasses. My wife's family lives on Cleveland's West Side and we normally visit them at least twice each year. I will be sure to stop by Great Lakes on almost every visit and you can bet that I'll linger and savor this place as it deserves.

06-29-2004 22:41:49 | More by BuckeyeNation

aracauna

Georgia

4.1/5  rDev -3.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4

I really like this place. When we showed up to the restaurant, there was an hour or more wait, so we took the tour of the brewery while we were waiting for a table. The brewery is extremely nice. It's the highest tech craft brewery that I've ever seen. I'd recommend the tour to anyone. Our tour guide, a tallish, thin, older fellow, was cheesey, but still funny and relatively knowledgeable, although he couldn't answer some of our geekier questions.

Back at the restaurant, we had dinner (an excellent burger) and a few of the beers. This is a solid brewery and the old building the brewpub is set in makes for a really nice experience. I plan on going back during my next trip to Cleveland.

06-10-2004 04:18:47 | More by aracauna

mzwolinski

California

3.75/5  rDev -12%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4

Located in downtown Cleveland. My wife and I made a trip up here from Willoughby on a Saturday afternoon to check the place out, and the place was jumping. There was some sort of street fair taking place out side, complete with craft-booths and belly dancers, and the outside seating was pretty packed.

It actually took us a bit of doing to find the place -- we initially confused the brewpub, which is on Market, with the brewery itself, which is only a block or so over.

Once inside the correct building, we found a spacious, tastefully decorated restaurant. The crowd was mixed -- some younger folks, but mostly families. The food menu was alright. Mostly standard pub-fare, but with enough interesting variations to keep it interesting. I had a blue cheese bacon burger, which was quite tasty.

The beer selection was decent, but only one "non-standard" beer was on tap while I was there. I had a glass of the Anniversary Belgian ale, and paid $10 for both the beer and a very attractive commemorative glass. The beer itself was decent, but I was especially impressed by their Porter and their Dortmunder Gold. The waitstaff didn't seem to know a whole lot of beer, but my experience was limited to just 1 waiter, so who knows.

Family-friendly with a good atmosphere in a location with lots else to do. Recommended!

06-06-2004 15:05:47 | More by mzwolinski

Ahhdball

Ohio

3.53/5  rDev -17.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3

Drove from Columbus to visit some inlaws, and am glad we made the effort.
Walked in from the brick lined streets to a small waiting area. Wood floor and bar with classic pub features. Steps to the right lead upstairs to a large well lit dining area. It was well apparent they didn't like me bringing my 9 month old son. He's very well behaved so they lost points on service. I loved the basement.
The selection of food couldv'e been larger. No biggy, I'm not that picky.
I had the Fish & Chips and learned I like catfish. Good but I've been spoiled by "The Old Bag of Nails" here in Worthington.
All in all I'm going to stick to the beer but the restaurant needs a little assistance.

05-14-2004 02:18:16 | More by Ahhdball