Russian River Brewing Company

MiScusi

California

4.6/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I was there on a Thursday, Friday, and Sunday in August, and it was my first visit. We didn't really plan much else to do in Santa Rosa so we just went to Russian River to drink beer multiple times a day. The atmosphere of course depends on when you go. At lunch on a weekday it's a thin and fairly quiet place/crowd. In the evening it gets packed and gets loud. At nights they frequently have bands (something I don't like too much). The service on these days we was average to good. When it gets really crowded of course service slows down, at points it was too slow. However we encountered very good service on busy nights as well. As for the selection, any time you have access to 12-14 Russian River beers, that is hard to beat. The food is pub grub but very tasty. I loved the Pizza Bits. There is also a happy hour each day and all day on Sunday that has amazing deals.

There are also bottles for purchase to carry-out. Usually they have 2-3 bottled beers available.

09-02-2007 15:56:45 | More by MiScusi

derekrick420

Pennsylvania

4.71/5  rDev +6.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.75 | $

My wife and I went to Sonoma for our 11th anniversary. We found that the price to value was awesome. We ordered a flight and we couldn't believe how cheap it was. Their pizza bites were the perfect nosh. We also were impressed at the lack of sex appeal to sell the place, it seems many places nowadays have traded quality staff for quality plastic surgery, not at Rr. The band when we were there was great as well. The final touch is that while sipping down Pliny, the various Schlitz and Black Label signs made it taste even better.

06-19-2013 01:51:21 | More by derekrick420

Jodi215

Arizona

4.63/5  rDev +4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.25 | $$

When we are in this area of CA. we always stop here. The atmosphere is pizza parlor comfortable and I noticed this time that they have made a few improvments. They've added very nice bench seating with wood paneling around the walls. They've taken down the old hops bags which were dusty but we always enjoyed looking at them. My guys love their hops. Our visits here are always great and we are never disappointed. Service is friendly, fast and personal. Makes us feel like the waitstaff really enjoy their jobs. Selection is almost perfect, Pliny is always great and hard to find fresh where we live so much appreciated. The food is great, I always get Megan's vegan pizza and add Bacon. Yummy! The guys split a pizza and said it was great. We hit it at happy hour this time so pints were $3.25 which was very nice. Food is very reasonable value wise. Can hardly wait to go there again.

06-15-2013 19:30:03 | More by Jodi215

jlee922

California

4.41/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 5 | food: 4.25 | $

Stopped by for dinner during a family trip to Sonoma. I wasn't sure how kid-friendly this place would be, but I had two hungry kids, ages 4 and 1, and the full sampler was calling my name.

Got seated right away at around 5 pm on a weekday, next to another family with a 3- year old. Not crowded, though I didn't see many empty seats.

Ordered the full sampler (every beer on tap), which that day was 17 beers. Took a sip of each, then drank more of the ones I liked, but with many of their offerings higher than 6% ABV, definitely could not finish everything without getting completely hammered. The sours were my favorite.

For food, we had a pizza and the charcuterie plate, both were good, but not amazing.

Service was a little slow.

Overall, had a great time and would go back. Even bought a t-shirt.

05-23-2013 19:53:37 | More by jlee922

DrunkenMonk

California

3.53/5  rDev -20.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

Russian River is a casual relaxed place with friendly staff and good service. It is clean yet retains its charm as a street-front pub. It is too small for its high following, creating elbow to elbow standing room only situations at times.

The food was good. I had a pizza. The beer selection was good also. They had two sample flights available. I had the hops flight. It was really good. Next time I will have the sour/Belgium flight.

I enjoyed my time and will return.

05-23-2013 05:46:30 | More by DrunkenMonk

jkane101

New Jersey

4.98/5  rDev +12.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.75 | $$$

Went on a family vacation to San Francisco last July with the main intent to visit RR Brewing. It did not disappoint in fact it was everything I imagined it would be. Highly recommend for any beer geek who even has the remote opportunity to visit.
Bring an extra suitcase to bring home you beer if you're flying in!

05-10-2013 00:40:17 | More by jkane101

ek_ek

California

4.83/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.25 | $$

This place is a Mecca for craft beer. Amazing beer and outstanding service. Food is limited menu but good, some pizzas/calzones and other pub fare. Only thing I could ask for is some type of tour of a brewing facility and a little more teaching of the facts and history.

04-28-2013 06:33:31 | More by ek_ek

brodericksloth

Oregon

4.9/5  rDev +10.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

Fun place to go. only went during happy hour so it was very busy. Longest wait was twenty minutes whe we arrived at 5:30 otherwise no wait if you go closer to 4. people come from all over to sample. Couple next to us were from Norway. You can sample all of the available beers (Sonoma or Belgiums) to see the many different styles. came away with some new favorites: blind pig, damnation, consecration and salvation. It's not all about Pliny, although I'm bringing home alot of Pliny for my beer buddies. Prices very reasonable. $3.25 for a pint of Pliny during happy hour and $4 for a bottle. Eight beers available in the bottle to take home. We took as much as we could carry.
Stayed in the Luther Burbank area. Centally located 15 miles to very good wineries one hour to the city. Rented a two bedroom house six blocks from RR. Same price as hotel for two in San Francisco, and you can keep your beer fresh in what turns out to be a beer fridge. Good idea to walk home after sampling, your designated driver will cave, its too good.
Highly recommended great place went there three times this week for happy hour.
Less pretentious than the wine tasting down here, but both have their place.

04-04-2013 14:54:55 | More by brodericksloth

IanSpindler

Alberta (Canada)

4.9/5  rDev +10.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

Made a pilgrimage February 2013 to try Pliny the Younger!

Atmosphere: Got in line at 930am on a Friday morning (about 80 people already ahead of us) and there was around 300 people waiting by the time they opened at 11am. Going to this event was well worth the wait, this was like Christmas for beer nerds. The atmosphere was great and you could tell that everyone was excited as they walked into the brew pub. We were seated next to a friendly local couple and now I have a trading connection in Santa Rosa! Cheers Mike!

Quality: All the beers were excellent, and we tried them all several times haha

Service: Our server was excellent, even with the pub at full capacity we rarely waited more than a minute or two for a new round of beers. My glass was never empty!

Selection: The full sampler was great, we tried all the available beers and then ordered pints of our favorites. Also don't forget about the bottles for purchase at the pub, I brought a case back to Calgary and later wished that I bought two haha.

Food: The food paired well with the beer. But who cares really, these guys could serve only stale bread and this place would still be packed with the quality of their brews.

Value: Being from Canada I was stunned at how reasonable the prices were for the beers. Pliny the Younger for $4.50 a glass! Are you kidding me?, Calgarians think Happy Hour specials for $5 domestic beer is a good deal at a brew pub.

This was the best beer experience that I've ever had! Highly recommend a visit in early Feb or anytime to try these amazing beers!

03-21-2013 17:28:27 | More by IanSpindler

8bithops

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Beer was amazing, food above average and staff super-friendly. Got a sweet tour of the back and shared a Dark Lord with the workers. Awesome and memorable. Only bummer was how rowdy and loud it gets. Reminds me more of a club than a brewpub. Will definitely be back, next time for PtY!

03-06-2013 14:41:25 | More by 8bithops