The Bar Towel

It’s a bit early to call this a good pub review but I am cautiously optimistic.
The Charcoal Group http://www.charcoalgroup.ca runs a good group of places here in KW...the only problem is, their beers suck. I have had discussions with them and they don’t seem to get it. They have Tankhouse but that’s as far as they wander (are allowed?) off the Molsons path.
Now this. Beertown Public House.

They are going to be setting up in the Shops Uptown Waterloo (formerly Waterloo Town Square) where Shoppers is right now (Shoppers is expanding and moving across the hall. Where the Scotiabank was)
Streetview showing the square they overlook. Its a skating rink in the winter http://goo.gl/9Fcwb
They have opened themselves up on facebook and even asked for beer suggestions.
https://www.facebook.com/beertown
I am pleased to see there are a significant number of folks asking for FMs beer, specifically Smashbomb. Beertown themselves even posted a pic of some FM and Muskoka beers they were tasting.
The one sad note is a response from Beertown in response to a request for Rolling Rock :Beertown said” A delicious beer...draft or bottle?”
I encourage all lovers of good beer (not just in KW) to contact these guys and encourage them to make this a real beer destination in Waterloo!!!

jessem, jimmay, carguy, kish84, and the rest of you, you know what to do!

The fact that it is less than 500 m from my house doesn't hurt either!!!

PS Matt7215/Rob: If these guys try to open something called Beertown in Waterloo region without you guys - one of the premier craft brewers in this country! then

I'm getting my torches and molotov cocktails ready as we speak!


You know......just in case.......

Mmmm...charcoal steak house...My Dad got the odd dinner there because of work, and he would take us...Do they still have those massive pork ribs and you would order one as an appetizer? Or those pigtail? Mmmm...

But yeah, definitely burn it to the ground if it does something stupid...

My family has really never seen the town I grew up in, so I'm planning a trip...(ya know, do all the historical junk like Scheider Haus, and Woodside that we were all dragged to as kids, but I'd probably love now).

I'll send them a polite email about FM and maybe a raging one about Rolling Rock...

Are they taking meetings? What can we do to promote good beer? Its a 10 min walk from our place and i would love to frequent the place rather then have to spit on it everytime i walk by

ive been working on this for about 2 weeks now, nothing promising to report

matt7215 wrote:ive been working on this for about 2 weeks now, nothing promising to report

Thanks for the effort Matt.

To be perfectly honest, I really wouldn't expect much from the Charcoal Group. The Wildcraft on king last year was one of the single worst dining experiences of my life. Your typical 'lets have thousands of bottles of wine and offer coors light on tap' kind of place where you'll spend $40 on a shitty steak, with servers that must be taking breaks every 5 minutes to go jack off or whatever the hell they do to kill time while not doing their jobs.

Del Dente's and Charcoal Steakhouse also suck ass. Sorry for the profanity but they all deserve it.

the taplines will be: brick, imbev, mill st, and some rotating taps

there is hope yet

The Beertown location in Cambridge is shaping up. There's some new photo's on the Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/beertown

Beertown: This...this is the Beer fridge where we will hold around 100 different types of beer.

And they'll have taps at some of the tables.

I dunno...that last pic looks kind of rude

Their response to this question "I have to assume that the beer menu has been selected. Any hints? OCB items, good imports from other provinces, the US etc."

Beertown wrote:We have created our beer menu, and we are extremely excited to showcase our choices. We will be carrying 30 brands of draft, and close to 100 in the bottle. There is a strong craft and micro brewery influence and we cant wait to show you the rest.
Thanks.

After seeing some of the pics I wasn't getting too excited, really just saw Mill St. all over the place, but that response brings some hope.

I get that they totally gutted a Kelsey's, but is it normal for a restaurant/bar (especially a Charcoal Group establishment) to be delayed by 6 months?? Original plans were November, then early New Year, March, and now "hopefully April."

Terry maybe you can answer this as I don't get to the area too often, but have they started construction on the Waterloo location? I believe a late Summer opening is what I read for that one.

Kish84 wrote: Terry maybe you can answer this as I don't get to the area too often, but have they started construction on the Waterloo location? I believe a late Summer opening is what I read for that one.

They are under construction in Uptown Waterloo (converting an old Shoppers http://g.co/maps/9m57d ) - no clue on opening date. Jesse might know more if he is still working next door?

I am going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt until I am inside. Clearly Molson and Mill street will play a big role but 30 draft taps sounds promising.

IMO the Charcoal Group does facilities, service and food very well. If they'd just step up the beer I would be happy to pay the premium price they charge. I had nice brunch at the Bauer Kitchen http://www.thebauerkitchen.ca this AM washed down with a meh Grandville Island IPA.
Terry

The opening for the Waterloo location has now changed to "before the end of 2012." Cambridge has no set date yet as they are waiting for permits and still finishing up, but should hopefully be April.

I would definitely visit the Charcoal Group restaurants a lot more if they stepped up their beer game, I'm a 2 minute walk from Charcoal/Del Dente/Martini's.

Well, here's the beer fridge. Looks like a nicely stocked TBS/LCBO. The fact that there doesn't seem to be any order in which the beers are placed really bugs me.

Here's hoping the tap list is better.



Edit: Noticed they put up another pic that shows Delirium Tremens ($7.45) on the menu....and also Barking Squirrel (price looks to be $6.45)

Here's some of the 30 taps:

I'm guessing that middle tap handle is for a Mill St. seasonal or maybe a Unibroue.

And a small peek at what looks like the draft list:

And there's a video at

that shows more of the inside, including several booths with taps-in-the-tables.

I'm hoping that stocked bottle fridge is just their starting stock, and that more interesting beers (non TBS & LCBO) offerings are yet to come...