Atwater in the Park

Went here with 4 other people and we were easily able to find seating. The church is huge, has ample seating, and did I mention how beautiful it is?! The staff was super accommodating and friendly.
The menu is smaller, but has a good range of german inspired food on it as well as some standard pub grub. We split the cheesy bread, fried pickles, and fries to start. The cheesy bread was, in fact, quite cheesy, the pickles were delicious, and tasted super fresh with just the right amount of fried coating, and the fries were nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum.
I wasn’t terribly hungry, so I mostly drank my dinner and had a small side salad, but everyone else had something more hearty and there was praise all around. The burgers were especially recommended.
The beer menu is more extensive than I expected, and they start at $ 4, which I thought was very reasonable for craft brews. They happened to have a special beer tasting dinner going on when we were there, and it looked amazing. I’ll be keeping my ears open for future events!

Excellent German food. Great beer. Good service. And the location and building are fantastic. I really can’t make it any more simple than that. My only issue was the breading on the pretzel crusted fried chicken was really heavy. Something lighter and more crispy would be better… but it was still really good.

Went here last night for the second time. Oo my goodness was it packed! Luckily for myself and my friend there were two open spots at the bar.
Once we got to the bar it took a couple minutes for the bartender to come on over– we actually had to signal him down. I watched another pair of ladies have to do the same thing as well. In my opinion I think the bartenders were busy and/​or tired since the dinner rush was just ending. Once the bar started to clear out-​which was around 10:30 11 p.m.- the bartenders became more «on the game». Meaning they were coming up to the customers at the bar asking if they wanted another drink vs the customers having to flag them down (there were a total of 2 bartenders from what I could tell).
Now as for the food I’ve never ventured past the appetizers. The fries though, o my goodness are really good. If you’re a French fries lover like myself you won’t be disappointed! The Big ‘Ol Pretzel is real big. They serve it to you in a pizza box. The bar tender told us that two people would be able to finish it– we could not.
Overall Atwater is a nice place to go with friends for good beer and food. If you can get past it being in an old church you’ll have a great time.

Such a fun twist on a normal brewery. Having been a former church some may find this sac religious however I find this to be one of my all time favorite places to hang out and find some fun.
They have great sampler sizes for beer and some Grosse Pointe specialty beers just for the local buzz. An absolute must for anyone who’s from the area and also for those visiting.

Great atmosphere, and great beer selection. Now, to be honest, I do not drink beer. However, I came with a large group, (12 people), and everyone else raves about the beer. A huge bonus point for this place is that while they specialize in their craft brews, they also have wonderful cocktails, as they are also a distillery! Huge bonus for us non-​beer drinkers! Food was decent, and service was excellent. Not a lot of gluten free options, but I don’t hold that against any restaurant, just a tip. Although, I did see gluten free beer! We will be back.

Just got home from my first and only time here. So this review is based off one review — keep that in mind.
Food: Awesome. Had a burger that I’d absolutely have again, really well done and awesome flavor. The chips that came with it were kind of eh. We also had an appetizer of chlio con queso who’s flavor was great but a bit soupy for the chips to dip in. My wife did have the fries and those were awesome. ⁸⁄₁₀
Service: I wish I could remember her name because she was incredible. A couple things were taking longer than expected and out of nowhere we were comped a beer and an appetizer. I wasn’t even asking where it was and she offered it up. Bravo. ⁹⁄₁₀
Beer: Unfortunately Atwater still lags behind most of the other Michigan breweries. I think this is pretty common knowledge. It should be if it’s not. Underlying theme on most of their beers is just a lack of flavor. The IPA’s lack that bite at the finish that hopheads want. They did have a nice porter. Everything else has so much going for it, I wish they’d step up their game on beer. ⁶⁄₁₀
Atmosphere: Great. the redone church was very cool. Music was a bit loud when we first walked in, but after a couple of beers we fell into the fun of trivia night, we had a blast and will return for sure. Good times. ⁹⁄₁₀

Built in an old church makes it a beautiful spot. The service was pretty slow, but we weren’t in a rush. Don’t order a flight of beers — takes too long.
We had a few appetizer options, and all were pretty good. Octoberfest was setting up. Might try again with a bigger group

Food and beer are pretty good. Location is hard to beat being inside a church!
Just be wary of when you go — I went on Friday around dinner and I could barely hear the people talking at my table.
Even if you are not a beer drinker, they have corn hole out front and even had a live band, Back Track, the other night.
Here’s to hoping they bring back the 8 mile amber ale the next time I go!

Great beer, excellent service and a decent food menu.
The beer selection is great — they maintain the staples and constantly layer in good seasonal options. The service is always very fast, the servers are always friendly and able to answer questions on the beer/​food. The food menu isn’t as strong as the beer menu, but it has a lot of good staples, although most of them a bit heavy. I’ve had most of the menu and the highlights are definitely the burgers (including the turkey burger), fish and chips, french fries and the best item on the menu by far is the hangar steak. They also do a great job properly cooking meat — if you ask for medium rare, it actually comes medium rare. Lastly, they make their own hot sauce and it’s delicious and it’s actually hot and you should ask them for it.
Mug club — If you plan on coming a lot, this is a very good value. What it boils down to: if you’re a member, whatever beer you order, they bring you a 20oz mug of that beer. So, high alcohol beers (9,10,11%) that are normally served in a tulip glass, you get 20oz for the same price. You do the math. They also give growler discounts, send out relevant email updates, give you a free mug and discounts on atwater merchandise. It’s a good deal.

First of all, this brewery has a pretty great location — inside a church! They have creatively used every part of the historic building to brew their delicious beers.
Ask your waitress to specify which beers you can only get at this location.
Beers start at $ 4, but a flight is the best way to try a few ounces of a new variety.
While I’m not the most educated beer drinker, I can tell you the options here are fantastic. Almost every brewing style (IPA, Stout, Lager, etc) and Hop Level you can imagine

After seeing this place on tv I decided it might be worth a try. My wife, my daughter-​in-​law and myself went there today.
I must say, the place itself is wonderful. It’s a beautiful old church with plenty of seating. They’ve used the space well.
Our service was stellar. Our server knew EVERYTHING about the food, the beers, the drinks and the building !!!
The food was… well, not amazing but it was definitely decent. I had the beer cheese soup which was quite good. That was followed with a bar burger. I was disappointed that I was not asked how I wanted it cooked. It came over-​cooked by my standards. However, it was definitely not a hockey puck and was edible. I’m not the type to send it back unless it’s not worth eating. The bun was a brioche and everything was fine and reasonable tasty. It was NOT one of the best in town, but it was comarably good with some of the better ones.
The menu has some really neat items on it and I’d be willing to go back and give it another try. It’s definitely a place worth checking out !!!

The church is beautiful, and awesome to look at with the leaded glass. The outside patio area is nice with the cornhole game and lots of picnic table seating. We decided to sit outside since it was gorgeous weather and the waitress was very helpful at first — describing the beers and showing us first timers how to navigate through the menu. Because we frequent the Detroit location, we recognized some of the beers — just not the ones they brew specifically at this location. They do have a good selection, much more of a selection than the Atwater location in Detroit. However, this location charges for samples. Detroit location does not. There are $ 1 samples, $ 1.50 samples, and $ 2 samples, depending on the caliber of beer. The samples coincide with the $ 5 beer selections, $ 5.50 beer selections, and $ 6 beer selections.
My partner and I ordered our beers and appetizers. The beers came quick, same with the appetizers. We ordered the fries, which were pretty good. They came with a spicy horseradish sauce that was just okay. We also ordered the pork belly corn dogs — which is a chunk of pork breaded and corn-​dog-​fried. They were just okay as well, we didn’t like that we bit into them and they were mainly all fat.
After our first beers, we noticed our waitress picking up several other tables. She frequented the other tables that were outside with us, and completely ignored us! We had to go inside and to the bar to order our next beers! We drank our second beers while watching her blatantly ignore us to check on her other tables. We couldn’t believe she hadn’t even come over to check on us! After drinking our second beers, we waited another 15 – 20 minutes and then had to ask another waitress to bring our check. The waitress must’ve gotten ahold of ours and she came over to bring us our check, stating that she had been very busy and that we should give her our credit card immediately so that she can ring us up before she gets busy again. Unbelievable.
I’ve been to far more places with top notch quality beers that are able to deliver on service as well as beer. We drove 45 minutes to check this place out because we love Atwater beers, and will not visit again due to poor service.

Biergarten with board games!!!
I recommend the bible trivia. As with any bar with games, it’s been «a hard road» for them. Pieces missing boards torn and sticky from drunkards that reverted to their toddler ways prior this day. Sid from toy story would be pleased. But the beer and food is amazing. There are very few better places to enjoy the company you are with on a perfect day.

They’ve knocked it out of the park in the beautiful old church. From the moment you walk in and see the pews and inhale the church smells of incense and old wood you are immediately brought back to your Catholic school years.
I’m not really a beer drinker *cringe* I know it’s a brewery. So I tried their house made red wine not expecting much, and it was delicious!!! My girlfriend had a couple flights of beers and she loves the flavors and options to choose from. After a couple rounds, we got the fried pickles. Yum!!! They were salty and scrumptious.
I will definitely be going back there in the very near future. I’m sure my husband would love all the German food, and I could sure use a few more glasses of that wine ;)

Atmosphere: 4 stars
Food: 1 star
Service: 1 star
Beer: «…Mehh»
I finally tried Atwater in the Park. The bar is laid out well.
Cool interior. Great patio!

Atwater in the Park gets a 5 from me for ambiance, trivia night, and service. It gets a 3 for food. I don’t care for beer so I can’t really judge whether their brews are good. But, I absolutely would come back here for trivia night and just to hang out with friends. It’s a beautiful church-​turned-​brew pub that serves German, burgers and bar food.
As far as the food goes, pretty mediocre to me. I didn’t care for the pork belly corn dog at all, even though it sounded good. Mine was not corny, not crisp, and the pork belly was mostly fat. It needed salt or jam or something to pop the flavor. I wouldn’t order these again.
I also ordered the weiner schintzel with spaetzle and latkes. I liked the latke the best. The spaetzle was ok but I far prefer Jacoby’s. The schnitzel was also just ok, it was extremely dry both in the breading (which was a bit floury) and the meat. I’ve had far better schnitzel.
So, next time I would probably try a burger. They had a couple that sounded really good. Go to Jacoby’s if you want good German food and come here for ambience, service and trivia.

I went here with a group of about 10 girls a week ago. We sat outside and they lit the heat lamps for us. It was a great place for a loud group, because we are loud to begin with, but especially loud when you mix in the alcohol. The bartender was extremely friendly, good looking and entertained the girls in our group. My friends ordered several tasting sizes of beers which they all enjoyed.
The food I ordered was a smokehouse burger that came with bbq pulled pork atop it with cheese and I got a side of sweet and sour cabbage. The burger came with potato chips and I ordered it sans bun. It was excellent. The cabbage was so-​so.
I’d love to go back on an evening when I could drink and try some of their German fare. I’d absolutely recommend this place this place for a night of drinking, patio going and groups!

It’s great that they converted an old church into a bar — I would’ve preferred another sex dungeon in the Park, especially since the high ceilings would permit a 13-​foot tall swing, but I’ll take what I can get.
Of course, their beer menu is vast and wonderful, and pleased our group of savage drunkards. I’m not too sure on their beer cocktails, though. Is this done just in case someone from Macomb Township rolls down here in his Kid Rock t-​shirt and wants to drink an upscale version of Bud Light Lime? I’m lost.
Anyhow. The charcuterie plate was disappointing. The cheeses were equally unimpressive, succeeding in being bland. Still, a step up from the Hormel-​quality charcuterie plate served up at the Dakota Inn. The pickle spears were phallic, fried, and delicious. I devoured three of them, and would’ve consumed more, but I had to save room for my tortured baby cow — served breaded, fried and packed with guilt.
It was excellent, to say the least, and served with a side of asparagus and condescension from our friendly waitress, just the way I like it.
My biggest complaint of the night should’ve been about one of our group’s inane dinner conversations: The search for the best prepared Brusselssprouts in the city. (#NewDetroit). But instead my anger for the evening was directed toward the band.
It’s tough to talk about all the «wonderful» gentrification and «farm fresh» options going on in Detroit when dad rock is blaring in the background.
«You’re buying a townhouse in Detroit?» I shouted as the band played its 8^th Coldplay cover in a row.
«No. Townhouse. Like … the restaurant in Birmingham … is opening in Detroit.»
«That’s awful news,“I said with a scowl before taking a disgusted bite of my serviceable apple strudel.

Stopped in here recently to kill some time between a wedding and its reception. Just straight up love the look and feel of the place. Turning an old church into a brewery is a fantastic move, as is putting the stills up on the «altar.»
Ordered some food and it was wayyy better than it had to be when you’re serving beer out of a converted church. Wife got the roasted veggie salad and we shared the sausage pierogi and the pretzels. All tasty.
Beer itself however, I’m picky. Atwater has never been on top of my go to list for Michigan made suds, and that most likely will never change given the amazing offerings we’re inundated with. It was good, not great.
Overall, 3.5 if I could.

Wow! Walking in and seeing the jaw-​dropping dining room/​bar area, you know you are in for a treat!
Service was very friendly and knew her beer. She didn’t just give the usual «It’s an IPA.» she actually knew beer, which is always a plus in our book!
Beer menu is very nice. Something for everyone, with glass sizes to please everyone. Tasters, pints, and growlers. Hubs had the Hop a peel IPA and enjoyed it. I had tasters of the cider and summer ale, both very enjoyable. We ended up taking home a growler of the oatmeal stout, and that had to be my fav of all the beers I tried. Nice rich tasting stout!
A few of the beers are brewed at this locations, others at the Detroit location.
For dinner I had the wiener schnitzel and it was GREAT! Just a little lemon caper sauce on top, nice crisp and light breading. As my sides I chose the herb new potatoes and marinated tomato salad. Potatoes were… potatoes, but the marinated tomato salad was VERY yummy! Fresh, chilled tomatoes and onions marinated in a vinaigrette. It was a great palate cleaner during the meal. I honestly could have made a meal of just tomatoes.
Hubs decided to get a pizza with ham and pineapple. The ham was smoked and had a nice smoke taste without being too over-​powering. The crust was very nice.
We will be back for sure!!! I cannot wait!