Fifty Brews Bar and Grill

As I mentioned in the Shipyard review, I’m no beer expert — I just like to drink it. I always feel like I need to give a disclaimer whenever I review a kind of brewery or craft beer bar.
Fifty Brews is in a weird location and is deceptively larger on the inside than it appears from outside. I met up a friend for drinks here on my way from work. My expectations for East Orlando/​UCF area bars and restaurants are astronomically low so I tried to go in here with an open mind.
The food is not bad for a bar — it’s pretty average and the portions are heaping and affordable. I ordered the Loaded Fries and Rings along with an order of the quesadillas which was my favorite part of the meal. The quesadillas are super messy but they were actually pretty good.
I also tried the Breckenridge Brewery Agave Wheat Beer and found it to be really satisfying. There’s a whole beer list and the beers were averaging $ 3.75 which is pretty decent for this kind of venue.
There’s definitely space for improvement though. It’s VERY casual. Which is fine but I think there’s still a level a service required for a grill. We didn’t receive any utensils or plates with our appetizers and I had to ask for a fork. It’s got a very self-​serve kind of feel and is really, super laid-​back. I’d also remark that that it seems to be a trend to be out of certain ingredients. I ordered take-​out for my boyfriend but they didn’t have any chili so I order the brat for him instead.
The cook (and brewmaster?) was really enthusiastic about some of the beer that they’re working on brewing. So I appreciate the passion, it makes me feel that they really care about beer.
There’s a lot of craft beer establishments popping up all over Orlando, so I’m not quite sure where I’d rank this one but it’s worth a visit.

Food is horrible and the atmosphere is full of weirdos!

Definitely not a place to eat. They didn’t have boiled cajun peanuts, or the crawfish po’boy, or even the broccoli that was suppose to be in their baked mac & cheese. Their boneless chicken wings were over fried and their menu is already very limited. It was a big disappointment. I think they only good thing they had were their select beers and the shuffle board on the 2^nd floor. I definitely would have to be dragged here if I wanted to come here again.

I started going to Fifty Brews last November 2010. The staff is always friendly and very knowledgeable about their beer selection. Their not just about offering a variety of beer but cater to the beer connoisseur.
Food is good and if Wes is on the line your meal will be cooked to order. My favorite item is Wes’s drunk chicken quesadilla.

Best location I’ve found in Orlando for a great selection of beer at a great price. Plus Fifty Brews has air hockey, pool, Wii, & shuffleboard. Staff is really nice! World of Beer has a great select too, but the they’re more expensive.

FB is one of my friends favorite hang outs. The staff is really nice and they have an awesome and CHEAP craft beer selection. Normally you’d pay $ 5 – 7 for some of these brews and you won’t find one for more than $ 4 here.
The food is pretty standard pub food. Nothing to write home about.
Atmosphere is pretty nice, there is always plenty of seating and plenty of games open– free pool, cornhole, darts, Wii and shuffleboard.
Usually I am the only girl here.

Overall was happy with my first visit.
The Good; Fried Pickles, Orlando Brewing Selection, Philly Po Boy, Free Darts and Pool
The Bad: Toilets were malfunctioning and bathroom smelled horrible, Smokers out front leaving butts all over side walk.
Overall prices were great while they don’t have quite the selection of world of beer the selection is still quite good and the prices were much better, had about 12 drafts wish they had more but 11 of the 12 were interesting varieties Miller Light was the only disappointment on draft.

Horrible service. Horrible crowd. Big fail. Let me elaborate.
When you first walk in, the thing you notice is all of the echos. It’s overwhelming loud because of the huge cave like building with no sound insulation. Then you look at the bar and it has all of these tacky clear glass mugs all over the place… the atmosphere is zero. Then, when you approach the bar, I was told by the bartender, «You’ll have to wait, there are 6 other people in front of you» after which she resumed her conversation about football with a customer. The beer selection is decent, but they were out of 4 of the beers I tried to order. They also served high gravity beers without the proper glasses for them. I’m not trying to sound pretentious here, but not only do I not want to drink my 7 dollar beer out of the bottle, I expect to not have to ask for the glass!!! To add insult to injury, there are all of these drinking games set up all over the place (which mind you, has the potential for fun) in spots in the building where no matter where you sit, you are at risk of getting hit with a poolstick, a beanbag, or whatever else. I will never, ever go back in there. I will leave the place for the kids from UCF to enjoy.

I’ve saw the small sign for 50 Brews in a place that used to be some sushi restaurant, so I googled it when I got home and decided that I wanted to check the bar out.
The interior decorator probably didn’t pass the design class. The place has random junk all over the wall with no particular theme, like license plates, sports themed decorations, and a Margaritaville reference item?
My boyfriend and I waited at the bar for several minutes to be noticed, let alone be served. Granted it was during a Magic basketball game, but the server did see us and did not acknowledge us with even a head nod or any sort of eye contact. I was not given a menu, so I saw a used beer stained paper menu that was still on the table so I took a look at that. Decent variety of beer.
We finally got my servers attention. Let’s just say, that they had 3 beers out of the 6 we had requested, because they were «out.» Well then, maybe they should not call the place Fifty Brews if they can’t even keep half of them in stock!
The servers were all not attentive at all. It appeared as though they were more attentive to the «regulars» there. Even though I was finished with my second beer, I had an empty glass in front of me the whole time I was there.
I was very disappointed in the place. Not gonna be going there again.

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a small sign that just said «Fifty Brews» in the Woodbury Shopping Plaza. I tried looking for it as we passed by and didn’t see anything — figuring it was still under construction and coming soon.
A while later, I was playing around on FourSquare and noticed that Fifty Brews popped up in the nearby location list. Surely, they must be open then. I hopped online and found that they were. Time for another adventure.
Fifty Brews is located in what used to be Fusian Ultralounge — in what seems to be a cursed shopping center. In theory, it’s a great location, but businesses just can’t seem to stay open there. All the construction outside their front door isn’t helping things, I’m sure. From the street, you’d never know that this place is there. The only indication is a small hand written sign stuck in the ground next to the driveway of the shopping center. There is no big sign on the building, and the sign on the door is unreadable from the road.
Their logo has a bunch of sports equipment. When you walk inside, you’ll find lots of sports themed decorations: jerseys, banners and stuff like that. There’s a couple big screen tv’s playing sports — but the music is up loud enough that you won’t be able to hear the games. The items on the wall look like they’re trying to be a sports bar, but the rest of the décor is much more of a lounge type place. I think they left a lot of the furniture and fixtures in from when it was Fusian. It’s nice enough, but it feels like it’s in the middle of an identity crisis.
Entering, we were greeted by a waitress from the far end of the room. Aside from a group at the bar and a few people upstairs playing Wii Sports, we were the only customers in a pretty large bar/​restaurant.
We picked our table and the waitress came over with the beer and food menus. The beer list is alright — mostly larger breweries with a few craft brews. They seem to have about 5 or 6 taps and they rotate the selections — not sure how often. Prices range from less than $ 2 for stuff like PBR to around $ 5 – 6 for craft beers. Most range $ 4 – 5.
Yes, 95% of the beers are bottled. Our waitress offered to bring us pint glasses and pour the beers into them. We declined, so I don’t know if the glasses are chilled.
We were in for dinner, so we ordered some jalapeño poppers, a crawfish po’boy and a grilled kielbasa.
The poppers came out pretty quickly (it looked like we were the only ones eating, so there was no excuse not to). They were obviously right out of the fryer and needed time to cool down. They’re stuffed with cream cheese and not all that spicy, but they were tasty enough.
Our entrees came out a short while later — staggered enough that we didn’t feel rushed through our poppers. Both were good, but pretty middle of the road. It seemed like there was more care put into them than most bar food, but it was still just bar food and that kind of quality. The fries were a little underseasoned to me, but nothing that a little extra salt and pepper didn’t fix.
Our waitress and the other staff member that was working were both very friendly and checked in on us repeatedly making sure we had everything we needed, the food was good and that we had enough to drink.
Fifty Brews is a nice enough place, but they’ve apparently been open for like 2 months and have done pretty much nothing to get noticed. Unless they get some people packed in there, they’re going to have a really bad time when the big chain beer place with a similar concept opens up next to UCF this summer.

The beer list has grown significantly — including drafts and beers I’ve never even heard of. I enjoy trying something new every time I go. I follow them on Facebook as well, and they have lunch and drink. Love the food as always. Yum!

Made a return trip to the Fifty Brews and found it to be very good again. The food was good had the fried pickles and some jerk wings.
They have added some interesting draft beers as well. I tried the Orlando Blonde Draft and the Railbender Ale which was outstanding. I was also pleased to find that fifty brews has become more like 65 brews and has added beers from my favorite craft brewer Tommyknocker. This place has earned a spot in my rotation and I will be back.

(Note: I wrote this review on April 26^th. I heard that they have some beers on tap now.)
This place has potential; I understand it’s a pretty new establishment. When (if) I come back I will definitely re-​evaluate.
There are a few things that need to be addressed. First off, this «beer bar» needs some beers on tap. That’s right — all beers are served in bottles. Waitress didn’t even offer to pour in a pint glass.
Beer selection is mediocre at best. Limited craft brew selection. One of the beers I ordered was a Paulaner Hefeweisen; I was disappointed to be served a Paulaner lager.
TVs in the place are either too far from or too small for the seating area. A projector or two would be nice.
Food was also not as good as it could have been. I ordered the Black and Bleu burger. I give it a ³⁄₅. Fries had no seasoning.
Put a sign in front of this place, tweak the beer selection, and hire a new cook. This place has the potential of being a great place to go in East Orlando.

The worst place I have ever eaten in my life. This place is so bad I would have eaten old food from a vending machine. First, the décor sucked, cheap furniture with no appeal. Second, a place called Fifty Brews with one tap, awful. Finally, the food my friend and I both ordered the «Baked Macaroni and cheese» when we got it, we realize that they took a .50 box of Kraft Mac and cheese the powder type and made our order. Furthermore, sprinkled dry cheese on top not even melted. So, I paid $ 12 dollars for food that cost .50, it sucked. They operate a business in southeast and don’t know what baked mac and cheese really are. Worst everrrr!!!

I wasn’t really impressed at all. For a place billing itself as a bar and grill with a large selection of beers, I was disappointed with the lack of beer selection. Yes, there are 50 beers, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a wide variety for a beer fan. There’s plenty of competition in this town that offers a lot of great beers, Fifty Brews just had a large selection of domestics, but nothing on the craft level really other than maybe two or three. I felt lucky to find a Southern Tier on the menu.
As far as the food, that experiment didn’t get very far. We ordered a queso dip, which has to be one of the easiest snacks to prepare on the planet. What we received was quite odd. The chips seemed like store bought chips that had been re-​fried in the deep fryer before serving. They weren’t burnt, but they were greasy and a little on the dark side. The queso dip was like milk soup with a dollop of cheese in it. It was literally SO liquid that the chips wouldn’t stick to it. It was also basically completely lacking in any flavor at all. Needless to say, we didn’t order anything else, and probably each ate 4 chips. Even the waitress/​bartender didn’t seem surprised, she thought it looked awful too. Apparently not awful enough to take it off my tab. I paid $ 5.99 for a couple bites of greasy, overcooked chips dipped in basically warm milk from the taste of it.
With the poor location that already killed Fusian off, the basic lack of décor whatsoever, the bad food, obvious lack of management (nobody really cared that we hated our food), I wish them success running another college sports bar around here. There’s already plenty around that do a better job, or offer a better beer selection. It’s going to be an uphill battle I’m afraid.
Perhaps most shocking… a place called «Fifty Brews» and there was literally ONE tap. One! And when I ordered the Southern Tier, the waitress/​bartender had to ask again what it was.