Great Waters Brewing Company

Food was amazing! Beer was great. Was seated right away and waited for food for 10 minutes. Adrian was a great server. Will return again and tell my friends about this place. Awesome!

Late night stop in here –visiting in St. Paul and not really sure if there to go.
Party of 7. Very diverse taste. Chicken noodle soup-​excellent. Not salty. Not mushy. Perfect. My daughters and I all had salads. Mediterranean salads with chicken were right on ! Crisp greens. Feta (personally is like a bit more). Lovely dressing. Very good. Ahi tuna salad was also a great choice. Cooked perfectly. Meatloaf and chicken w/​pasta were excellent. Again. Not salty. Very tasteful.
The service was excellent. Two gentlemen served us. Courteous. Attentive. Not a «family» place but great fir heat late night grab a bite place.

Went to Great Waters Brewing Company for a weekday lunch with a couple co-​workers. I was a little hesitant due to other Unilocal reviews. Service was great. Food was really good. I had a French Dip with onion rings. A co-​worker ordered fish and chips, where she said there was a lot of meat and the breading was not heavy. The other person in the party ordered the chicken wild rice soup and grilled tuna wrap. She said that both were fantastic. We will go back.

I’ve been coming here for a couple years now, mostly before Wild games and I have to admit that I’m growing more disappointed each time with the food. Had a southwest chicken salad today and it had two chicken fingers on it, sliced twice long ways. I feel it’s about what ya get out of a Tyson chicken freezer bag at the grocery store. The fries we had were cold and limp too… and the tuna wrap was pretty bland. Sad… this place seems to have gone downhill :(

This place is the quintessential «average bar food» joint. I got the bacon cheeseburger with onion rings, quite affordable, and ordered it medium rare. As common in so many MN burger spots, not a single bit of pink. Tastier than an average burger, at least the bacon was bursting with flavor.
The onion rings are also fairly weak — both in quantity and quality, at least as a side portion.
The plus side is that it’s a great windowside chat spot in gorgeous St. Paul and offers an extensive menu that I’m eager to explore further. The service was quite nice as well.

Went here for the first time and was nothing but impressed. Had the Dr. Rudi seasonal IPA and it was amazing. The hanger steak I had was incredible. The service was great. She was very nice and had all the answers to any question we had about beers and any menu item. I would go here again!

The food here was so disappointing. We ordered their «signature» chicken & rice soup, and to call it a soup was a stretch. It was so thick and gelatinous, even digging a spoon through it was hard. It was too salty, too creamy, and had no resemblance of a soup. We also got their pretzel, and that was an even bigger disappointment. We all agreed that it tasted worse than subpar food cart pretzels. It was stale, incredibly salty, and hard to chew. And to top it off, when someone in the party ordered one of the brewery’s own beers, they said they had run out of it. Wouldn’t recommend coming here if you want a decent meal.

On a nice day you sit outside and are paying for the excellent location. As brew pubs go this is pretty standard. You won’t be disappointed in the food, and you won’t be pleasantly surprised either. We had the Oktoberfest and the scotch ale, which are both very good! The staff is super friendly.

Very «meh.» I suggest skipping this place. I ordered a buffalo chicken sandwich and was a little confused when I was presented with a piece of chicken with buffalo sauce on a piece of bread — no lettuce, no tomato, nothing extra. I ordered fruit on the side, which was not edible as it was very very dry and old tasting. My friend ordered the portabello mushroom burger, which she ate a few bites of. It was cooked improperly so it was leaking mushroom juice all over the plate. It had also soaked through and dissolved the bun.
The patio was quaint but had a major wasp problem. Our waitress suggested that the wasps are attracted to the lemons in our drinks so she scooped out the lemon and whipped it down the road — so strange.
In conclusion, I don’t suggest this place unless you’re into very mediocre food.

Not a fan of the Beers that were offered this day. Many other breweries in the area have much better. The atmosphere is pleasant… we had a peach of a male server — and the food choices were nice as well as tasty. They do have a full bar so order up some other libation.

We stopped by here on the way back from a Twins game while headed back to our hotel. The experience was excellent.
The restaurant was all but abandoned when we got there after 10 p.m. The waitress was extremely attentive and quick to get with us, very personable and friendly.
Their beers are brewed onsite, and I ordered the St. Andrew’s Cross Scotch Ale, which is one of two «cask-​conditioned» beers, which are served around 50 degrees (versus a regular beer served around 34 degrees). It has to be the smoothest beer I have ever experienced. EXCELLENT. Later, I ordered the coffee stout beverage, which was coffee, their Oatmeal Stout (also a cask-​conditioned beer), and coffee liqueur. I thought it would be served hot (gee, «coffee»?), but was served over ice. I’m not a fan of iced coffee, but the drink was okay. My son had the root beer, which was also excellent (and also brewed onsite). My son started to joke with the waitress about needing a root beer float, and the next thing we knew she had brought him a dish of vanilla ice cream.
I had the chicken marsala, which was made with linguine and a cream marsala sauce. Making the marsala into a cream sauce was different, and was a little thick in consistency and frankly could have used a stronger marsala flavor, but was still good & more than I could finish. I would certainly order it again.
My son had the chicken tenders, which were oddly-​shaped but with a homemade breading that looked similar to a breading for a fried okra. He said they were «fantastic», and they even made him some honey mustard sauce to dip them in.
Unfortunately, I was only in town for a business trip and likely won’t have the ability to return anytime soon. Disappointing because I would love to try some of the other beers.

Decided to try this place on the way to see a play. Service was good, food was terrible. I ordered wild rice burger. Very dry, and no flavor. onion rings appeared to not even have onions inside the heavy greasy breading. My wife ordered the reuben sandwich and that was even worse. Plain cold sauerkraut on a sandwich with cold turkey and pastrami. Best part was the bread.
Best part of the dinner were the drinks!

The beer here is not to bad really. There happy hour beats most with brew pub pints at 2.50. We came in because of living social deal which was ten bucks for two flights and two pints. The pints were empty logo glasses in a bag :(
The two flights had got bees each each beer was three ounces. So really the living social was no deal ten bucks for two twelve ounce beers.
Additionally the server was, um special. When I showed her the living social coupon she flinched and made some weird comment about how at least she was off on Monday.

A brewing company in the heart of downtown St. Paul with a really cool patio set in the middle of a shaded courtyard?! Yes please! The curbside appeal of this restaurant is irresistible, sadly, that’s where the great experience stops.
Once you walk in, you are magically transported not to a quaint St. Paul Brewery, but a Village Inn from the 1980s. Things haven’t been updated in who knows how long and there are even a few card table chairs scattered about. I wisely chose the patio. (No updating)
The host seemed surprised that a visitor had come in trying as hard as possible not to have a conversation and once outside, our server informed us she couldn’t tell us the specials because her voice was hoarse. She also had no idea what their beer selection was and had to print it out. (No training)
Once I chose my beer (and IPA) and food, the odd experience didn’t stop. The beer was sweet and tasted cheap and my meal transported me right back to that 1980s Village Inn experience I thought I had escaped from on the patio. (No flavor)
If you want cocktails and sub-​par beer on the patio, this might be a fun place. If you want anything else however… skip it.

Worst service I’ve had in years. I’m giving it two stars only because the food was ok. Beer was mediocre, service was quick, but rude and insulting.
We asked about outdoor seating. «Well, we have a table for you inside, but I guess we could maybe find something outside.» I should add, there was plenty of room outside.
Two of our party had arrived 30 minutes early and wanted a drink while waiting for everyone else. They could barely convince the host to let them sit somewhere so they could get a beer.
Once we all arrived we ordered beers and they were wrong (we drank them anyways).
One member of our party likes corona (I know, we’re at a brew pub) and our waiter suggested a brown ale as being similar.
We ordered two bourbonaides (beer bourbon and lemonade) and they were incredibly weak, so we asked for another shot. The waitress rolled her eyes at us and said, that’s how they make it. I’ll ask the bartender what we can do. Can back and refused to add more bourbon, but offered to throw away the drink instead. Took her up on that and asked her what kind of bourbon they had. Her response «I have no idea.» Not, I’m not sure I’ll check. Or let me ask. Nope, I have no idea. We had to ask her to check what kind of bourbons they had. She came back with a list of whiskeys that included one bourbon. And when we mentioned that, she said, «ok, so what do you want?»
We ordered coffee after our meals and one person changed their order from decaf to regular-​in the same sentence, not after she’d left, and she rolled her eyes and said, so you’re sure you want regular?
Overall, incredibly rude service and lousy drinks. And it’s a brewpub that’s been open for 18 years. They should have those things down by now.
Am I going back?
For what, a rude waitress? Uncaring host? Bartender that can’t make a drink?
Nope. We’ll spend our money elsewhere. And I would suggest you do too.

Great Waters Brewing company is a comfortable, casual place to meet. When I asked about beers, the waitress suggested that their Oatmeal Stout was ‘better than Guiness’ — a bold statement. The head on their stout was bigger and the stout was darker. I’ll let you decide if its better. Food was pub quality. We ordered the meatloaf and the ‘fish & chips.’ The portions were generous and the meatloaf (while a bit ‘mealy’ in texture) tasted good. The fish was hot and crispy.
We were seated quickly — even on a night when The Wild was playing nearby. The waitress was friendly. Prices were reasonable. It’s a good place for beers. Afterwards, we wandered to The Amsterdam for cocktails.

It was a struggle for me to pull the extra star out of my ass but the holidays have me feeling generous. I did it for one reason and one reason alone: We popped in during the middle of a ‘Christmas festival’ and some of their staff had been dedicated to serving food and drinks outside.
Now, it was one hell of an anemic ‘festival’ and I saw plenty of waiters wandering around the not-​crowded-​by-​any-​means interior of the place, but our waiter repeatedly used the tiny outdoor venue as his excuse for being slow as shit. Because (in his words) ‘we didn’t anticipate this’.
…
That being said, though I believe the service would’ve been a hair better if we either A) had a different server or B) arrived on a normal ‘anticipated’ day, the food and beverages here would still blow weenies for spare change.
It took for-​fucking-​ever for our waiter to meaningfully show up. He mostly did a lot of wiggly arm motions from a distance and assured us he’d be with us soon.
As I glanced around the restaurant, I noticed that we made up one of three occupied tables on our side. It was pretty dead and there seemed to be at least four other waiters dedicated to the inside operations for the evening so I couldn’t quite figure out why our waiter seemed so frazzled.
He finally took our drink orders. I decided to go with a Hot Chata Rum (Rumchata and hot cocoa).
It was watery, weak on booze and had zero warming/​comfort factor. The only thing that didn’t irritate me was the price at five bucks.
It took forever to order the food afterwards.
Their menu is predictably scant. That didn’t bother me since I knew we were sitting in the middle of a brew house and I, at best, anticipated mediocrity in the food itself. I really just wanted something to musket pump down my throat to stave off hunger-​induced anger.
I finally decided on the Rasta Wings. I was informed that they were ‘very spicy’ (which elicited a chortle from me) and asked if I wanted to proceed. I agreed to the terms and signed my quarter of a soul away.
They weren’t spicy but the sauce was terrible. It tasted like ketchup with an obscene amount of red pepper flakes and ass hairs. The wings themselves were improperly rendered and had some of the slimiest, fattiest most flaccid skin that’s ever touched my lips (–insert your own joke here-​).
When he finally returned and asked how everything was, I let him know about the wings. His response?
«Well, have you ever had them before?»
«No.»
“They’re made fresh in house and so they’re not some frozen junk!“
He scrambled off before I could respond with,
«…mmkay, thanks, they still tasted like waddly little taints swathed in ketchup».
… Maybe it’s a good thing he walked off.
Throughout the meal, I reluctantly tasted everything else at the table. The cheddar broccoli soup was a watery, unsatisfying mess. The chips that looked to be BBQ flavored tasted like stale low-​sodium seasoned salt and deceit.
And the ‘Rueben’ just straight up pissed me off. You can’t call your shit a Rueben if it’s just a Rachel lightly questioning her sexuality because two pieces of pastrami on top of a wad of cheap turkey does not a Rueben make.
IT WAS A TURKEY STUFFED LIE WITH A PASTRAMI TOUPEE.
*regains composure*
In the end, I suppose Great Waters is a fitting name for this place since everything tastes like a watered down version of what it should be.

I’d read the reviews for Great Waters Brewing Company and really had no intention of ever giving it a try. That is, until we wanted to see the European Christmas Village, which was set up outside, and were balls cold just walking from the car. One quick walk through the village and we called bullshit and decided to grab a bite to eat and warm up in Great Waters Brewing Company.
We were seated immediately once we walked in and our waiter came over to let us know he’d be right with us, then scurried away. He returned about 5 minutes later and gave us waters, but then scurried away again. After being seated for 15 minutes he finally returned to take our drink orders but apologized to our table and said «Sorry, this was just really unexpected». What was unexpected? Having customers? The restaurant wasn’t really that full.
I ordered the International Coffee. which was Bailey’s, Cognac, Khalua and coffee. It sounded like it was just what I needed to knock the chill off and at a $ 6.00 price tag, I was ready to be melted from the inside out.
Unfortunately, the coffee they used was so watered down it just tasted like watery booze. It didn’t have the rich warmth I was looking for.
Our waiter, who reminded me of an animated weasel, couldn’t keep up with who ordered what and this was while he was asking what we wanted. His demeanor was snobbish and he made me lose my appetite more than anything I consumed.
I ordered the Reuben, which isn’t actually a reuben because it’s 90% turkey, 1% pastrami and 9% sauerkraut. I subbed the chips for a cup of broccoli cheddar with bacon soup.
The soup was yellow and had chunks of broccoli in it, but that’s where any resemblance to broccoli cheddar soup stops. The viscosity was okay but taking bite after bite and you’re left with a mouth that tastes like nothing. It wasn’t rich or creamy, it went down and left nothing for you to remember it by. It was just as watered down as my coffee. The chunks of bacon must be entirely for sale’s pitch, which is annoying. It did nothing for the soup and frankly is just a waste of bacon. Stop wasting the bacon!
The Reuben is the only reason that this place is getting two stars. I’m hard pressed to find a Reuben I like and this one was delicious. It was well balanced, it was on the drier side, which I prefer because the moisture content in a Reuben can completely destroy the sandwich. I loved the flavors and how it held together, but I won’t be back to have it again.
The food and drinks are cheap, but the service was terrible (Your waiter isn’t expecting there to be customers, what does that tell you?), the food was just as bad sans the Reuben and the interior needed some love. It reminded me of Baker’s Square.
Grandma’s love drooly soup.

Had a real nice business lunch (no beers) here today.
Atmosphere was very nice, service was very attentive and professional.
I ordered a Meatloaf Sandwich ($ 8.95) described as a «generous portion of our homemade meatloaf served open faced on sourdough bread with garlic thyme mashed potatoes and our thyme brown sauce.»
«Generous» is an understatement, the serving was immense. I swapped onion rings for the mashed potatoes at no extra charge.
The meatloaf was very good, nice texture, nice flavor, nice temperature. I skipped the bread, and chowed on the very good onion rings instead.
The big sandwich and an iced tea ran me $ 11.79 before tip. Not too bad for a downtown restaurant.
A-​OK on every count.

I’m a happy hour junkie and this place has a goooood one. They make all their own beers and the list is HUGE. There is something for everyone! Get something on nitro– thick, creamy, slightly warmer… its magical. And, during happy hour they are $ 2.50. Yep, you heard me. Otherwise, I think they are $ 5, which is still totally reasonable.
I haven’t really eaten much here, but they do have some $ 5 plates at happy hour, nachos and the like. Decent, nothing crazy.
I’ll be honest, the interior is not trying, at all. Which, I think I respect actually… but sit on the patio, for sure. Adorable, on that quaint little pedestrian street. Ugh, I love it.
They have an early and a late happy hour– so, see ya in a few hours?