Maumee Bay Brewing Co. & Restaurant

1/11/2008 4:02:02 PM, friday, january 11, 2008
(Visited 10/2006): Maumee Bay Brewing Co is located on Broadway right off the bridge. There is limited parking in a small lot and on the street out front, plus another gravel lot across the street. The building is a nice brick structure and the entrance is down a flight of steps. Inside is one of the most impressive breweriana collections I have seen, with much of it devoted to the history of Maumee Bay. The bar is upstairs with many seats that offer great views of the bay. The lower floor is all restaurant seating. Maumee Bay offers 7 beers on tap, from staples like Buckeye Beer, to a Dry Stout and all the typical offerings in between. They also feature a cask beer regularly along with a seasonal or two. The beers are also available in a sampler. Service here was just fine on a slow early Monday afternoon. Our server doubled as the bartender and still had plenty of time to explain the beers and make food recommendations. Pizza was what was recommended, and that was what we had. The brick oven BBQ chicken/carmelized onion pizza I had was stellar, and complemented the beer very well. Being the only brewpub in Toledo alone makes this place a must-visit. While the beers are average for the most part, adding the great atmosphere, historic perspective and good food makes this place worth seeking out for any beer lover in the Northwestern part of the state.

7/14/2007 11:47:42 PM, saturday, july 14, 2007
Only existing microbrewery that I am aware of in the Toledo area. The food is great, but not overly expensive. Wood fired pizzas are big specialty. They have resurrected the recipe for Buckeye Beer and they have a sampler tray of their brews. The beer collections and displays were moved from the bar area to be spread around the restaurant last time I was there. They offer bottles and growlers of their brews if you want to take some home. The building used to be the Commodore Perry hotel and was later turned into a warehouse. Some of the hotel rooms were turned into apartments, and the rumors are that one of them is haunted. Nice restaurant with good food and good ambiance. This is one of my favorites in town!

12/23/2006 3:07:23 PM, saturday, december 23, 2006
I stopped by this place on my way to points east. For those of you on the road and interested in stopping in, I found this place to be a very easy detour from the Ohio Turnpike (I80/I90). It took me no more than 10 minutes from the highway. I’d never been to Toledo before. The city wasn’t too much to look at, but the building that the brewery was in was pretty cool looking. The hostess let me into the bar (and the bartendress served me) 10 minutes before they opened which was nice of them. She seemed busy and not very chatty, but was quite pleasant. The atmosphere of the place is very cool; it is an upscale restaurant, but you have to walk by the aging tanks to get the bar upstairs and the walls are strewn with all kinds of beer memorabilia...pretty cool. I only had one beer, the cask conditioned IPA, which was quite good. I sampled the root beer (also made on site), which was also quite good. I wish I had more time to spend here, but unfortunately I had a timetable to keep! Perhaps I’ll get to it again on the way home.

12/18/2005 8:40:49 AM, sunday, december 18, 2005
Stopped here on my way to Detroit for football game. Not hard to find but you do need to use the map on the web page. Good parking and great historical building with good beer product collection. Rough brick and wood interior with nice bar and chairs. Had the sampler of 6 brews and had three brews at $3.00 a brew. Beers are above average and the Pumpkin was very good. Had the $5.99 burger for lunch. Very good. Well worth the visit.

5/26/2005 4:45:38 PM, thursday, may 26, 2005
I’ve visited this place a couple of times over 10 years or so, and it’s remained consistently good. The burger is one of the best I’ve ever had, and the ambiance of both the downstairs pub and the upstairs restaurant is pleasant and comfy. Beers are generally quite good and they do brew a fair range of seasonals. Kind of in the middle of nowhere a little ways from downtown and a bit hard to find. Last time I visited only the pub was open and the bartender said they couldn’t do samples, seemed a little exasperated...but after talking to him for a while he warmed up and gave me free shots of everything. That’ll definitely help bring me back.

5/25/2005 9:57:21 AM, wednesday, may 25, 2005
I had a bad cold when I visited so I did not try their beer and could barely taste my food. But, the food looked great! From the few ratings, it would appear the beer is slighly above average. This place has a great ambiance. Very large establishment, brick interior with what has to be one of the world’s largest collections of beeriana displayed throughout. The Toledo beer hall of fame is displayed along the wall in the main bar/dining room area and includes a map showing the locations of historical breweries in Toledo. Huge display of old bottles and cans from yesteryear. Adjoining the brewery is Mutz, which is more of a nighclub. Between the two places is a small patio, although don’t look for sunshine unless the sun is directly overhead because you are literally in a courtyard betweent he two buildings with high walls surrounding. Definitely worth a visit.