Union Station Brewery (John Harvards)

7/4/2008 2:19:22 PM, friday, july 04, 2008 [ Updated friday, september 05, 2008 ]
Nice feel to the place, quite done up and modern, but it also has a fairly cosey feel to it. It was particularly quite when we went in, only a few other people in the joint. The bartender was friendly and pretty fast with the service. She gave me a couple of free samples of their beers, which was nice of her. They had six beers on at the time and I enjoyed all of them, I thought the Belgian Tripel was particularly good, the Irish Stout and the Half Day IPA were also very tasty. The food was pretty solid too, can’t remember what the price was like, but it tasted good. Definitely a lot better than Trinity.

12/27/2007 7:48:35 PM, thursday, december 27, 2007 [ Updated saturday, january 05, 2008 ]
(From 2 visits in 06 and 07) Clean and upper scale look and feel. An upscale contemporary basement. Nice resturant food. Located along some other famous Providence resturants. But i’m not a fan of the beers. I’ve had the sampler there twice, and i’m not crazy about any of them. Usually never busy, good staff, not a long wait for food. Everyone always compares this place to Trinity, and says Trinity is dirty. But i like Trinity better, but would say there beer is even worse than Union Station. Thats the one thing this city needs is a nice brewpub with really good brew. 1/4/08 - Went back again, hanger steak was great!, beat was very watery. Trinity’s beer was better as i was there the week before.

11/3/2007 6:51:28 PM, saturday, november 03, 2007
Nice, basement location in the heart of Providence. Interior brickwork and rounded windows give the place some appeal. Staff was friendly and courteous. Selection was limited to about five brews in tap. The Autumn Harvest Ale (pumpkin flavoured) and the Coffee Milk Stout were excellent. Liked it enough to visit twice. Give it a try, it’s worth a look.

3/4/2007 9:53:10 PM, sunday, march 04, 2007
Pretty cool looking place...reminds me of the old Houston Brewery in Houston. Food was very tasty and interesting. Bartender was adequate, but not overly helpful. Couple of TVs at the bar to keep you friendly if it’s dead in there...as it was when I went, but it was late on a Wednesday night. I only had two beers....and they were okay, but nothing special. Porter was my fave.

1/20/2007 8:42:00 AM, saturday, january 20, 2007
Not a bad place - seemed cleaner and just slightly more upscale than Trinity. They replaced part of the bar, and the new faux stone top looks tacky with a crappy transition to the old wooden bar top. Service was OK, as was the beer. Did not try any food.

6/24/2006 8:37:53 PM, saturday, june 24, 2006 [ Updated friday, june 30, 2006 ]
Difficult to find as the entrance is across from the bus terminals and around the corner at the end of a parking lot. The interior is clean albeit a bit small with two sitting areas and a bar area. When I was there, 5 beers were being offered, three of which I tried and enjoyed quite a bit: Oatmeal Stout (on cask), Rusty Griswald and Hugh Hefe. The waitstaff is friendly and knowledgeable. Several TVs are present at the bar. While the selection is average, it is a good place in what is essentially a two brewpub college town.

4/18/2006 6:41:20 PM, tuesday, april 18, 2006 [ Updated thursday, april 20, 2006 ]
Union Station has always been the weakest link in the John Harvard’s chain. This place has always had sensational food, and great atmosphere, but the beers for the last ten years or so, frankly have been boring. This was not the case when this place first opened in the early 90’s, and had some very flavorful beers on draught. Selection has always been pretty weak here, and you often find only 4-5 beers pouring. If you are going to visit Union Station just for the beer, I think you will be dissapointed. Go for the food, and you might enjoy a seasonal or two, but for the most part, the beers here have been, and continue to be a yawn.

2/22/2006 12:16:25 AM, wednesday, february 22, 2006
They had an OK Dry Stout. That’s about it. Hard to come up with much to write for this one. Industrial-chic decor, very clean and modern and basically dull. I think if you were in a group and eating (I’ve heard nothing but good about the food) this might be a kind of fun place to go; but the other 4 beers here (yes, only 5 of their own beers on tap) were ultra-boring: Northern Light is drinkable for a light, but not much more, Golden Spike and Celtic Red truly unmemorable, ESB very mild and sweet. Go a few blocks to Trinity instead.

7/24/2005 1:06:47 PM, sunday, july 24, 2005
Found this place at the Fire Water festival. Inside, it is more industrial-themed with cement floors and bricks, etc. They had 5 beers on tap I believe and 1 cask ale. I ordered the fish and chips and there was an asparagus dip appetizer thingy which was really good. The fish batter was less than spectacular. Large portions, though. I had the Belgian Trippel and the Cask Dry Stout (did not rate either), but I can say that they were quite thin-bodied. The Trippel wasnt really good at all...i’d probably put it in the low to middle 2s and the stout was a bit thin and just not really flavorful...I would have put that in the mid to high 2s.

4/24/2005 7:05:01 AM, sunday, april 24, 2005
Better beer here than at Trinity. Sat at the bar. Good service, not very busy. Somewhat difficult to find as I guess the city has a sign ordnance or something. It’s by the Courtyard by Marriott if that helps but you can’t see the Courtyard sign because it blends into the large brick building. Beers were decent. Did not eat. Worth a try.