Latest reviews from Hayward

“Ok, I’m going to give an artificially high rating, because I went here for their annual IPA fest, which was fantastic: 100 beers. Nice small 3oz pours if you like, so it makes it easier to rate a lot. Tons of new breweries for me as well. Located in beautiful downtown Hayward. A few blocks walk to Bart. Excellent. Safe.“

wetherel 839 days ago

“It's a perfectly fine beer bar. Around 16 taps, all CA when I was there. No particularly rare / new brewers. A couple of oddball things from good brewers but nothing particularly exciting. Lots of Russian River bottles (and two taps), which is not particularly rare right now. It's a perfectly fine bar for beer, and if I lived in the area I could see swinging by pretty frequently, but this is just not that interesting a place. Tons of better places around that are not rated in the 90s (like this place is rated the same as Good Karma in San Jose, which is infinitely better as a beer bar). Dinging it a point on service for being cash only. Food looked sparse (more of a dive bar than a bistro). Perfectly cromulent, don't go out of your way for it. Prices are good though. Not much in the way of bottles, and no real rarities.“

WestCoastHawkeye 1702 days ago

“Down the street from Buffalo Bills. Kind of a dinghy place inside. Outside seating available as well. Taplist hand-written on a white board in some impressively bad writing. Not really impressive, honestly. I thought Beer and Brats down the street had a better selection. Cash only, which is something to be aware of; though there is an ATM in the back. Single restroom for "Persons" seems like it would create a challenge when busy. I hear a lot about the events here, but on a normal Sunday it was not a standout beer destination.“

bytemesis 2591 days ago

“Basically across the street from Buffalo Bills. Specialize in sausages and do it well. Taplist is well thought out with a locals focus. Flights of four available as well for $8, which is nice. Service was friendly. Sausage took a long time for my liking; perhaps I was just hungry. I would say this place has a better taplist than the Bistro down the street at most times.“

bytemesis 2591 days ago

“Little bar in downtown Hayward right next to the movie theater (also close to The Bistro and Buffalo Bills). Inside a new-ish retail space that feels sort of sterile and cookie cutter, but that’s no fault of the place...all the units in this little sub-area are like that.

As you can imagine, they do sausages here as well as some other pretty typical bar foods. Actually haven’t eaten here, only visited for the beer. They do flights of 4 for something like $10, or you can get a full pour, of course. Beer selection is largely focused on local (Bay Area) items in the times I’ve been there. Pretty decent selection including some ticks from lesser known breweries.

Friendly staff and good service. Decent selection and pricing is okay too. Worth a stop if you’re doing a little tour of Downtown Hayward.“

brokensail 3049 days ago

“I have only been here during an event (IIPA fest) but they handled it very very well. the inside is smallish and the selection not huge, but they had some superior quality type stuff on and there is an event. friendly, knowledgeable staff.“

slowrunner77 3513 days ago

“Visited during DIPA-Festival in February 2014. (the DIPA-Festival was brilliant) The place itself was rather small but with a friendly service and with some interesting beers. Located not far from the BART Station. I would not mind to visit this place again.“

gyllenbock 3752 days ago

“Went to barrel aged festival. food wasnt bad they were bbqing tri tip for sandwhiches. There was about 12 taps of good beers, a few russian rivers. Theres usally live music in the evenings .“

oRos 4225 days ago

“I’ve been here 4 or 5 times, always during either the DIPA festival (February/SF Beer Week) or the barrel festival (November), so I really cant comment on what a normal business day is like here.

The festivals keep going up in price but at least now you get 12 tickets and the pours are usually pretty generous. The tri tip sandwiches that my brother and I bought were definitely not worth $8 a piece. Mine was decent but his had half the amount of meat and he got all the center meat that was really rare, with none of the rubbed/bbq sauce’d outside.

Always some good beers on tap (both the festival lineups as well as the regular taps). Cant complain there. Not sure if they have bottles or not, I’ve never looked. Located a block from Buffalo Bills which is a nice stop for food in the middle of a festival. Oh and they have live music which is a plus.“

t0rin0 4226 days ago

“Cool little place in downtown Hayward. Not the most extensive tap list, but always some good stuff on. Usually a pretty laid back atmosphere when I’ve been, when there isn’t a festival going on, that is. Cash only is kind of a bummer.“

brokensail 4327 days ago

“I only really come here for the festivals which are awesome. I’m not too pleased with the price hikes though. $40 for the barrel aged fest this year is getting a little steep. The people are cool and friendly and the location is nice in a good part of Hayward with lots of restaurants nearby and walking distance from BART. The bar itself is a bit divey. They have a rather small tap list, but I’ve heard the bottle list is good.“

joeneugs 4562 days ago

“Stopped by for lunch. Parking lot across the street. Roughly 12 taps going, half of which seemed to be left overs from the IPA fest 2 months ago (faded). A few interesting thins like a Speakeasy BA Porter. Waitress was nice. They have a sandwich counter, but I wouldn’t bother with it. Atmosphere was music venue centric. I am sure this is a great place to visit for their epic festivals, but as a day to day visit, it is a little underwhelming. Cash only, but they do have an ATM.“

BMan1113VR 4652 days ago

“Estuve durante el doble ipa festival beer week sf.El bar en si es pequeño con una variedad acceptable,si estas en el festival todo cambia.... la calle se llena de gente,música y mucha iipa!!!“

bernatbeer 4673 days ago

“Top notch beer fests, and always a good selection on tap.“

jlulensk 4717 days ago

“This is a small local beer bar that attracts both regulars and beer destination seekers. There is a nice selection of west coast micros and imports (mostly Belgian). There is a decent menu of bar food. But the real attraction is the annual calendar of beer festivals including such categories as "Double IPA" and "Barrel aged, " for which the adjacent street is closed to accommodate the large crowds attracted to these events. The staff is friendly and beer-knowledgeable.“

marcus 5318 days ago

“Classic joint you can call home. Plus they put on world class fests. Visit here out of respect for the emphasis they put on great beer. One of those places you walk into and discover you have found a beer paradise. This place is one of the go to places on the west coast.“

mrhoppy 5453 days ago

“I could see this getting boring if the taps aren’t rotating fast enough. But it manages a great old-time feel and the patio is beautiful. Menu is simple but seems honest and well-done: certainly made by hand which takes long when one staffer has a party of five. Good offering of NorCal beers.“

ajm 5462 days ago

“Pretty small venue, but when they do an event they take over the street. Lots of taps and beers. Enthusiastic staff. Good food.“

bhensonb 5599 days ago

“Visited this past week, and the tap list was awesome, with plenty of barrel-aged beers left over from the barrel-aged festival. This place was just a great overall experience. The bartender was awesome. She accommodated my frantic excitement about the numerous rare offerings and made sure that I got to taste everything that I was interested in. Value was outstanding: $4 for tulips of barrel-aged stuff like Older Viscosity and Valley Brew 12 Cuvee, as well as PtE. Smaller sample sized snifters were only a buck fifty, and the food was also very reasonable and quite good. Nothing too fancy on the menu, but enough to keep you satisfied while enjoying some great beers. The Bistro will definitely be a top priority in future visits to the east bay.“

SamGamgee 5667 days ago

“Small, dive-ish bar in a reasonably pleasant section of Hayward, right next to a Saturday farmer’s market. Friendly staff, nice patio outdoors, and excellent hosts for the Barrel Aged Fest, which is probably one of the best and most under-advertised festivals during the year. Their regular taplist tends towards excellent (if easily accessible) hoppy American beers and Belgian bottled selections.“

kmweaver 5671 days ago

“Nice down town Hayward spot. Small but good tap list. Proper glassware. Live music.“

fidel 5700 days ago

“This is a little gem of a place in downtown Hayward. They have a great selection of California brewed beer as well as Belgians. There are a couple of the bartenders who really know their beer and have turned me onto some great tasting beers. They have many Festivals that you do not want to miss. Best of all they welcome doggies on the outside patio. They have a dogie water dish inside as well as the staff enjoy giving biscuits to the puppies that visit.“

cs535 5737 days ago

“Pretty high expectations. Kind of a let down. Only a handful of beers on tap, and of those, only 3 were ones I would want. I didn’t stick around for the music because they didn’t have enough good beer to keep me there. I’m sure I’ll try it again, but more looking forward to their festivals.“

AgentSteve 5811 days ago

“The coolest corner neighborhood bar in old town Hayward. They have live music every night of the week. They use proper glassware for the most part. It’s very casual - the menu on the wall is written in dry erase marker. The restroom is a small room that is shared by both guys and gals. Its mainly a bar with a few tables and an outdoor patio. Very cool place. The bartender is really cool and knows a lot about beer as well as extremely attentive to serving you. His girlfriend who sits at the bar and reads Wiccan literature probably knows more! The regulars all love good beer and the stuff they have on tap is all solid micros minus one or two. When I visited they had just had a barrel aged festival and there were a few leftovers I got to try. A must visit bar when in the area for the whole package - beer, environment, music, etc. Oh, you can also get a few appetizers.“

pinkzambia 6046 days ago

“My first visit to this establishment was for the Wet Hop Festival where I had the pleasure of meeting beerguy101 and Davecooks. I had a roast beef sandwich that was chalked full of flavor. Yum. They doubled the number of taps from their dozen or so fixed taps with temporary ones for the event. There was just bar seating inside with maybe six stools and outside seating on tiny tables. People were smoking out there so that was a bummer. All in all a nice experience and some excellent wet hop brews sampled.“

Ibrew2or3 6079 days ago

“Having been here for the Barrel-Aged and Double IPA Fests it is a great place. Food is very good and for the fests a great beer selection.“

IrishBoy 6269 days ago

“Well worn look but clean and relaxed, the service has always been good the half dozen times I’ve been here. The beer selection is about 15 taps [always great beers] and a small but interesting bottle selection. overall a nice tap house with some interesting music in the evenings.“

Ratman197 6519 days ago

“My review of this place is a little skewed because I have only visited it during the Double IPA fest. I didn’t even notice a listing of their standard brews as I was more interested in figuring out which Double IPA I would sample next. A relatively small place, made much smaller by several hundred patrons of the fest. During normal business hours, I’m guessing the size is just fine. Has an outdoor patio which gets sunlight starting at around noon, depending upon the season. Clearly owner Vic cares about beer, and the Bistro therefore has passed the first meaningful test of a worthy establishment. Together with Buffalo Bills brewpub just up the road, Hayward is a worthwhile destination for beer lovers when in the Bay Area.“

ElGaucho 6690 days ago

“Great beer hangout.“

ChillCoat 6841 days ago

“If you like hoppy micro brews, this is the place for you. They had Drake’s, Hoptown, Bear Republic, Sierra Nevada, Guinness, and a cider on tap. There were 3 harvest beers, 1 vanilla porter, and a fair hafe-weizen. The music was great, mixed, americana, the guitar player cold pick some bluegrass. Nice unpretentious neighborhood hangout.“

allphoto 7119 days ago