Laurelwood Public House & Brewery

Really good beer… IRA and Megafauna Imperial IPA… Cubano sandwich was awesome. Beer battered fries pretty good. Play area for toddlers. Sports on the tv’s. Kids were happy with their pasta and mac’n cheese. Wife’s salad was «average»

The service was great, the kids had a blast playing while waiting a minimal amount of time for their food that the server kindly put in first. Then played some more while my husband and I got to enjoy a sampler of there beers and a delicious burger with a home made veggie patty. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this place. I will be returning on my next trip to OR.

Great brunch spot. Came here Saturday morning on a rainy day. We were one of the first customers to arrive. (I love how when you’re not in LA, there’s usually no wait at restaurants!) I ordered the chicken fried steak with tater tots, and my husband ordered the breakfast burrito with home-​style potatoes. Both were delicious! Beer was cheap, too. Overall, it was a great experience.

What a great brewpub that is family friendly. Had a few beers with friends and grabbed some loaded tots that awesome so much so I forgot to take a pic lol. They come with a Sriracha ranch which is awesome and FYI I have loved Sriracha long before it was the hip thing to like. Had the imperial ipa as well as the rando IPA both we 3.5−4÷5 for my beer ratings which is always a good thing. I was hoping to get a boss IPA but that’s out of season. The patio is a nice layout and great servers that are attentive. Alyssa was ours and she’s grt

A solid place for beer and dinner. I am puzzled by the 3-​star ratings… the beer is fantastic, and the food was solid. We had nachos, pretzels, and tots for apps, all very good. Dinner was burgers (Jucy Lucy!!) or fish n’ chips (slightly over seasoned), all good! I think this place is a winner.

The rare barrel-​aged chocolate stout is amazing! It’s name is Chocolate Thunder and the idea to put this in a bourbon barrel is genius. The food and service is very good as usual. Keep up the good work everyone.

I’m currently sitting at the bar at Laurelwood and I’ve got to agree with the rest of the reviews. I’ve been sitting with an empty glass slowly inching it forward as the time goes on and the bartenders seem to just smile and pass by without noticing. I actually had to flag someone down to ask for another beer, which doesn’t seem like much but has never happened before in the multiple breweries I’ve visited in Portland. Service aside the beers are good. Short list for variety though if you prefer anything other than rich ipa’s and stouts though. Belgians, wheats, and blondes seem to be kind of ignored here. All in all a good brewery for ipa’s and dark beers specifically but if you’re looking for something lighter in a quicker time I’d go somewhere else.

Portland has lots of pubs, but Laurelwood stands out.
The staff is friendly and attentive. They are very accommodating to large groups.
We have 7 in the family, so we are always a crowd. We have had some irate hostesses when we arrive without reservations. Never an issue here!
Nice menu with some rather delicious upgraded options. Salads that will rival any fancy restaurant.
Plus taking our celiac kids was amazingly without drama. Gluten free bread made any choice work!
A suggestion to diners, nachos! Best in town!

Shortly after leaving this review, the owner reached out to me which I very much appreciated. When I filled her in with the details, she apologized and offered to send us coupons so we could try again. That’s not why I left the review, but I appreciated the offer. That was several weeks ago, and, no coupons and no more contact. The follow-​through has been disappointing. We weren’t loud, or rude, or demanding.
To start with, this was a very special night for us and we were really hoping for an excellent experience. We had heard wonderful things and were very excited.
My garlic burger was excellent! One of the best I have ever had! My wife loved her fish tacos, and everyone at the table thought the beer was fantastic.
However, I have to say the service was below par to put it mildly. There were no refills of any kind and when one of our party finally got up and went to find the waiter, he apologized, took our orders and then never came back. Afterwards, when I checked the bill I realized he had charged us for an extra beer… Probably the one he didn’t bother bringing us.
When I scroll through these reviews, I seem to see the same issues come up over and over again. Good food, mediocre to miserable service.
If you know it’s a problem, why don’t you go ahead and fix it?

The only other experience I have with Laurelwood is grabbing a beer at the location at PDX before my Horizon Airlines flight out of Terminal A. We met with our potential wedding photographer yesterday (Sunday) to discuss wedding details. I was STARVING, so I was glad the brunch menu looked so delicious. She had her 6-​year-​old daughter with her so we sat near one of the kids play areas and I thought it was pretty ingenious of them to have those so adults can talk and the kids can play. We were able to discuss all our plans without interruption. I ordered the Laurelwood Bowl, which was pretty darn delicious. Adding avocado to the top made it that much better. The Sig-​O had the pancake breakfast and completely cleaned his plate. It was a little early for a brew, so I didn’t get to try any of those, but it was a tasty breakfast!

The closest non-​divey bar/​pub near my place (Not that I’m knockin’ dives– they are often necessary and fun).
The beer here is good, love the roof deck in the summer. The food however is really bad in my opinion. I’ve discussed this with several confidants and to a person they agree.
It tastes cheap and seems to lack quality. I wish I could be more specific but can’t. The appetizers are okay, but it’s kind of hard to screw those up. On two separate visits I’ve had a burger and the fish tacos. Not good, not good at all.
As I’m a lazy chump at times I’ll probably go there again as I don’t like to drink and drive and it’s fun sitting on the roof. No entrees for this guy though

When my partner spoke of his fond memories of this place, I wondered why it only had 3 stars…
After a few short minutes, it became quite apparent. One immediate observation: the wait staff lacked training. When I asked about the soup of the day, instead of admitting her lack of knowledge and asking for help, the waitress simply said there wasn’t one. When I looked over and noticed a daily soup written on the chalk board, my partner asked about it again at which point the waitress asked where we had seen it listed, then apologized and entered the order into her electronic pad. The entire visit seemed to flow in a similar disjointed fashion. The waitress finally admitted it was her first day, but only after multiple mishaps and failed communications.
The food was also lack luster. When the red pepper soup du jour arrived, it was so overly salty I could barely eat it. My 6 year old used a few spoonfuls over her tasteless and runny Mac and cheese; someone else at the table dipped one of the leftover «pretzel sticks» into it in hopes of dulling out the mouth numbing salt. No luck.
The happy hour burger was super thin, lacked flavor, and was cooked completely through (although it still managed to drip grease all over the plate). Neither the fish taco nor the fish and chips were anything to write home about. Overall the service was 3 stars and the food was 2.5. Sadly, although it is in my neighborhood I am not likely to return.

The best place to bring your kiddos and have a beer.
The location has SEVERAL play area for the kids to hang out in. The food was great and the wait staff was totally on it. My kid dropped something and they immediately scooped it up and replaced it with a new and clean item.
After the meal, mom and dad pulled up to the edge of the play area and were able to have another round while our 1 year old giggled away. It was such a relaxing meal out, highly recommend.
Loved the BBQ Pork Mac and Cheese

I’ve been here a few times and can honestly say I haven’t had any reason to knock off any stars. Admittedly, our experiences here are limited to sitting at the bar and in the upstairs outdoor patio, but both have been consistently great experiences.
Laurelwood’s selection of beers never disappoints. I often order the Laurelwood Red at other bars where it’s available, but there tends to be a new brew to try every month or so at Laurelwood itself, which is really nice. I have yet to come here without ordering the pretzel sticks — these are some of my favorite soft pretzels, people! Laurelwood also makes and sells its own mustards, and I am a huuuuuge mustard fan, so the combination is divine. The salads and sandwiches are also really good. Give this place a try, and if you’re sans kids, give the bar a shot for sure.

With so many negative reviews about the food, you would think they’d make a change.
My experience was a bad one. My husband loves the tree hugger Porter so I agreed to come for dinner. The food is gross.
My southwest chicken wrap had gobs of overlooked (mushy) shredded chicken and a hard tortilla. The fries were great though but not worth adding another star.
I should have known not to order desert but our server sold me on their «in house made pastries by their exclusive pastry chef». What a crock of crap. She must come in once a month and make the stuff. I was brought out a huge piece of hard/​stale cake. It was disgusting. It’s hard to mess up cake but they really screwed that up.
This place is good for beer — that’s about it.

UPDATE: The Laurelwood team was quick to address my concerns, and were kind and professional the whole time. I had heard great things about this place and am willing to believe them when they say that night was not the norm.
Pros: really good beer, local and organic, helps support local charities with brews like the Prevale IPA. Great condiments like the Workhorse IPA Chipotle & Apricot Mustard.
Cons: the hostess seemed a little unsure of what was going on, and our waitress was a little snooty and seemed uninterested in us. Took a couple times to get our drink order, another couple times for her to take our plates.
As for the food, it’s mediocre even for happy hour bar fare. We ordered the fish tacos and the salmon cakes. The fish was so fried I couldn’t tell it was fish anymore, so I gave the second taco to my boyfriend, who will eat almost anything happily. I tried to eat his second salmon cake, and couldn’t finish it because it was nothing but bread crumbs. At least it was cooked crisply, but I guess that’s not hard to do when your first ingredient is bread instead of salmon. As someone who mostly eats fish and lives in the Pacific Northwest, I expected more, even from brewpub.
Their ads for their specials and the rest of their menu looked good, but my appetite had already been ruined, so I didn’t try anymore of their food or beer this trip. Not only that, when we were leaving the building 3 people were at the front desk chatting with each other and not a single person thanked us for coming in until I sarcastically said «thank you!» and walked out completely disenchanted.
I hope next time is better, although at this point that wouldn’t take much.

Dog friendly patio and quality craft beers make this a spot worth stopping at. Plus the servers are super friendly. Beer prices aren’t anything to write to bargain Betty about but they do have the infamous Workhorse IPA. I probably shouldn’t (especially living in PDX) admit this but IPAs aren’t my favorite type of beer lol I have had some IPAs that I’ve enjoyed because they were less hoppy but if it’s super hoppy I’m not a fan. The Workhorse IPA is a little on the hoppy side and tap dances on the line of being too hoppy for me but it was nice. It had a very strong after taste. I like that it’s pretty close to our place so it’s only a two minute bike ride away.

Laurelwood is kind of like a Portland-​based Red Robin: there are burgers, a brewery, t-​shirts for sale, and lots of families.
We came here for dinner and found it to be «just fine.» I’m sure the roasted garlic burger I enjoyed is just fancy enough to impress my mom, whereas the enormous turkey club sandwich my husband ordered falls within the realm of my dad’s safety zones — what I’m saying is that this is probably a good place to bring out-​of-​town relatives who are not interested in Portland’s hoity-​toity cuisine, but who want an ‘authentic Portland brewery /​dining experience.‘
They have happy hour every day from 3 – 6, and from 9 pm — close — good to know if you live in the neighborhood, as there are some pretty good eats on the HH menu.
I was a little bit disappointed in my pumpkin ale — the current seasonal on tap. The nutmeg or something was overpoweringly bitter, but typically I think of Laurelwood beers as being just fine — definitely a spot to keep in mind if you need to fill up a growler!

We had a dinner at Cabezon across the street, and thank goodness our table wasn’t ready yet because we crossed the street to grab a beer.
Mother Loge Golden Ale
The bartender was super helpful. The best recommendation is to not get the flight because he would let you sample any of the draft beers for free! I loved the Mother. I really really liked it. I even asked him if they send kegs to Los Angeles. They’re a local brewery.
Nice place to grab a beer, especially if you’re going to grab dinner at Cabezon.

Minutes after my plane landed in Portland and I stepped foot on West Coast soil for the first time in my life, I walked into Laurelwood with the friend that I was visiting for the weekend.
«Soooo would you like to sit in the kiddy section or near the bar?» asked the host when we walked in and asked if they were still serving food. I had not eaten a meal since the bagel I consumed several hours before on the plane.
«Wait. are you being serious right now?» I replied. (Because, apparently, they DO have a kiddy play section.)
The guy, who was very likely no more than a year or two older than me at most, laughed to himself and brought us to a table near the bar. Bad joke, guy. Do not repeat.
Fortunately, our experience improved after that.
We were given menus and despite my crazy level of tired, I went for a flight. Since it was after 9 p.m., it was also Late Night Happy Hour, so I ordered a pretty good cheeseburger for cheap too. My friend ordered pretzels. They came out quite burnt, but she asked them to be re-​made and when they were quickly brought back, she said they were tasty.
I enjoyed the beers in my flight, especially the Moose & Squirrel Stout, Space Stout and Tree Hugger Porter. Their Mother Lode Golden Ale was also pretty good. I already knew that I liked the Workhorse IPA since I’ve had it before. So glad it’s available over here in Philly!
I’d say Laurelwood is worth checking out if you’re in Portland and looking to try some good brews. Not too far from the airport either!