blue star brewing company restaurant & bar

great beer, fish and chips, and chicken salad. skimped a little in the chicken but thebeermade up for it :)

if we could give more then 5 stars we would. from ct. for work but wanted to visit a localbeerplace. tried all but the barley wine(there are some things i just won't do) and not dissapointed. our server gina was spectacular, alot of information and even a warning before the last sour beer. good call kid, drank it anyway. food was awesome, nachos, best we have ever had. top to bottom this will be a place we visit again if and when we return. awesome service, awesome food, awesome beer.

failed to meet expectations.. i have visited blue star brewing a number of times when i have been in san antonio on business. as someone that was raised on cask conditioned ale i want to support what blue star are trying to do here in the usa. i do understand that there is a very limited amount of knowledge and experience available and always try hard to lower my expectations accordingly. however it seems that no matter how low my expectations are when i enter the establishment they always seem to find ways to fail to meet them.

tonight the cask offering was a mediocre oatmeal stout served from an angrambeerengine that looked as though it had not been cleaned in decades. ( well kept angram engines gleam like burnished gold.) while sampling the stout i became aware that the same was probably true of thebeerlines.

i would love dearly to find that some part of the experience had improved since my last visit but sadly the reverse seemed to be true. the food was once blue stars redeeming quality but sadly even that was a disappointment tonight.

i am sure that the folks responsible for the business will never read this unfortunately.

blue star desperately needs a brewmaster and a cellarmaster.

i hope that blue star is a profitable business venture because it had no place in the quest for brewing excellence.

sub par. the food was mid level. girlfriend had the chicken fried chicken sandwich. the bread for the sandwich was so crusty it consistently was stabbing the roofs of our mouth. my chicken sandwich was nothing to rave about. service lacked tremendously. think he was a bartender that was trying to be a server. not mindful of his one table, it seemed, at all. of course thebeeris good but what once was a good choice for lunch is vastly becoming just a upscale watering hole.

4/14/14

went for sunday brunch where most items contain pork belly only to find out they were out of belly. they won't let you change how you want your eggs cooked. items on the blackboard aren't available and seems like they haven't been for awhile. bottom line, ok for a limited menu.beerselection - fair

could be san antonois best hang-out. "dont sweat the petty stuff, and dont pet the sweaty stuff." this need's to become blue stars new mantra! this place has so much going for it, in spite of their efforts to screw it up. yes, i'm talking about the service. i think they want to be a good place, but just dont know how. they are so wrapped up in the minutia of operating the place (worrying over the computer, trying to wrap silverware, cleaning up behind the bar, etc.) they've forgotten how to just focus on their customers and bring out some good food, which i really feel they have the ability to do.
because when the food is executed well, its some really good stuff. my last stop i ordered shrimp & grits (brunch special). one of my absolute favorites!!! the only way to really mess this dish up is to serve it cold. guess what? mine came out cold. because the bartender (i ate at the bar...) was so busy taking care of all the little things that needs to happen behind the bar (tickets, cleaning glasses, etc.) she just plain forgot to check on my food. i sent it back, the chef came out and apologized and said he'd take care of it himself, which he did, and it was excellent. this is the right way to handle a small problem like this - so points earned here. every bit as good as the version i make at home (okay, maybe a little better ;-)
the menu rocks - i've had lunch here a couple of times as well, but same thing - good food selection, just poor execution. and thebeerreally is some of the best in the city. i'd almost put their dopplebock at the top of my list of favorite beers. and they really need to learn to create some dishes utilizing this amazing beer.
location and atmosphere is right on for san antonio. you can ride your bike here, or walk here off the riverwalk, there's plenty of parking, some cool outside seating - nice inside room for watching the games on the big screens - its all here, a place almost anyone would really like to hang out at - they just gotta get their stuff together.
but please hear me out on this - regardless of my review (and a couple of others here) i really think the positives of this place outweigh the negative, so its worth going and seeing for yourself if its a place you'd like to hang out in too.

decent little brewery. we joined some friends for dinner here early saturday. it was our second time here.
highlights - the beer. seasonal winter abbeybeerwas nice and smooth, a little too smooth for my tastes but a favorite with everyone else. king william was my favorite - slightly hoppy with a nice finish. and the stout - i'm not a stout drinker, but this one was creamy, rich, and smooth; i'm guessing guiness drinkers won't like it but we loved it.
the so-so - the food. nothing wrong with it, just nothing outstanding. decent price for a good burger. the ladies said the macaroni and cheese was excellent.
the cons - hmmmm... i guess it was crowded until the bus to the spurs game left.beerwas a little pricey.

definitely worth a third (or further) visit when we're nearby.

much better experience. thank you. it'd been a few months since we came down to blue star due to a lackluster service experience. we went on slow afternoon that was slow. although at a brewery we forewent thebeeron this day although we did see a couple we want to try on a future visit. the value at lunch and brunch looks great. we just missed it. i settled on a turkey avocado blt witha side of vegetables. the vegetables were cooked perfectly and the sandwich was fresh, well made, and full of flavor. my girlfriend and stepson enjoyed the chicken nachos and since they are individually topped all of them had great flavor. our dessert was the winner here. homemade chocolate cake and homemade gelato ice cream. a wonderful finish. service is still not top notch, but efficient enough.


-----02 may, 2011-----

service quality going down. it's been awhile since i visited blue star and i must say the service has taken a dive. the food is sub par and they were out of some brew selections which made for a very limited drink menu. it will be awhile before i return again. perhaps until i see a handful of recent good reviews.

great beer. i love going to breweries.... i like the atmosphere of blue star, and when it is not 100 degrees it's nice to sit outside. went this past sunday and it was not great. i got the chicken and artichoke pizza and it was overcooked. then i got the coconut cream pie for desert. it was creamy, but did not have a strong coconut flavor. on the other hand, thebeerwas cold and delicious. that can usually make up for a lot. i will be back again, hopefully the food will be as good as the beer.

good then bad. in the past it's been a great place to eat and thebeeris always exceptional. today we went and there were flies everywhere - they said it was the beer, but it looked like it was the rotten vegetables in the window near the register. the burgers were overcooked and the buns were burnt to black. the $8 buffalo chicken strips were just frozen chicken strips with some hot sauce dripped over them.

they should really re-evaluate what they're doing. i want my city micro-brew to stay alive!

surprised. my wife and i were really surprised with the quality of food, and thebeerwas icing on the cake. good service, too. sit at the bar and take a load off. do it.

food sucks but thebeerwas great. not cheap.

go for thebeeronly.. thebeerwas great even if they only had 3 choices that day. the food on the otherhand was really not good. the hatch chili burger had one small piece of roasted chili,a 1/4 inch thin patty that was premade frozen type. the sweet potato fries also looked and tasted frozen.my son had the chicken strips that looked and tasted homemade, were bland but that's good for a 7yr. old palate. i think our waiter was new or just clueless. we were sitting by the drink station and all the waiters were scooping out the ice with the customer glass instead of an ice scoop,gross.

yummy unique chips! try thebeerflight - these handcrafted brews are especially delicious. the desserts are all homemade. very very friendly service.