dogfish head brewings & eats

puzzled by reviews. i have tried this restaurant several times in the off season over the last year and i continue to be puzzled by the reviews others give dogfish. each time i have visited i have found both the service and the quality of the food to be lacking...and i don't think my standards are especially high. i wish someone could tell me what i'm missing.

nice place to relax. love going there and enjoying great beer, great food and good atmosphere.

been eating @ dogfish many times over the last 5 years of living locally. food was good 3 years ago, but has gone down hill since. beers are always interesting, but have taken on a fruity, flowery flair, which is not my favorites by far. i still enjoy their 90 minute, when they have a good batch (2011's wasn't near a winner). now that sam owns the finbar location next door, i wonder what he has in mind for the space. . .another or expanded restaurant? better do some serious kitchen chief searching!!
>>pj--[just a local customer.]

love the beer but hey they have it in bottles which is the only way i'll enjoy the beer, the staff were rude and uninterested in any customer at the bar...we tried asking a question to be dismissed like we were a nuisance , will pass next time we're in the area, much better places to go to.

worth visiting for the beer, especially the pub exclusives which can't be found anywhere else. decent pub food. the fried pickles and falafel are both worth a try. service could be improved. bar service is a little slow, but can be overlooked due to how busy it can be. over lunch my waitress dropped crackers on the floor and still placed them on the table. she also sat down a multi-beer sampler without bothering to mention which beer was which. not things that would keep me from coming back, but i would expect better.

mixed review. we have been to this location twice. last year food and service were amazing...this year...the exact opposite. the wait was 15 minutes longer than we were quoted. we then waited for drinks and waited longer for our food. my fish and chips were so bad i would have sent them back if our waitress was anywhere to be found. the fries were cold - the fish room temperature and barely cooked and flavorless. no one refilled our beverages or asked if we needed anything. the only time we saw our waitress was to receive a bill. i hope this was just a fluke and not the way this restaurant is going to go

great experience!!. food was great. the sliders were really small, but good. the short rib sloppy joe was very good. the hummus was really good as well. we also got the beer and spirit flights. i would highly recommend getting a chaser for the spirit flights, as they liquor is very strong. i really enjoyed the experience.

restaurant week 2013. restaurant week is, in theory, a chance for restaurants to bring in customers to try what the place has (at a bargain price) and, hopefully, get them to return again, and often. dogfish blew it last night. my pork confit sandwich tasted burnt. my partner's app, a big bowl of chowder, arrived on the cold side... and my app, chicken wings, didn't arrive for another twelve minutes, by which time the partner had already finished his first course. and the wings were cold! our server, who should have known something was going wrong, could have come over earlier with either an explanation or an apology, which would have smoothed the ruffled feathers, but was clueless and disinterested when i pointed out the timing problem. this was followed by another overly long wait between when i finished the wings (which were mediocre) and the arrival of our entrees (so my partner had a double wait after his chowder). the joint was only half-filled, the kitchen shouldn't have been that badly in the weeds! clearly, there are training issues with both the front and back of the house that need to be addressed. if sam calagione thinks this is the way to promote his name and his beers, he is mistaken. we will be walking right on by... often.

my wife started with the lobster perogi. they were mostly pastry shell with a couple of miniscule flecks of lobster. i had the crab and corn chowder which arrived 5 minutes before my wife's perogi. we both had the irreistable burgers. asked for medium well and they arrived rare. they got sent back. maybe tourist season has already started. we will give this place a miss for the next 6 months. the manager did come over and listened and took all of the food in question off the bill. it's a shame as we have have very good food and service here before, but it was off season.


-----21 jan, 2013-----

food is fine. would eat here again. stopped in at 2:30 on a monday and the place was almost packed. starter and dessert portions are enough for 2 people. our waitress was a little inattentive, but we will go back and would recommend.

great opportunity to try some far out brews. this is a great place to try something different. i love sampling the newest beers they are fielding at the brew pub. make sure to go tour the brewery as well. they are strongly associated with the local farms, check out the ingredients board on the back wall. the braised items are great. they rotate specials quite often.

“is it local?” yes. it’s local. this brew paired amazingly with the heartier menu items, like the ribs, which my husband devoured and the indulgence burger, piled with a beer battered onion ring, cheddar, and house made bacon, which my brother demolished. to quote my brother matt, “tonight, we eat like vikings.”

great food, brews, & atmosphere!. let me start off by saying that this restaurant is awesome!
my friends and i were vacationing in rehoboth around easter last year and decided to make a stop at the "famous" dogfish head brew pub. with the great beer and a rockin' band, we ended up staying for over 7 hours. yes, you read right...7 hours!! the service was phenomenal-she kept the drinks coming and didn't pressure us to order food or more beer. we ended up ordering appetizers as the night went on (along with many pints and martinis with their house-made vodka...yum!). the apps were good and the butternut squash soup was great. i can't comment for my friends but they seemed pretty happy with their burgers and pizzas as well.
overall that night was a great success and one that will live on as one of the best nights ever! we are planning a trip back this year. can't wait!!

good beer. food not so good. i have gone there for over 10 years and the food has gone down hill. brewpub seems to be coasting on its reputation.

butternut squash soup, fantastic! chickory stout bacon chocolate cheese cake yes you read it right, really good! large portion plenty big for two. this is a yearly stop, looking forward to next year already !

the food was very tasty. i went with the short rib which was cooked perfectly in a spicy rich beer based broth. my wife did the fish tacos which also had a nice flavor profile and a little spice kick. we finished off the meal with chocolate bacon cheesecake. cheesecake is not my favorite dessert but with the combination of beer, chocolate, and bacon it was delicious. oh by the way, the beer is really good too.