fort george pub and brewery

the upstairs downstairs split between the pub and restaurant is a little confusing at first, but thebeerselection and food is great. ended up getting the burger and fish tacos. the burger was too well done for my taste, but the fresh bun made up for that. my suggestion is if it seems busy downstairs, head on upstairs and try the non pub menu.

greatbeerand an amazing fresh brewed ginger ale for those who don't want to imbibe. they have organic salads, house made sausage, hand cut fries, great burgers and a giod kids menu. definitely worth stopping!

we only went to try theirbeerwhich was fantastic. they serve their pints in mason jars which was a cute touch. thebeerchoice was large with changing seasonal brews also. i highly recommend the quick wit which was a cloudybeerwith fresh citrus and coriander flavors

fellow diner:

what follows is the entire email correspondence between me and management regarding my experience one week ago -

"from: jeffrey mcmorrow
sent: thursday, march 25, 2021 4:03 pm
to: zack o'connor
cc: erin@fortgeorgebrewery.com
subject: i am satisfied our server did their job correctly.

mr. o’connor,

thank you for your reply. my friendly invitation to lunch was anything but routine to me, and our discussion would touch on many more topics including my love of fine dining and possible investment opportunities. i’ll wager that capital isn’t as readily available as it was before the pandemic, and i am a private lender and mortgagee.

for the record, i asked, “are you cutting me off?” in response to jen requesting a non-itemized amount from me and then asked to review the bill. when she did bring a bill, i specifically asked, “are you cutting me off?” again to be certain that service of every kind was being denied. your alleging that i “didn’t order anything further” is ludicrous in the face of what was basically a constructive ejection. why not call a spade a spade, zack?

your declining my invitation is regrettable, but your conclusion that jen “did (her) job correctly” insinuates that i presented some sort of imminent threat to everyone and everything, including your license, despite no specifics provided by her and you. finally, your comments and conclusion reveal a callous corporate culture at variance with, as i have already suggested, what is implied in the term, “hospitality industry.” may i suggest that you refer this matter to mr. nemlowill or ms. moore since one or both of them might see a benefit in meeting with me. if so, they may contact me directly.

good day, sir.

jeffrey paul mcmorrow, j.d.
307 18thst. ne
long beach, wa
98631-2615
(360) 232-4059 phone
(360)642-1363 fax
lbjeff@outlook.com


from: zack o'connor
sent: thursday, march 25, 2021 3:16 pm
to: jeffrey mcmorrow
subject: re: zackery, let jeffrey paul mcmorrow know you're coming tomorrow

hi jeffrey,

thank you for the invitation, but i will not be joining you tomorrow. we consider cutting people off to be a routine, essential tool used to protect the safety of all our guests, staff, the general public, and our liquor license. i am satisfied our server did their job correctly.

there is nothing to be gained by picking at this one incident, and we are not interested in discussing this further.

sincerely,

zack


on thu, mar 25, 2021 at 9:34 am jeffrey mcmorrow wrote:

zack:

since open table asks me, i ask you.

good day,

jeffrey


from: jeffrey mcmorrow
sent: monday, march 22, 2021 7:23 pm
to: zack o'connor
subject: “what if, instead of asking, 'who isn’t at the table and whose fault is that?' we ask, 'what might we accomplish if more people were at the table?'

zack,

that is the best advice there is for a phr and anyone else who might remember the equally sage advice, "the customer is always right." with goodwill, businesses thrive while many others fail. i saw it apply equally to the practice of law.

i stepped out for a little more than an hour this afternoon and may have missed your call. it was wrong of me to request that you call when a matter such as ours deserves a friendly face-to-face meeting between two irishmen with my picking up the tab. therefore, i took the trouble of making a reservation at your restaurant for you and me for 1 pm this friday. see below. if you would prefer a different time, day or location in astoria, then please respond with that and i'll make the change and see you there.

thank you in advance for providing the opportunity to discuss this matter at length.

jeffrey paul mcmorrow, j.d.
307 18thst. ne
long beach, wa
98631-2615
(360) 232-4059 phone
(360)642-1363 fax
lbjeff@outlook.com


from: jeffrey mcmorrow
sent: monday, march 22, 2021 1:28 pm
to: zack o'connor
subject: oregon law enforcement training experts and olcc enforcement agents advocate this or similar deescalation tactics

zack,

perhaps, but you forget that you are in the "hospitality business" and not running the county jail or quelling the riots on the streets of portland. when i was a server back in 1984, my goal was to provide a pleasing dining experience that would ensure a return visit as well as a handsome gratuity. problem clients were handled by management who ostensibly had superior training to better handle a delicate situation.

i called to speak to you right before this reply, left you a message and believe there is much more to discuss after reading your reply. call me now, please.

thank you,

jeffrey paul mcmorrow, j.d.
307 18thst. ne
long beach, wa
98631-2615
(360) 232-4059 phone
360)642-1363 fax
lbjeff@outlook.com


from: zack o'connor
sent: monday, march 22, 2021 1:09 pm
to: jeffrey mcmorrow
subject: re: we appreciate your patronage, but we hope you understand that the oregon liquor control commission allows us no latitude on this.

jeffrey,
by your own account you were not ejected from the premises, you were cut off from alcohol service, at which point your check was dropped and you didn't order anything further. oregon law enforcement training experts and olcc enforcement agents advocate this or similar deescalation tactics to servers when they are put in the challenging and sometimes dangerous situation of having to stop alcohol service to a visibly intoxicated person. moreover, we're not required to upsell food or n/a beverage when stopping alcohol service. upselling menu items is never something we will prioritize over the safety of our patrons and our staff, which is the primary concern whenever stopping alcohol service is involved.
sincerely,

--
zackery o'connor, phr
senior vice president
pub. 503-325-pint
1483 duane street
astoria oregon 97103

“what if, instead of asking, 'who isn’t at the table and whose fault is that?' we ask, 'what might we accomplish if more people were at the table?' you start to see the potential. a broader talent pool with new perspectives; new chances to collaborate in the kettle, in the taproom, and in the community; new markets and increased revenues; deeper and more authentic community engagement; alignment of business practices and professional ethics; visibility for overlooked colleagues in the industry; a general broadening of our assumptions about craft beer, the people who make it, the people who enjoy drinking it, and the list goes on and on.”
-dr. j. nikol jackson-beckham


on mon, mar 22, 2021 at 11:05 am jeffrey mcmorrow wrote:
mr. o’connor,

i’m grateful to receive a reply but am disappointed that it belabored the point i was not disputing. specifically, your reply doesn’t explain her cutting me off from service of food and non-alcoholic beverages. please include in your next reply why she handed me a bill without offering me other menu choices. i’m also in dispute with open table about the 100 points i should have earned from this unhappy visit and appreciate your being helpful to me in resolving it. the correspondence from its facebook page appears below.

thank you for your anticipated cooperation,

jeffrey paul mcmorrow, j.d.
307 18thst. ne
long beach, wa
98631-2615
(360) 232-4059 phone
(360)642-1363 fax
lbjeff@outlook.com


from: zack o'connor
sent: monday, march 22, 2021 10:51 am
to: jeffrey mcmorrow
subject: fwd: my dine-in experience today at fort george brewery

hi jeffrey,

thank you for reaching out. i've reviewed our incident log, as well as spoken with our employee who stopped alcohol service. the regulating state agency that oversees the legal sale and service of alcohol in any licenced, on-premise eating and drinking establishment in oregon is pretty straightforward on both the obligations and the liability for not only the establishment itself but for the server as well. if a patron displays one or several visible signs of intoxication, we must make a good faith effort to stop alcohol service and/or pull their beverage. we follow the letter of these requirements consistently, we require our staff to do the same, and we support them when they make this difficult call to stop service to a patron upon observation of one or several of these signs.

we appreciate your patronage, but we hope you understand that the oregon liquor control commission allows us no latitude on this.

sincerely,

zackery o'connor, phr
senior vice president
pub. 503-325-pint
1483 duane street
astoria oregon 97103

from: jeffrey mcmorrow
sent: friday, march 19, 2021 11:10 pm
to: beer@fortgeorgebrewery.com ; fortgeorgesquare@gmail.com
subject: my dine-in experience today at fort george brewery

sir or madam,

i am a huge fan of ft. george brewery for several reasons. thebeeris very good, but thebeerisn’t why i set foot onto the premises. i can buy at walmart or from a store on the long beach peninsula for much less. there are many brewpubs in the lower columbia-pacific region serving fine beer, but not even the best restaurants serving just pizza come close to equaling ft. george’s quality pizza crust. your caesar salad is also superior, and your coffee and carrot cake are the perfect “icing on the cake.” i order all of these in that order, and that is why i attempted making a reservation for 3:15 today after my medical appointment so i could eat and wait for my bus leaving at 5:20.

i stood at the bar and ordered a pint of the meadow, but that server didn’t take my pizza order for some reason.

i waited, and then asked the male bartender for a pepperoni pizza. as he took the order, another female walked up to do the same; good.

following my first pint, my server asked if i wanted another, so i ordered a number one take 3. it’s quite hoppy for a pale ale. i used the rest room around this time and was surprised that the restrooms were unisexual on this visit. i returned and mentioned this to my server and my surprise that others had to wait outside when there were several toilets per room unused that way. she clarified that fr. george was maintaining social distancing even in the restrooms. it seemed logical to me, and that was the extent of our conversation.

the pepperoni pizza was delicious and so very much better than the last time i visited and had to eat outside in the cold rain. i practically inhaled the thing. when my glass was empty, my server asked if i wanted another, so i ordered a pint of smiling eyes. i visited the restroom to wash up. i returned and took my time savoring this quality stout.

when i finished it, my server came, removed the glass and requested $37.50. i asked, “are you cutting me off?” she said, “yes.” taken aback, i asked to see the bill since no copy was provided. she printed the one attached. i asked, “and you’re cutting me off” she again said, “yes.” i didn’t argue with her, paid the bill and departed.

perhaps you can explain why i was ejected from your restaurant today in this manner. if your server would no longer serve me alcohol, then she should have stated that in so many words. since i ordered a pizza, it was quite probable that i might order something else. why did your server insist on cutting me off from ordering anything else? are your servers not trained to upsell to the greatest extent possible to make money for ft. george? instead, i was sent packing out into the rain where i had to find shelter until my bus arrived and departed.

i really don’t understand the meaning of this treatment from an establishment i rave about and share with others. three beers is nothing when one my size consumes an entire small pizza with them, and i’m not aware of anything i did to warrant ejection without the option of ordering other food items. if you can provide the specific reason, then please share it with me in your reply.

thank you,

jeffrey paul mcmorrow, j.d.
307 18thst. ne
long beach, wa
98631-2615
(360) 232-4059 phone
(360)642-1363 fax
lbjeff@outlook.com"

since the management at fort george brewery and public house shrugged off my complaint about the way i was treated that afternoon, i complained to the better business bureau, the oregon state attorney general, the oregon liquor licensing commission and the small business administration. i was a repeat customer, but may i strongly recommend that, instead of being treated like dirt at this establishment, that you take your business to one who will appreciate it!

food is great, ambience was awesome. really good burgers!!! we enjoyed our meal and bev's. we came for thebeerman! and who can say no to good craft beer!

the food and craftbeerwere great. kid-friendly, relaxed atmosphere, & friendly staff. we sat on the patio on a hot day, be warned: the outdoor seating has zero shade, we all got sun burned and pretty much couldn't wait to leave by the time we finished our meal. we went on a monday at 2pm and the wait time was still 35 minutes to get a table. with some shade and a shorter wait i would have given them a 5.

very excited -- astoria's growing reputation as a craft brewing center is well deserved. had abeer(the scotch ale) and that was a good start. friendly and hard working wait staff made for a good vibe.

then the food came.

tried the 'sausage sampler' and was quite disappointed. drying out one sausage might be excused, but all three? the wife's oyster po' boy was under saused as well. we both got fries that were so heavily salted/seasoned it made me think they were trying to sell more beer.

so, seriously mixed. i'd say give them another chance for lunch, but there are increasingly so many good choices in astoria, so why?

this is a gorgeous brewery with two levels. on the bottom floor you have burgers and upscale pub food, on the top floor brick oven pizza! the views from the top floor are stunning, the open kitchen is cool, and thebeeris delicious! we sat at a communal table and made friends with our table mats. i love communal tables. the building is rustic industrial with lots of wood and metal. the service was spot on and the pizza delicious. the only disappointment was they were out of the smoked salmon dip. this is very upscale pub food for a reasonable price. it is family friendly too. i love this place!

stumbled upon this place while driving through, and shared a burger (chicken bacon bleu melt) and some beer/cider. both were excellent, especially burger, and there were plenty ofbeerchoices for all tastes.
we ended up staying the night in astoria on a whim and went back that night for pizza upstairs and it was absolutely delicious. our waitress was on the ball and super helpful and gave us a ton of tips on things to see and do in the portland area as that's where we were headed.
i would recommend this place to anyone and would eat/drink here again in a heartbeat.

went there a couple years ago and had a marinated steak burrito that was excelent. next time i was back in astoria i was all primed for another and wandered up to fort george only to be told it was no longer on the menu. at the bartenders suggestion i tried the pork verde burrito....it was ok...but damn i wanted the steak. on the bright side i was in walking distance to my hotel so trying to drown my sorrow with goodbeerwas not a problem.

fort george's frankly okbeeris drastically let down by it's awful food. we ordered the sausage sampler (in which only one of the sausages was good (& we weren't given any info, so i can't tell which it was) the mustard was too strong to eat), i had the chili verde burrito which was just barely edible. the pork was dry, bland and encased in so much plain white rice, that it was a feat to taste it at all, the red salsa was so hot i couldn't taste any of the beers i had with my meal (i got a flight of 8 stout tasters). why a "green chili burrito" would have the world's hottest red salsa slathered all over it is beyond me, but then they added some chipotle mayo on top. bizarre. my wife and sister in law split the falafel sandwich which was fine the second time they brought it out (they brought the first one out with the appetizer and my burrito, which was annoying, as we had requested that they order the entrees after they brought the app, but that was too much to ask, i guess). the falafel were obviously bought in frozen, but they were at least tasty and the fries were ok. the beers were ok, but not amazing.

not all it is cracked up to.. thebeerwas pretty good but a little spendy for a pitcher.

the waitress implied i had had enough to drink. i can only assume was because when she came to our table, i was leaning over towards my wife to whisper something in her ear. not sure what that has to do with the price of tea in china. someone is automatically wasted if they are trying to say something to someone in private. whatever!

will not be back.

pizza upstairs, pub food downstairs, but thebeeris the same. we have meant to try fort george for years and finally did for lunch. we were thinking of their pub menu but learned they had pizza and calzone's upstairs. what we did not realize was nothing on the downstairs menu is served upstairs. we split a caesar salad, a bit overpriced for what we got but it was good, and a sausage calzone, which was very good. the view is better upstairs, but if you want burgers or pub food you need to eat downstairs. there is also outdoor seating downstairs. the fullbeermenu is available in both. our service was friendly and good.

this place has great potential. unfortunately, it falls pretty flat. prices are a little high, food is mediocre (that's being generous) and the service is baaaad.
a group of us went here on a saturday afternoon--seven of us, 30-somethings all, well dressed, polite. we waited for about 30 minutes for a table. no huge deal. they offered us a place upstairs, but they only offer a minimal menu in that dining room. also, i saw a few of the servers from up there. they looked very...unclean.... that was strange, but it's astoria, after all...
we all squeezed into a booth finally, after being told it was that or another 30 minute wait. they wouldn't allow us to put an extra chair at the end. but the booth was large, so while it was cozy, it wasn't too bad.
our server came over and was immediately unfriendly. she wasn't terribly good at hiding what she was thinking, and she was definitely put out by such a large party. we tried to make jokes and loosen her up, good naturedly, but politely. she wasn't having it. everyone ordered beers, my partner and i ordered thebeersamplers. she again seemed put out with this and told us it was "gonna take a while to put that together".
everyone else got their beers and we ordered food. eventually ourbeertasters arrived. the server perked up then and explained eachbeer(15 total) in good, useful detail. that was appreciated. the beers really ranged. some were amazing, some were really bad. i think i liked 4 or 5 enough to order again, the rest were flops for me. for me to like less than 1/3 of thebeerofferings is unusual...
when our food arrived, our server was very annoyed that a large appetizer plate was in the way, but we still weren't finished with it. she made some sharp comments about us moving it out of the way.
i had a chicken and blue cheese sandwich with chips and salsa. the sandwich was really good, a huge portion and pretty great overall. the chips were nothing special. the salsa was really thick and would have been amazing, but it was prohibitively spicy. and i really like spicy foods!
my partner ordered a cheeseburger. it was not good. not awful, but not good. she had the coleslaw with it and that was beyond disappointing. i'm not picky about coleslaw, but this was really funky tasting and everyone who had it with their meal thought it was gross. a couple people had fish and chips. they were disappointed as well.
we all just kept waiting for the place to improve. somehow. it never did.
i will say-- i was a server for years. i am very forgiving of a server's bad day. this went beyond that. i am also not a picky eater and it's pretty hard to disappoint me. but i was disappointed.

each and everybeerwas delicious, and there was a wide variety available. their beers are a little thicker and a little maltier than most, but that’s just how i like them. throw in an endearing public house and fish and chips made with fresh albacore tuna, and you’ve got me sold.