Old Black Bear Brewing Athens

"Made our 3rd visit for beer and dinner last Friday and arrived at 5:20. Got on the waiting list for dinner and was told it would be 45-60 minutes. We sat in the bar area, ordered beer, and 90 minutes later still hadn't received a text to be seated. When we checked with the hostess she said we weren't on the list - even though we received a text at 5:20 confirming we were on the list. She proceeded to make excuses and then decided to go ahead and seat us for dinner. Our waitress for very nice but obviously exhausted from a very busy dinner crowd. Unfortunately for us, the dinner wasn't worth the wait. The shrimp tacos were cold and the salmon burger was a mess. Clearly, they don't have an expeditor in the kitchen to coordinate the timing on food orders. Our first visit for dinner, a few weeks after they opened, was a good experience but I'm afraid we won't be back until we hear whether or not they're going to take the restaurant side of their business more seriously. They need more server and kitchen staff for sure; they need more focus on wait times and the customer experience too. It's a great atmosphere and the bar/lounge area is really nice - just needs some concerted focus on the restaurant side."

"The waiter was very good but that's all I can say was satisfactory. Food was not very good and extremely over priced. We don't use alchohol so being placed by the bar was awkward especially during giving blessings before the meal. Loud and unnerving. Not family friendly and I would not recommend or revisit. As to your response, I appreciate your business coming to Athens. We need more businesses and restaurants here to enjoy. However, I rated my overall experience at your establishment and stand firm on the rating of one star. I wish you luck on your endeavor."

"Love this brewery and restaurant. The space is huge. Cool sofas to hang out on while waiting for a table. Or sit at the bar.... it's quite large. Today I had the special. Chicken and wild rice soup and a grilled bacon pepper jack cheese sandwich. Delicious. And the margarita was good, too."

"We took my parents here for their 45th anniversary dinner. I'm SO happy Athens has a quality restaurant like this. Everything was amazing! We went about 5:30 on a Saturday night. The wait for a table was only 20-25 minutes. Atmosphere was great. favorite appetizer was the fried green tomatoes. The loaded nachos were good, too. I had the Uptown Tacos, and they were out of this world! Everyone loved their food and drinks."

"If you like the madison spot you will love the Athens one. Nicer inside, better bathrooms, bigger bar, close to the square, and a nice outside seating space. Oh yeah...and delicious food and beer"