Hopworks Urban Brewery

We came here w/​a large group of 16 and it was one of the best large group experiences I have ever had. I initially called to make a reservation and the staff took my name and phone number down and said a manager would call back to confirm. The next day, Drew called and confirmed a reservation. They reserved the large rectangle table in the bar area that was perfect. The server was amazing… she clearly knew how to work large groups and never seemed to be frazzled and put out with the numerous requests and questions. She always had a smile on her face. The BEST part was she offered (we didn’t even need to ask) separate checks for everyone. Most people were in pairs but nevertheless, this made things so much easier and hassle free. Oh, and the food was great… something for everyone (even the pickiest eaters). I split the kale salad (delicious) and a burger and it was plenty of food. We also hit it at happy hour and that was nice too. I will definitely be coming back!

The upstairs «family area» is literally my living hell. We had 6 in our group & were banished to this area. I almost broke my foot (or neck) on a toy car left RIGHT AT THE TOP of the giant staircase. The waitress stepped right over it & didn’t even bother to kick it out of the way or warn anyone. Maybe she wanted to die too. The children’s play area seemed very poorly placed, and there were screaming & running kids everywhere. It felt more like Chucky Cheese than anything. I feel for the wait staff who have to work in that section, but it took us nearly THREE, yes three hours to get through the entire ordeal. We were barely checked on & when offered refills on our drinks when our food arrived, we didn’t actually receive them until we were WELL done with our food. No acknowledgment or apologies. The food was just «ok» and luke warm by the time we got it. We had to borrow napkins from another table. Maybe it was my mood during this nightmare, but it seems the food quality has gone way down, likely to compensate for mass quantity of people they are serving. I used to love this place when it first opened (we live only 2 blocks away), but the choice of overly accommodating families with children thing (over the comfort or sanity of paying adults) has completely ruined this place for me. I am scarred for life & now reflect on this experience as my own form of birth control.

Came with my family of five, and found several pleasant surprises. Kids portions were LARGE both for burgers and hot dogs (not to mention locally sourced and high-​quality, so less of the guilt I’m used to when ordering burgers at, say, McDonald’s). Less than $ 6 each including juice or milk (in our case, chocolate milk) and steak fries, so fairly close to a McDonalds value meal with a huge upgrade in quality.
Wait time was also pleasantly short. The kids play area skewed a little young for my kids (ages 8, 6, 3), though they all liked creating their own magnet-​gear systems. Still, the short wait time was nice. The kids menus also double as coloring/​activity sheets.
Wife and I split a burger and were satisfied with the portions. All told, around $ 30 before tip without drinks. For quality food, a short wait and a fun atmosphere, I can live with that.

A friend of mine has been here a handful of times and when we decided to grab a beer after work on a week night, she suggested this place. We were there at 6:30pm and there were people crowded at the front door holding beers, I thought this was going to be the line to sit down, but my friend walked passed them going to the left, straight into the bar area. The bar is open seating, even the tall tables with stools.
So so so many people. The place was packed. We grabbed one of the last tables open. Someone greeted us almost immediately and tried to take a drink order, but we were still taking our jackets off and trying to sit down, I ordered a lager and my friend had one of their Amber beers. After the girl left to grab our drinks, another gal walked up and asked to take our order. I couldn’t tell if they are trying to turn the tables quickly or it was really good service.
We ordered their pretzels to start. My friend and I aren’t huge mustard fans so we asked for double sides of cheese. When someone brought it out, he had another pretzel in his hand, but gave us the wrong one. It wasn’t a big deal, but when our waiter walked by she instantly saw (I don’t even know how) that we didn’t have two sides of cheese. Holy hawk eyes hah!
I ordered the bbq pulled pork sandwich with fries and my friend got the club with a side salad. When ordering I asked what the server thought and if she was a fan, she said it really needs a side of bbq sauce– very true in the end. It was pretty darn dry in my opinion. Big portions for sure though. Definitely enough food, which it should be– because of the pricing. A bit steep in my opinion. And I wouldn’t say it’s worth it, it’s pub food, nothing fancy. I did find a hair IN my sandwich was alarming and I definitely lost my appetite a bit when that happened. Yes, things happen, so I cut off that side of the sandwich and pick at the other half. Even if I was really hungry I wouldn’t have been able to eat the whole thing.
I’d just stick to their appetizers and their beers the next time I went. It left a good enough impression to go back. Great place for families or groups to meet up at. The place is very big! Huge bar area, two different dining rooms, one upstairs the other down. Our server who was a nice, short haired blonde girl, wish I got her name so I could give her kudos– was really really great. Always on top of things and very personable.
Great night at the brewery. Wish the prices were cheaper for dinner, it wasn’t anything really worth bragging about. Maybe I need to try something else? They had pizza too… so I’ll be back to try something else.

We got 15 kinds beer flights with pretzel.
Pretzel was warm and tasty with cheese/​mustard sauce.
We enjoyed 12 kinds of beer and ended up spending almost $ 50 to purchase beer to go.
Later, we realized their beer is more expensive than some other brewing pubs, but if you want to purchase their beer, it is $ 1 – 2 cheaper than safeway as you can find them at Safeway.
Our server was super nice and the vibe was cool.
I wish we had more room to try their food.

Pretty good place to grab food for a large group of people that might include children and college students.
The restaurant was super accommodating for our reservation of 30+ people that was booked a month early for a chapter dinner after attending a conference in the city. The table was set aside and ready for our group well before our reservation time at 7pm on Saturday night. Our group was slow to arrive, but the few that arrived first had to wait quite a while before drink orders were taken by the waiter.
My stomach was not in a place to swallow a whole meal, so I ordered three appetizers to share with my friends: Hopworks Famous Pretzels, Brewer’s Poutine, and Warrior Wings with Spicy Buffalo sauce. The pretzels were fantastic and easy to share. The poutine was fine but nothing sensational. The wings were tasty but could use more of a kick. Our table ordered a wide variety of items from the menu. The portions were generous and the offerings were varied, so everyone found something they wanted. The service was lacking but that tends to happen with large groups.
The food was good but the beer offering was even better. Get the flight sampler to share with friends and chat with the waiter for a bit to determine what your preferences are for beer.

Every time I’ve been here I’ve had great service, but I sat down at the bar, and it took 10 minutes for someone to at least as knowledge I was there.
Once I finally got my beer, it was around 15 minutes before someone checked back to see if I wanted food.
Maybe it was just an off night, but it was pretty disappointing.

Out of all of the breweries I visited on my trip to Portland, Hopworks stands at the top of the list. The inside of the restaurant is very cool, with remnants of bikes found all over the bar area. There’s a giant chalkboard that details all of the beers that they have and the staff is very friendly. The service was impeccable as our drinks came out literally minutes after we ordered.
We came for happy hour (on a weekend) and you cannot beat the prices. Beers are around $ 3 and the food ranges anywhere from $ 2 – 6. There’s a sampler you can order for $ 12…15 3oz tasters for $ 12??? What a deal! But not only are the prices really cheap, the food/​beer backs it up. My favorite beer was the Velvet ESB. It’s an amber ale and has a nice smooth taste. I wish they sold packs of the Velvet ESB so I could’ve taken some homes with me. As far as the food goes, the pretzel is AMAZING. It comes out warm, fluffy and delicious. The beer cheese sauce that comes with the pretzels is mouthwatering. The warrior wings were pretty good too. I feel like you can’t go wrong with anything you order! Next time, I gotta get the pizza!
The next time I’m in Portland, I am definitely coming back to Hopworks. No doubt.

An awesome
Restaurant to have lunch or dinner at. Our server was amazing. Someone showed up with water without asking for it. Plenty of napkins and utensils.

Are there better breweries in Portland? Yes.
Are there better restaurants in Portland? Yes.
Is there a better combination? Possibly, but I doubt it.
Do you like beer?
Do you like pizza?
If you answered ‘yes’ to both above you should go here.
Warning: HUB is also family friendly, so if you don’t want to be around the rugrats I’d recommend avoiding it until after 8 PM. On the flip side, if you’re a parent desperately looking for a place where you can enjoy good food/​brews then this is your place.

Stopped by with my beau during our Portland visit and we were… slightly disappointed. The beers were average and unimaginative. The atmosphere almost felt like a fast food joint, not really a brewery.
However, we still ordered some food off the menu, and it was not bad. The portions were large and affordable, tasted pretty good, but realized… it was all a little too salty and oily. The stromboli, the waffle fries… Typical drinking food. Waffle fries had a LOT of garlic, so much that it started stinging my tongue. So if you are an absolute garlic-​lover, this one’s for you.
Overall, the beer is still good, but nothing more — we were actually struggling to finish a few of the samples since they were a little unpleasant on the palate. I just wasn’t wowed by our experience here, and the servers left something to be desired. On my next visit, I will definitely be passing over this place, as there is an abundance of microbreweries in Portland to be discovered!

12 Kinds of Beer for $ 15, count me in!
I would definitely come for the drinks. The bites, not so much. Very subpar bar snacks, however you can get drunk for $ 15 bucks. No lie.
The staff here are great, parking is plenty, and seating is plenty. You are definitely away from the tourists. If you don’t like waits, but like different kinds of beer this is your spot!

We had two servers. The first one, Robert, was so awesome, and I would definitely recommend him to anyone that goes here. He was friendly and funny, and he accidentally rung up one of our orders on the wrong table, so we ended up with two for the price of one! The second one was good, although I can’t remember her name, but she was no Robert.
We had my child with us, so we were seated right next to the children’s play area, which my child completely loved. I couldn’t tear him away from it — even to eat his favorite foods. They have magnets and chalkboards and chalk and books and toys. They, also, give children a coloring menu, which is so cute, because they can color and draw a picture of themselves.
The beer samplers are a great deal! You can get fifteen beer samples for $ 12. We got two. We got the vegetarian poutine, two orders of the pretzels, the margarita pizza, and the Thai wrap. We had no complaints. we thought the food was great! The atmosphere was great. The service was great!

Dear Management, at the next all employee bike off and smoke out, please tell your front of house that blank stares and monosyllabic answers are never the correct response to a not-​very-​difficult situation.
I came here for a private party, but Hopworks doesn’t do reservations. Me and the GF were early, because we always are, and when we told the hostess why we were there, her response was: «Great».
dot dot dot.
Is that all you got? Whatever you do, don’t try to help the customers, that would just be too much effort. I could make a crack about weed being finally legal, but really I think she was just underperforming to expectations. Rackets like Hopworks, opium dens and bookies don’t need to be good at anything because their captive audience keeps coming back no matter what. Why put forth the effort?
The second person I spoke to was a bartender kind enough to explain the situation, but had I not been there to meet people I would have been out the door before she got a chance.
When the party assembled we were sat upstairs, which is some kind of mezzanine/​loft/​platform nonsense. Helpful hint, if they invite you to sit up there, don’t do it. Within minutes we were all red-​faced from the heat. What is it about business that flog their sustainability not running enough HVAC? I can see the ductwork, because why bother finishing your space when design blogs are there to brainwash people into thinking saving on capital costs is cool. Do they need a case of heatstroke to adjust the fan controls?
The location sucks, Powell is a street to be driven along as rapidly as possible. If you’re stopping anywhere along it, you’re doing something wrong. Getting in and out of this place is a disaster unless you’re somehow arriving and departing via an eastbound bus.
It’s organic, sustainable, proud to be non-​smoking. Blegh. Stick your self-​satisfaction where the sun don’t shine.
It’s kid friendly. Yeah, screw that. Breeders stay home. I won’t bring booze to your day care, don’t bring wild-​eyed germ factories into my bars.
The only way this place could be less attractive to me is an all-​vegan menu.

Unknowingly my friend took me to this establishment and boy was I thankful. I am what you would call cheap and am always looking for a good deal. This place has great food and great prices.
My son and I had pretzels, poutine, and a slice of cheese. This was plenty for us and actually filled us up pretty well and all it cost was $ 15. I would have been higher of course if I had bought a pint, but I typically don’t buy drinks and rather spend the money on more food.
The pretzels were great even without the mustard and cheese soup. Just damn tasty. The poutine was vegan and even though I am a omnivore, the dish was out of this world and all I can say is, «Yum!» The gravy had the right thickness and a great taste of pepper. The cheese slice wasn’t a typical slice and tasted great as well. I have nothing bad to say about the food.
The whole place is bike themed, which makes sense in a town where bicycles reign. Even the bathroom has bike seats mounted on the walls so that if you need a place to rest your head, while taking a leak, you have one.
The only thing that was not cool is the parking situation. Parking is sparse and tight, so you might want to park on street and walk.
I highly recommend Hopworks and if you are short in the wallet or cheap like me, it is a great place to get a lot for a whole lot less.
I plan to stop by next time I am back in P-​town and I can’t wait!

Horrible customer service. Everyone my friend and I ran into working here seemed like they hated life.
We wanted to sit outside and they had all these weird rules and regulations. We told them we wanted to sit outside and the bartender said «alright you don’t get happy hour then» and snatched the menu away. He punished us.
I liked my stout but my friend said his Lager tasted like a Pabst sprayed down with windex. The eye watering look of suffer on his face every time he took gulp was hilarious though. That made it worth it.

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review and I have came here 4 times already. My goal is try all the breweries in Portland, but I always come back because they got solid beers.
BEER: I always get their 15 tasting tray because its cheap and you get to try all their beers, but my favorite is THE MOTHERLAND RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT– dark rich malty strong beer. It is sold in a chalice due to the high alc of 9.8%. YES! this will knock you out. It has this delicious rich cherry finish. Like I said, everything here is good, and I haven’t had a bad beer yet.
The HAPPY HOUR here is fantastic. 3 – 6 and 9-​closing from $ 3 — $ 6/​plate. We are talking large portions here. $ 3 gets you 3 PRETZELS with beer cheese and mustard — so soft and fresh. The STROMBOLI is really good, packed with meat and wrapped with a thin later of dough. The CALIFLOWER DIP is creamy and savory that is so good you will just eat it alone (My brother did). Check it out, you won’t be disappointed by their food and their prices.
SPACE is very unique with a lot of industrial designs of bike racks hovering over the bar. This is a large space as well that provides great space for large parties.

Love this place! Such cool vibes, SUPER cheap beer (at least compared to San Diego), and friendly, helpful staff.
We came here for New Year’s Eve and were served by an extremely friendly waitress. She found out we were visiting from San Diego and talked with us for 15 minutes (don’t worry it wasn’t too busy in there) about where to go and what to see while we were there. We basically planned our entire next day in Portland based on her suggestions, which was amazing.
We ordered the flight of tasters, which was like 12 beers for $ 15 or something crazy cheap, and the pretzels – super delicious. We got out of there for under $ 20 which is kind of ridiculous and awesome.
Next time we’re in Portland we’re coming right back here first, and you should too.

I decided to stop here on a Sunday at 3 p.m. on my last day in PDX while waiting for my friend to get off work.
Much to my surprise, it was happy hour! Apparently, they have happy hour here daily from 3 – 6 p.m., 9-​Close (Sun-​Thurs), and 10-​Close (Fri-​Sat). I ordered the Hopworks Famous Pretzels ($ 3), Veggie Slice of the Day ($ 2.75), and the 10 x 3oz Sampler ($ 9).
Beers I liked:
1. Organic Hub Lager (nice aftertaste)
2. Organic IPX
3. Organic Velvet ESB
4. Organic Hopworks IPA
Beers I liked (seasonal):
1. Non-​Stop Hefe Hop
2. Rise Up Red IRA
3. Abominable
Beers I didn’t like:
1. Organic Survival «Seven-​Grain» Stout
2. DOA Deluxe Organic Ale.
Beers I didn’t like (seasonal):
1. Abbey Apple Ale
I didn’t like that I couldn’t pick which 10 beers I wanted to taste… but I have to admit that almost all the beers I tasted were good.
The atmosphere feels slightly generic to me, but the beer is good enough that they deserve four stars.

Love this brewery for a multitude of reasons. First, it’s spacious and open and has plenty of seating from the bar to tables. It can comfortably fit large groups and it’s even kid-​friendly. You can sit in a cozy corner booth or a high-​top near the bar and watch the game. So, basically, it makes everyone happy.
Second, it has an excellent Happy Hour. Perhaps one of the best for food. It has both an early and late HH (Sun-​Thurs 3 – 6, then after 9, and Fri-​Sat 3 – 6, then after 10). The HH menu includes salads such as spinach, chicken caesar and caprese, black bean corn cakes, meatball sliders, pizza and wings. And nothing is over $ 5.75.
I also enjoy the regular dinner menu. Their soft pretzels are delicious, pillowy and salty and get served with two dipping choices: spicy lager grain mustard and a hot beer cheese sauce. I’ve had a few of the menu choices and I like the salads, especially the Glorious Caesar, which gets a unique addition of some extra veggies like marinated artichoke hearts, cucumbers and black olives. Burgers, pizza and sandwiches are good, too, and they offer a lunch special ($ 8 for a slice, salad and beer).
I get the beer sampler pretty much every time I come to share with the table along with my own beers. The prices are awesome. $ 9 for 10 samples, $ 3.50 a glass and $ 13 a pitcher. Their seasonal beers are great and if it’s a warm day, you absolutely must order a Totally Radler; 70% organic HUB Lager, 30% fresh house-​made lemonade, 100% delicious.