South Bend Brew Werks

I have to admit that several people said Eh when asked about visiting SBBW so we put it on the bottom of the list. We made it here and were so glad that we did.
Apparently IPA’s were not in vogue this time of year so the choices were slim My husband had the flight, as usual and I tried 4 beers. All of them were well done.
The pub is neat — old school desks and chairs for seating, pallets on the wall to display art, cool hangings all around.
For each beer you order you get a beer bottle cap. You put your caps in one of three boxes,. The boxes support local causes from shelters to entreprenuer programs. The pub donates the amount on the caps to each group and posts the annual results.
Our server was fun and informative. The pub was busy and crowded but she took the time to chat with us. We stayed for a few more beers then we planned to and are really glad that we stopped in.

I had been waiting awhile now to give brew werks a try and really wanted to like it. However, I was extremely disappointed with the experience overall. The place is pretty small, but cozy. Had a decent ambience.
We sat down at the bar and were disappointed by the lack of beer selection even though it is a brew pub. It was restaurant week, so we had some entrees from their special menu. Can’t say much about their regular menu, but the portions were extremely small. The squash soup was too sweet. The potato soup was sour and unappealing. Sloppy Joe tasted great but the portion was TINY. There was barely any meat and all bun. Flatbread was extremely disappointing. The spinach and tomato weren’t even baked in. It was lukewarm and boring. The brownie was COLD and came straight out of the fridge (we watched our waitress bring it out). The cookie was mediocre at best.
Worst of all was the service. Our waitress was inattentive. Our food came out onto the bar and sat there for a good 10 minutes before she brought them over to us. The place is obviously understaffed. Price is not worth the service or food at all. Will not be back.

We trekked down to South Bend on a Friday evening and the place was lively, full. Beers good. Of the two I had, the more memorable was the smoked porter and it was just smoky enough. The flat bread pizzas were not flat, sadly. Puffy and doughy and scantily topped. I can’t say I’d go for the food, but the place amused me. The large pieces of art on the walls were mounted on wooden pallets (I joked w/​the BF — «if that falls on your head, you’re toast.»), which I thought was cool. The tables were close and we were on the end of a long table of youngsters. Noise level high. We texted each other across the table in jest. All in all, if I lived closer, I’d probably drop in from time to time. I like the bottle cap for each pint concept — drop in one of three jars for a donation to a local organization. Give back = good karma.

Went for our first time on one of the special «Mos Eisley Tavern» nights.
It was fairly crowded, and appeared possibly short staffed. After waiting for seats, had to go up to the bar for service.
Wife had one of their dark brews (a stout) and enjoyed. Also tried a grilled cheese with bacon & zingy cheese that was spicy & exceptional.
The slow and borderline rude service was what brought down this rating. The special Star Wars menu was fun. I’m not sure if their troubles were due to the Star Wars event or if that is normal.
We will likely be back on a «normal» day for good products.

Great beer, good company, and fun themes. Very reasonably priced. I would bring my parents here if they ever came into town to visit me.

I am seriously in love with this place. It’s honestly an addiction, but a great addiction to have! I’ve been bouncing back and forth between California and South Bend as I finish up my job before moving here full-​time, and every time I’m back to visit my husband we drop in here because of my love for the zoodles. And the beer. And the friendly bartenders!
The best part? Every time we’ve been in after the first time, the bartender has remembered us (and my strange love for zoodles — zucchini noodles, seriously, try them, so good). Gotta love feeling like a regular! Also, their «beer club» program is super cool — for a small fee, you get an awesome glass mug that’s all yours (which holds a few more ounces than the usual pint glass), a t-​shirt, and the cachet of being in the club (totally important).
This place is fun, the food is great, and the staff is wonderful. I also really love that with every beer you buy they donate a portion of the proceeds to one of three charities (you select which charity via a bottle cap in a mason jar). I haven’t had a bad beer here yet, nor have I had a bad meal. Obviously, I recommend the pasta with zoodles, but my husband is very fond of the sandwiches.

After stopping in a second time I was equally as disappointed in the service as the beer. Pretty much the worst brewery in the area!

Wanted to like it. Interior is comfortable, location is awesome, outdoor seating is nice. But it’s a brewery, and. the beer is bad. Just bad. Can’t say anything about the food, service was standard. But the beer was tasteless and had a soapy, metallic flavor to it. Three stars for location and ambiance, three stars for service, but one star for the actual beer.

Visiting my hometown, the old folks took me out to lunch. SBBW was the place they chose.
I’m definitely a fan. The food choices seem to follow down the fresh and «healthy» road, which is perfectly fine with me!
I ordered the Meaty Mess salad. It didn’t seem like a lot when it came out — but trust me, it was plenty and very tasty. I had a nibble on the old folks choice of the 3 Way Chatter. Very delectable grilled cheese sammich…
The beer was cold and flowing as well. Didn’t get too deep in to tasting several different options, mainly because the Manager was stressed to the max as he wasn’t really «supposed» to be working the bar due to tardy employees, but the adult liquid I chose [ 1865 Amber ] really quenched the thirst.
They do offer whiskey by The Indiana Whiskey Company, which is cool to see them supporting another local business.
The interior is eclectic. The menu was well written and creative. It seems like a decent place for a crowd, with things planned throughout the week to grab your attention (i.e. game night, etc.)
It was slightly annoying you couldn’t spend much time chatting with the bartender (Manager) due to the issues described above.
When I make the trek back to the Hoosier land, I will indeed stop back by.

South Bend Brew Works… It’s some of the worst beer I’ve had at a brew pub. Most of it is watery with no back bone, completely unbalanced, with almost no malts present. Save for smokey, which is then far too prevalent. The food is over priced for the quality and quantity given. I will not be giving them my money ever again.

I made up my mind: this is the regrettable underbelly of the microbrewing wave. cookie cutter hipsters, pretentious, and fine but average brews. Stick with breweries that have more grit, there are plenty of them around in Northern Indiana.

Came here for the first time for Sunday brunch and loved it! I had been meaning to check out this place for a long time and I’m glad I did. The atmosphere of Brew Werks, first of all, is cozy and fun. It’s a small place with some outdoor seating, decorated with pieces by local artists. The servers are wonderful. The food was great and fairly inexpensive, especially considering they use a lot of locally sourced ingredients. I had the cranberry stout waffle and am counting down the days until I have it again :) partner had the Benny (savory waffle with poached egg, hollandaise sauce, and bacon bits) and raved about it. I am excited to come back and try their lunch and dinner options!
Oh, and I know this is a brewery but I didn’t order any beer. I did sample the Beer-​Mosa (Orange juice and IPA) and recommend it for beer fans who also want something sweet!

Awesome bar downtown with a great beer and staff. The décor is pretty unique with its art on the wall and sports paraphernalia scarttered around the bar. The beer is reasonably priced, and very tasty. Definitely a place to check out when in town.

I finally was able to stop in while on business and was pleasantly surprised.
The location is great, easy to find, and a strong component to the revitalization of downtown South Bend. The old school double store front hosted an eclectic interior with an emphasis on the recycle/​re-​use meets bohemian approach .
The beer was fantastic and I am often accused of being a craft beer snob, so I don’t throw that comment out lightly. A friendly local customer recommended the black IPA and I’m very glad he did. I highly recommend it.
The menu was hard to follow, so I stuck with having a few pints instead. The staff was friendly and the bartender could dish it out.
I will definitely go back.

This review is only of the beer and overall ambiance of the place, I have never ordered food or been with someone who has.
Overall, I was unimpressed with the two times that I went here. Both times the first beer I wanted to order was out of stock — we went around 8 PM the second time and I don’t think that is particularly late. The beers that I did order weren’t anything to write home about. I did think the décor of the place was really nice and the seating was good. However, wasn’t a big fan of having to go up and swipe my card at the computer and type in a tip with the waitress over my shoulder.

With a focus on local food and a huge selection of house-​brewed beer, Brew Werks is a new addition the the places you must frequent in South Bend.
The service is friendly and space intimate, welcoming and not at all pretentious. And it’s got it’s own ritual quirks, like donating to charities w every beer pour.

I’m a huge fan of this place — it’s a regular spot that I run to when I need to relax from grad school craziness. It has everything you want — good stuff to drink, chill people, and a unpretentious do-​you kind of atmosphere. It’s great to chat to the staff and hear their stories. Bobby and Amanda make me laugh every time I’m there when they’re working. I know absolutely nothing about beer (aside from the fact that I do have preferences that I’m too ignorant to articulate) and they’re always patient with letting me try everything and helping me find one that I like.
I do Sunday brunch here fairly often and like everything I’ve tried off the menu. If they had free Wi-​Fi and I could get work done here, it’d probably be my second home. It’s like that.

The beer and food is great. I had two beers the Stargazer and Rye Pale Ale. the Stargazer had great flaver something diffrent, the Rye was exactly what it shold be deliceas. I had an grilled cheese of of a fundraving menu, it was everything advertized and more. this place is new and still working out aome bugs but worth the stop. If you do go sit at the bar and ask for Jennifer she is great.

I was in town recently and saw there was a new brewery in DTSB, so of course I had to check it out. It was in a pretty awesome location in the old State theater. It was a pretty small place, but cool looking. They had local art on the walls and as much seating as they could fit.
We had a seat at the bar and were quickly greeted by the bartenders. We got small tastes of a few to make our choice for a pint. Pints were mostly $ 5 each. I ended up having the Parisian Breakfast Stout and Rye Pale Ale. They were both good, but maybe a little too sweet, like they weren’t getting well attenuated maybe. My wife had the Dead Bodies Stout and that was my favorite of the night. It was a bid Russian with caramelized raisins in it. The raisins added a great flavor.
One really cool think they did is with each pint they gave you a bottle cap that you could then drop into a mason jar for a charity. Whichever charity you drop it in will the get 50 cents for each bottle cap, which is pretty awesome. I plan to be back when I’m in the Bend.

We stopped in opening weekend and loved everything about it! The décor is warm and inviting, utilizing recycled and repurposed items filled with South Bend history, showcasing local artists and of course, great l food and beer!
We were excited to break in our handcrafted mugs and thoroughly enjoyed the beers we tried — the IPA 001 and Saison were probably our favorites of the evening. We tried the «My Favorite», a unique twist on mac & cheese, featuring housemade brew noodles. My husband and I were sharing and our bartender warned us that the portion sizes are «normal» so it may not be enough to share. It was the perfect snack to share and we look forward to trying the rest of the menu.
Great addition to DTSB (and love that they are open on Sundays!).