Shy Bear Brewing — Local services in Derry Township

Delicious food. Lovely views. Super chill atmosphere. Friendly staff and owners. You always feel welcome!

Updated Review (September 2025)

We’ve been loyal fans of Shy Bear for years. It’s not a place we visit often(budget and distance make it a treat) but it’s always felt worth it. We've recommended it to friends, brought out of town guests, an even frequent the gift shop when we're there. We've always been happy to spend our money there because it felt like a place that's valued it's guests. We've genuinely never had a bad experience until now.

This visit was a letdown from the start. I ordered the pork quesadilla, only to be met with a curt "No" I laughed awkwardly, caught off guard And said "wait, what?" She replied, "It says we don't have pork" No effort to soften it, just flat refusal & silence. I was left scrambling to figure out another option on the spot. It was uncomfortable and frankly, rude. As someone who works in the service industry, I was stunned by how unprofessional and abrasive that interaction felt.

The disappointment continued with my husband's meal. He ordered the "Lasagna Stack" a $21 new menu item that was incredibly underwhelming. It was what the description said, but not what we expected from Shy Bear, especially given how generous their portions usually are. It was two overcooked burger patties with just a small smear of ricotta cheese in between, two blobs of mozzarella on top, some sauce, & a soggy half ciabatta roll underneath. The presentation was unappealing & the flavor didn't make up for it. He's not a picky eater, never complains, but he was disappointed from the moment it arrived. He did end up eating it, but only because he's polite & doesn't like to make a fuss. He was still hungry afterward & I had to give him the rest of my meal bc I felt bad. We weren't even given the opportunity to express our disappointment during the meal because our waitress never came back to check on us when our food came out. And when we finally were able to express our disappointment while we were paying her response was " it's a new menu item and they're still trying to figure it out but I'll pass your feedback along to the chef" It felt pretty insincere.

Service throughout the entire evening was poor to say the least. We were there for over 2 hours and had our drinks refilled once. We had to get our server's attention after our drinks had sat empty for at least 15 minutes. One of our guests was mid-sentence when she raised a finger up at him and abruptly said "wait a minute", visibly irritated. She then took our orders, still appearing annoyed & immediately turned her back to help the table next to ours. My husband didn't even get the chance to place his drink order. He had to catch her & ask for another beer. The whole interaction was awkward & frustrating & felt very dismissive. Definitely not the level of service we've come to expect from Shy Bear.

While we're familiar with the tablet payment system, this time it felt intrusive. Our server stood over us as we paid making an already uncomfortable moment feel worse. We split our bill with our friends, meaning she received two separate 20% tips essentially double what she would have gotten had we paid together. And to be quite honest, that level of tipping was absolutely undeserved. If it were up to me I would have left no tip at all. And I say that as someone who works in the service industry, and ALWAYS tips generously.

We've always appreciated the atmosphere and the server's attentiveness but that just wasn't present this time. It was a Friday night. I'm sure it was busy, but "we're slammed" is no excuse for poor service.

We're not saying we'll never return. We've had too many good experiences here to write it off completely. But this visit was a real letdown, and it's made us hesitate. When we choose to spend our time and money, we don't want to feel dismissed and disappointed.

We hope this feedback is taken seriously because Shy Bear has always been a place we've loved going to. This time, it...

We are from out of town and came here for the 1st time for Father's Day today. We had high expectations, but were deeply disappointed. We eat out a lot and eat at every kind of restaurant imaginable, but this was one of the worst experiences we've ever had. Everything started out ok. We were seated quickly and in a friendly manner. Our server showed up promptly and brought water and took our drink and appetizer order. We ordered soft drinks, 2 whiskey sours, and the soft pretzel appetizer to share. Drinks were good and pretzel was outstanding. It was hot, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. It came with several yummy dipping sauces. We had also put in our entree order prior to the appetizer coming, which came in a reasonable timeframe. After we put in our entree order, our server picked up some dirty dishes from the app and asked if we were OK before going MIA for literally 40-45 minutes. During this time, the table next to us, who got seated at the same time, got all their food and ate it all before we got our food. Finally, our server reappeared and said our food was coming as she walked by quickly. 5 minutes later a different server brought all our food. I'll specify below, but overall the food was bad. Before I do that, I'll mention that the server never told us her name and never asked if we needed more drinks or anything. About 10-15 minutes after receiving our entrees she stopped by asking if we needed boxes. We said no and asked for the check. She came back a few minutes later with a handheld credit card device and asked how everything was. I told her everything was cold and my husband's steak was raw. She said "Oh, I'm sorry" Then said "It's $115" and handed me the device. She may have thrown in another disingenuous "I'm sorry" after I handed it back to her. Clearly, our food was cold because 1) She let it sit around for a long time and 2) whoever is expediting the orders isn't doing their job well at all. Here are the specifics about the food: Father's Day Brunch menu French Toast sticks w/ bacon $11. This was 7-8 commercially frozen French toast sticks thrown in a deep fryer and 3 puny bacon strips. It was actually warm though. Boneless Chicken Bites w/Korean BBQ sauce and an order of fries (2 separate items) $18. Chicken and battered fries were (like the French Toast) commercially frozen and dumped out of a bag into a deep fryer. These were luke warm when they arrived and quickly got cold. Korean BBQ sauce was good. Barely eaten because it was all cold. Father's Day Brunch menu Vegan Tex Mex tacos $16. These were slightly warm when they arrived but ice cold within a few minutes. So unappetizing that I couldn't eat them. Flavor was ok, but nothing special. Poppa Bear's Bounty from Father's Day Brunch menu $23. Overall, taste was good. The cheesy grits were especially good, but they and the rest of the dish were just warmish and soon turned cold. And the small steak that came with it was completely raw in the center. Not rare, not blue, but utterly raw. The "crispy" potatoes that were part of the dish were (again) frozen cubed hashbrowns that had been thrown in a deep fryer. My husband usually clears his plate, but really struggled with trying to do this. Ultimately, he couldn't finish it. We made a mistake coming here today. Not the Father's Day Brunch I wanted to give my husband. We could've gotten better food and service at any...

Been meaning to come check this place out for a while and today was the day. Overall, very impressed.

The food was very good. I had the burger - it's not hugely difficult to get a burger right but it's surprising how many places manage to get it wrong. The burger here was cooked exactly how I wanted it and it tasted like a good quality burger. My wife had the chicken tacos and enjoyed them very much. It would be nice if the burger came with fries rather than chips (or at least had the option to upgrade for a couple of bucks), and I thought $8 for a large basket of fries was way overpriced for what it was, but they were good fries. The chips were good - thick cut and with a good crunch to them.

As for the beers there's something for just about everyone here. I sampled a variety of them and overall thought they were very good. I would have liked the Kish Kriek to have had a little more cherry and a little more tartness, but enjoyed them all.

The dessert truffles were very good.

The waitress was attentive without being intrusive.

Definitely a place to come back to.

Invited to update my review 03/25/2022 so here goes...

My wife and I have been coming here regularly for some years now. This is our "happy place". Lots of good beers to choose from. Staff are always friendly, service is good and food is good. Whether we're here for a full meal or just a couple of beers we always leave feeling relaxed. It's just a nice place...