Stomping Ground Brewery & Beer Hall - Collingwood — Restaurant in Melbourne

Pretty weird experience here with service, food was about a 5 out of 10 but it wasn’t especially amazing for pub food, just standard. Atmosphere was fine, door man was pretty friendly and there was a couple good wait staff who were super helpful for our table.

Unfortunately our experience was ruined by one of the wait staff with super dismissive behaviour. We had a celiac on our table with obvious dietary requirements, so when we ordered at the bar we double checked everything was available as the app had labelled one thing as not, however the bar staff was confident it was actually available. I guess this was just a miscommunication between kitchen and front which is understandable. However when the food arrived, the waiter dropped the food on the table, and then said, oh by the way the other thing you ordered isn’t available. And then just walked off without an apology or another word.

Two problems with this, we felt like our custom was completely disregarded as why would you wait until the food is going to the table to tell them somebody is not getting their meal, surely the chef or expediter of the food would see this issue and immediately let the table know, so people could dine together.

The second big problem we had, was there was no solution offered, we looked at each other and said “well, better get up and try and get our money back for the food we paid for which we didn’t receive”

To just walk up to a table and say, “hey, half your food isn’t coming, see ya” is wild behaviour, after about 20 minutes of waiting at the bar we were able to get the issue rectified with the bar staff, but we definitely should not of had to go out of our own way to sort out the issue, essentially doing this waiters job for him.

The reason for the one star review was despite all this, our celiac friend is now quite sick after eating there, and having had no other food outside of their home other than here, absolutely confident their needs were not met by the kitchen, if there were even made aware of the dietary requirements. If you are a celiac, do...

The food is good and so are the beers. The atmosphere is unbeatable. That said:

QR is annoying. If they forget something like tomato sauce which they often do, you have to go nagging the kitchen. Second, the food can come out at such different times so that you'll've finished your plate by the time your mate(s) get theirs. That's the downside of not having regular servers.

My main complaint though is this. Ever since they took drinks off the QR menu, coming here when it's busy is not fun. The wait to stand in line just to get a beer is ridiculous. Several weeks back was there on a Sunday when there was no line but the wait was still absurd to get drinks. So if you have to have a QR system, put the drinks back on it. Last Saturday two of us came, we would have ordered more drinks but didn't want to wait in that line twice so decided to go elsewhere. SG I'm sure you make a lot of money but have you considered that people are going to order less drinks when you make them wait in a line that moves that slowly?

Portions are inconsistent. The lamb shoulder is delicious, but the labneh they put doubles or alternatively halves in size from one time to another. Why go stingy on the labneh? For the price, it makes no sense.

Lastly, the online reservation system doesn't work. Once tried to reserve, it said there were no seats available. But we were in the area and walked in, the place was empty.

People leave their screaming sprogs to run around this place as if it's a jungle gym. Vile.

Long story short, this place makes tons of money no doubt, and is great in many ways, but the service is so bad it leaves you not really sure you want...

My wife and I visit a lot of breweries. I'm not sure if this is a result of her beer passport or our shared love of beer... rubbish, it's obviously both. Stomping Ground Collingwood is pretty fantastic. The minute you walk in it feels special; enormous but inviting, casual but classy, rustic but elegant, with an inside space that doubles as an open air beer garden, and all of it with eyeshot of tanks and brewing equipment. Honestly, everything about it is just beautiful.

We visited on a Monday which meant we were able to take advantage of $15 pizzas. Our beef ragu pizza was delicious but arrived a little on the tepid side, not stone cold but also not as hot as it should have been. However, they redeemed themselves with the Monday night loyalty card; a free pint on the 2nd visit, a six pack after 4 visits, and a pizza club tee after six visits, although my wife and I would prefer another six pack.

On the beer front, Stomping Ground always delivers. We got a tasting padel which includes 6 small beers for $22. If you love beer, can't decide, or this is your first visit, we reckon this is the way to go. We're usually IPA drinkers and theirs is lovely. I think most of their beers are brewed in-house so their range doesn't compare to Bridge Road Brewers in Brunswick, where you'll find 20 on tap, but you are bound to find one that you love. We were particularly impressed by the Belgian Style Tripel, which had over 8% alcohol but, according to my wife, still tasted like really good beer... I actually agree completely it was strong but still complex and interesting.

Do yourself a favour and get down there for some great...