Blackman's Brewery Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in Torquay

This was my first visit to Blackmans Brewery in Torquay, and while I was looking forward to it, I left disappointed by the unprofessional conduct of one staff member. We sat outside in the undercover area with heaters, but the heaters at our table and the one beside us kept switching off. I tried restarting them and even helped the table next to us, but with no success, so I turned the gas off to make them safe. When a staff member came out, she spent some time struggling to get them going. After waiting, I mentioned that the gas had been turned off. Instead of acknowledging this, she replied with, “I know what I’m doing,” in a condescending tone and gave a dismissive look to her coworker. It felt unnecessarily rude and unprofessional. She then went back inside without fixing our heater and didn’t return for quite some time. Sitting in the cold was not an option, especially as I’m pregnant, and unfortunately the space inside didn’t cater for our large group to sit together — through no fault of their own — so we had no choice but to leave. When I later asked the table next to us why she hadn’t turned ours back on, they said they didn’t want to be involved in “drama,” and that she had remarked “she can get her own one going.” This was very disappointing and upsetting to hear, as it implied she had been gossiping about me. I understand hospitality is a tough industry — I’ve worked in it for many years — but professionalism and respect are non-negotiable. Sadly, this staff member fell short. It is especially saddening as this same female staff member has been mentioned in previous poor reviews, and the venue is condoning her mistreatment of...

I feel a little bad posting this review but it’s just my opinion. This place was mine and my partners favourite place to come down the coast. We spent many years here getting to know each other and collecting all the different cans Blackman’s have! What I loved about this place was the super friendly and bubbly staff, the awesome food menu where they did the most delicious chicken parmas and I was told stories about how the beers got their names etc. The atmosphere was super chilled and made us feel very welcome there.

I’ll be honest, this place has changed dramatically and it’s quite sad. The food menu has changed to basically a finger food style menu with pizza and burrito type stuff, the staff there currently now seem very rude and cold especially the blonde female who I’ve heard talking down to customers when they asking a question. No warm greeting, no smiles, cold tone etc… There is a man who works there with long hair who appears to be some sort of manager who seems super stressed squeezing his head and burying his face into his hands at his lap top which makes me wonder if he’s even happy working there and angry every time I go in that place. I just feel like it’s not the happy place I remember it to be and it’s not a good look when you got staff doing this.

Blackman’s seem to have changed from their intimate styled vibe to a more mainstream vibe which is fine, that’s business, that’s what happens.

I still go for take aways and will always buy the reg as it’s a favourite and the beers are phenomenal in my opinion but yeah just wanted to share my two cents. Take it as you...

The staff are lovely, not over-the-top as another reviewer stated; just friendly and warm. Nothing cheesy. Most (if not all) seem to know their way around the selection of beers available. I had a chance to chat with three of the staff and they were all just as nice as the next, regardless of the topic; whether it be about the new beer (mentioned in final paragraph) or just general small talk whilst paying for the night.

The food is very nice and they certainly do not skimp on the portions. All of the food also pairs very well with the beer which I am sure is no accident. I had the loaded fries, fair to say that the Con Carne said fries were loaded with was close to the quality one would expect from a home cooked meal.

The environment is just as warm and welcoming as the staff, I was seated outside in the back of the bar and it was well equipped for all weather conditions (heaters for the colder weather and breezy enough for the summer months). The thoughtful touches are what I really liked though, the fake grass, wooden tables and chairs, nice amount of warm lighting; all of this really brought it together. It has a much warmer feeling than that of your regular run of the mill restaurant.

I’m posting this on the 20th of Feb ‘21, one day after the release of Blackmans Amarillo Beer which I had one pint of and was pleasantly surprised. I’m unsure as to whether or not this will be a permanent resident of the Blackman collection but I certainly hope it is.

I couldn’t recommend this...