Brewer's Blackbird Kitchen & Brewery — Restaurant in Hamilton

Looked it up online to accommodate a party of 35 for mine and my wife’s 40th. Emailed, followed protocol, no answer for three days until we decided to go in on our own accord to address concerns of handicap access. Many stairs, the promising upstairs venue was out of the question, but, apparently the downstairs 30x20’ area would miraculously fit 35 ppl comfortably?! Not to mention, with a $1500 deposit to secure it, charged %20 gratuity and %15 HST on top, for a whopping $525 cost at my expense just to provide them with 35 paying customers! Abhorring.

We gave it a chance, ordered two of their only 4 selections of beer, nothing inventive or insightful, being mediocre at best. By no means are they even attempting to offer a brew that you can’t get at any other craft brewery, except it’s $8/draught.

Their tardy respondent event manager Informed us that they opened just before the pandemic. I can only assume that all that time that they we’re stockpiling and paying for massive renovations and fees for almost two years with no revenue. Starving, making beer no one wants to buy and converting a gorgeous heritage home into the stuffy sound proofed stone walled makeshift brewery/restaurant with high hopes. Sad.

The bar provided a terrible conversation atmosphere, beyond the old world stone, lath and plaster and the clucking of white wine driven posh Ancaster, “desperate housewives”, it was very difficult to hear even across your own table. I digress, we ordered appetizers, two that assumedly and undoubtedly would have been on our tailored/shortened menu as I suppose they require for some reason beyond any reasoning. The brussel sprouts came out blackened, unseasoned, and roasted in what I can only assume was bacon fat, very one dimensional, a very heavy and literal stomach upsetting opening, “digestive”. We could not summon the courage to finish that small plate of black, oily mess. Next, was the pork belly burt ends. When I ordered them I thought, “pretty hard to mess that up”, they came burnt black also, typical of rushing food out of an over hot oven. One could only imagine the quality of cooking for 35 + another party and a full bar. Oh, I should mention, I was only able to book the seating for 2 hours as they would double book my room in the same evening! Imagine, rushing your very dearest guests out the door immediately after dinner! Ridiculous! The bacon, not smoked, dry, served over a pool of what I recognized as, “Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce”. Albeit, I like Baby Rays, in this context was a terrible let down and ultimately a huge miss. We left without ordering dinner or finishing the first course in desperation of not ruining our appetites. Found another venue with great food, no deposit, time frame or even party limit, very casual, very easy, stress free as it should have been. Somebody go there, I won’t, they have a lot to learn and are STARVING.

Consider this a GOOD review, they’re young, it can only go...

Hello, hungry and thirsty world.

I have visited this establishment in the past with my family. Infant daughter and her grandparents. It was a Sunday, and if I remember correctly, there was a Sunday menu. (Don't quote me on that) it was a pleasant experience overall.

Recently, I have become a regular on my drive home, where I stop in to find a quiet corner and finish up some work while enjoying a delicious brew. Yes, they are certainly delicious. I prefer the stronger IPA style beers, of which they have 2 house made options, IPA and West Coast IPA. They have porter, wheat, and standard ales. They carry pints and half pints as well as cocktails and spirits.

The menu is small but everything is very delicious and well prepared. It is always very fast, and the servers have all been extremely kind and accommodating, especially as I have even requested to sit in a second room to have a business meeting on my computer. It wasn't busy, and they went out of their way to accommodate.

I believe (but don't know) that you may see the owner serving from time to time, and in general, everyone is well kept and presets well. They speak kindly and serve quickly.

The small menu changes on Tuesday for their taco Tuesday, which has 5 or 6 options I believe for fair prices. I have had the beef and the Brussels, and they were both wonderful, especially when washed down with a fresh cold beer.

The atmosphere is quaint and small though there is an upstairs and a back room, not to mention a nice patio. The brewery is built in the modern standard glass building style on the ack of an old stone building, which is gorgeous.

I don't like giving 5 stars but I feel I don't have any constructive criticism so it is only fair.

I recommend this for dates, family, friend groups or as I do, on your own to simply enjoy a small bite a beer and a bit of work.

Thanks Blackbird, I'll see you again soon..

P.s they are closed...

My friends and I went in this afternoon for a bite to eat as we were in the neighborhood, and was close to this restaurant. When we arrived we were greeted by a nice young lady who sat the 6 of us at a table. They gave us menus and water. We looked through the menu, and while the menu didn't have a wide selection of items to choose from my husband and I chose the Chicken sandwich with fries. The sandwich was very delicious the fries were nothing special they tasted like they sat under a warmer for awhile The rest of our table enjoyed their meal too, but wasn't blown away by it. I gave the service a 1 star, because when they seated us they didn't come back to take our orders for at least 30 minutes which seemed excessive. We all decided on what to have in a very short time (10mins)and our menus were closed and in a pile at the end of our table. The restaurant was not very busy at all and the wait staff was standing around doing nothing. We had to raise our hand to get their attention to order, and when the gentleman came over he said" oh so sorry we were zoned out." We placed our orders and waited another 30 to 40 minutes for our meals. During the meal my glass was empty and no one came over to ask if I'd like a refill. For the price we paid for our meal which was pricey 57.00 for two Chicken sandwich and fries and 2 cokes, we would expect better service. The food was good but nothing to wow you, but service is definitely lacking. We will...