Akademia Brewing Company — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

We went to ABC for a birthday event at the suggestion of a local Athens resident. We got there around 4pm and it wasn’t crowded at all, perhaps 3 other tables. They pulled together some tables for our party of 8 adults and 2 toddlers fairly quickly. This is a large establishment with a warehouse decor. There is a good sized bar on the right side, and several TVs mounted for sports. Once seated, it took a few minutes to get drink orders. When we were ready to order we were told that they were switching out their menu and several items weren’t available, around 8 or 9 as it turned out. We all ordered mainly burgers and fried fish with a couple of simple appetizers (chips and dip). The appetizers came out in decent time, but we waited quite a long time for our meal. It wouldn’t have been such an issue if it was just adults, but with 2 toddlers it became a struggle to keep them entertained. When the food finally arrived, a couple people said theirs was ok but for my wife and I who ordered just a burger and fries the food was horribly overcooked. We did order well done for the burger out of safety concerns, but this went beyond that to legitimately burned, with charred dusty edges to the burger. The fries were also overcooked, very dark brown and unappealing. Another person who got a burger reported the same thing. Service got very slow for some reason as well, it was curious because we saw several employees just kind of standing around not doing much (college kids by the look) yet it was hard to get our server to check on us consistently. My drink order was wrong as well, I asked very specifically for Diet Coke on 2 occasions but got either Coke or Coke Zero, it was hard to tell but definitely not Diet Coke. All in all, it wasn’t a disaster by any means, just not very good unfortunately. In that this was a birthday event, we decided not to complain about any of the missteps to management, if even a manager was around. I can’t speak to their beer quality, perhaps that’s where they shine. But as simply a restaurant for dinner, I can’t recommend Akademia...

Decent chow for bar food, greater craft brews!! As someplace who advertises as "best place in town to watch Football" my 3 Army buds and I came in to watch Army - Navy...it took 3 requests to get the game put on ANY of the TV sets that were on random soap opera / soccer nonsense. Then we had to ask twice to get the TV sound turned up to hear OVER THE Garbage holiday music being streamed at full volume.

Moved to a table so we could get enough ambient daylight from a window to READ THE MENU (lights so dim u literally can't read the menu in that medieval dungeon, but thanks for doing your part to keep the power bill low) where the kitchen "chef" felt it was ok to interrupt my fellow guests ordering some beers to tell our server the "fish & chips is off the menu until I can thaw some out, and please go let everyone know now" instead of bringing us a flight of brews.

Army bud asked why we chose that place to watch a game we couldn't even hear aside from the 2nd quarter. Mariah Carey & Bing Crosby can suck a peppermint candy cane on gameday.

Best craft beer in town is the only reason I'd come back, and multiple fellow Vets I know have also mentioned the consistent decline of the low level daily management past 3-6 months. Used to be a "4-4.5 Star" local hangout, now I'm generously stretching to give it 3, because of the frrsh craft brew and the one bartender who appears to care about the customers, most of the staff act like they are doing you a favor delivering food or drink. Luckiky our server was great, to end on a...

My wife and I were staying in the Candlewood Suites not far from Akademia. We are displaced as our house is being rebuilt from an oak tree falling and slicing it in half.

Being brewery fans for quite some time now, we decided to give them a try.

YIKES!

What a great decision this was. Indeed.

We had just moved from Kennesaw just under a year ago where we lived literally right next door to Burnt Hickory Brewery. Our favorite place for craft brews and friends.

Cheyenne was our person to assure us a great experience. She was super cool. Attentive and not pushy but always arriving at the right time to take our beverage order, Hoprodisiac 12 oz, delicious.

I had the Cerebus Tripleta, my wife the Hummus. I'm here to tell you, if you're any kind of meaty, spicy sandwich fan, (think along the lines of hearty, full and rich sub sandwich with the most perfect bread), this is for you.

I opted to have the fresh cut fries as a side. NOT disappointed at all. I recommend.

My wife isn't a fan of celery, so I lovingly grabbed them and sampled her Hummus. Again, fresh, full, delicious.

We both agreed that the music being broadcast was catchy, up to date and at the perfect volume that you hear it, but it doesn't in any way drown out conversation.

Should you get the opportunity to make your way to Akademia, GO!

I don't kid myself that I have any kind of clout, I'm just saying that if you're thinking about a new experience, this is def the place.

Enjoy your life, you only get...