Hippin Hops Brewpub & Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Atlanta

Been meaning to try this place, so happy I did tonight. Hippin Hops has been open in this location since 2021. The owners bravely welcomed their first customers just as the Covid-19 pandemic was winding down, offering in-house brewed beers, oysters, and tasty Cajun cuisine to East Atlanta Village. Three years later, I could not just walk past the manager, Shray, standing just outside the entryway inviting us to try some beer and have a meal.

Hippin Hops specializes in oyster dishes, and they also offer many other items. And of course, they have beer!! The house beverages includes a stout beer, several lagers, an IPA, a sour, and numerous hard seltzers, among other concoctions. I tried a delicious peach sour and my friend ordered the watermelon seltzer, which boasts a hefty 10% ABV. For dinner my friend had the catfish nuggets with remoulade and sweet chili sauces (Shray’s suggestion), and I ordered the shrimp and grits. Now, I am particular about my grits. They are supposed to have texture, hence the name “grits”! This dish was pitch perfect, down to the grits. The shrimp were large and cooked right (not rubbery!), the roux was excellent, and the grits were exactly right. There was so much food, I took some of the grits home and will be happy to have an on the go breakfast in the morning. My friend’s catfish bites were hot and crispy, seasoned right, and the catfish was tasty. We even met a couple coming out after dinner who raved over the oysters dish called “The Boss” (shrimp-topped baked oysters) and a hard punch drink she was still finishing up. The service was wonderful, the food was great and came out quickly, and the manager knew his stuff (thanks, Shray!).

This brewery / restaurant is a gem in not one but two crowded and competitive industries (breweries and food service). I do recommend coming by and trying some of their delicious food. I would hate to think we could lose such a nice place to some inferior restaurant or worse, some chain that takes over the space if this one leaves. Come check out Hippin Hops. The food and the brews...

I have patroned this business several times. Of the times that I have been here, not once was I charged automatic gratuity.

On Friday, I was charged an automatic gratuity of 20%. It is important to note that I was alone, not with a party of 6+...

When I questioned this, the waitress seemingly came off "matter of factly" and a bit short/rude. I asked was it written anywhere in the menu (because it definitely was NOT posted within the establishment) and the waitress said, "Probably not.." and when I looked at the online menu to find where it notifies customers there will be an automatic gratuity, it was nowhere to be found.

With that being said, I tipped what I saw fit for the service provided, which was not the best nor the friendliest (especially given the fact that my service has been the complete opposite the 4 times I have come before this time). I wrote down my total and SIGNED in agreement to my total. I checked my card this morning and was up-charged for the 20% auto gratuity.

I also took a picture of my final signed bill and the online menu showing what I agreed to pay and that there is no notification or posting of automatic gratuity within the menu.

The waitress also did not tell me before I ordered or even after I received my check, nor did she have any plans to tell me... Until I asked, and then she was rude about it!

It is unethical to charge your customers without the proper postings that there will be gratuity included in the bill and creates a distrust with your target market/customers.

As a business owner myself, I make sure that my customers are aware of all charges so there are no surprises, upset customers, and BAD REVIEWS.

I do my best to patron Black owned businesses, but this is terrible...

I’ll try them again but it was OK

Pros: The restaurant itself was nice! Wait staff were friendly, explained things well. Our waiter though I can’t remember his name was very very nice! The inside was decorated very well. Overall it’s a dope concept. I really liked that they had an outdoor eating option. The DJ was really good and the games were a great touch. I will be coming back in about a year or so to give them another try. I understand opening up a new restaurant is difficult and being black owned I really want to support them.

Cons: Only 5-6 beer options. I wished they had at least one cider on the menu. I enjoyed the beermosa the most. We arrived around 5pm. They were out of the oysters with the collards greens. We had the regular Oysters Rockefeller which were ok. The best oyster option to be was the smoked Gouda. My husband got the gator bites they were ok. Three of us got the lobster rolls and they were not good at all. Our lobster rolls had a lot of imitation crab meat and what looked like imitation shrimp or the baby salad shrimps. We each had maybe 1 or 2 pieces of lobster claw meat per sandwich. Which for $23 a sandwich is extremely misleading. And what we were the most upset about. It seems strange to charge the price of full lobster rolls while at best this was a imitation seafood salad roll. The others in our group ordered the lobster and waffles which they said was also OK but the star of menu.

I enjoyed the company I was with a lot so I feel like that helped me overlook some of the negatives.

Overall this place has a lot of potential and I’m excited to see where it goes. The vibes are great. As of right now, I’d go to taste the beers and enjoy the experience but I wouldn’t go back...