Cushnoc Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Augusta

Cushnoc is another one of those places that I don't go to enough, it has been more than a year since my last visit. This time we met my side of the family for Friday night pizza and beer, the best part of any week. My sister had quite a chuckle at au when we ordered 5 pizzas for 7 people. Come to find out we left with a total of 6 slices. Since it had been so long we had to try the popcorn and roasted nuts as an appetizer. The popcorn was fresh, buttery and they pepper it, this adds another dimension. The roasted nuts were very nice. There is a subtle heat, and a hidden sweetness. Now to the good stuff. Their brick oven pizzas are outstanding. We had to try the special "Bomb" pizza. This was essentially a steak bomb on a pizza and was fantastic. The steak was tender, not over cooked like steak can get on a pizza. The peppers and onions were nicely caramelized and had a nice sweetness. The "Cony High Pie" was a sausage pizza. My wife and I are big fans of sausage, and this pizza did not disappoint. Nicely balanced flavor with sausage and sauce. The "Mill Park" is one of those pizzas you read and think "really, squash on a pizza?" Yes, it's squash on a pizza, and it is to die for. The "Capital City" was my wife's pick and that was the winner of the night. BBQ chicken with a honey drizzle. So good. Finally my mother in law had a build your own pie. I have to give her credit, she mixed the ingredients very well and that one was very good. By the time I got to that pizza I was so full from the others that I could only have one small slice, but totally worth it. If you read my review about State Lunch you will know that I am a sucker for a good chocolate chip cookie. I had to try it at Cushnoc as well. This was a skillet cookie with vanilla gelato. The cookie was perfectly cooked, thick and not doughy. A slight crunch to the outside and mixed well with the gelato. With places like this downtown Augusta is making a name for itself on the food scene. This is a must visit when in Augusta. I almost forgot the best part of Cushnoc, they brew their own beers too. Always something different. They tend to brew more IPAs than anything else, but they have figured out the balance of a good IPA and seasonal flavors. I am broadening my go to list to include Augusta more often now. I highly recommend Cushnoc, the food is outstanding, the service was fantastic, it did get a little loud in there just before we left, but...

Food is just ok. My wife and I have been here a couple times. Be prepared to overpay for subpar food. It is a microbrewery, I guess. I didn't even know that until our second visit. Not a microbrew vibe at all. They offer two housemade? beers. The beer comes from someplace. Not sure where it's made. Im guessing not here (on site). Not exactly what one would expect going into a microbrewery. No ambience or microbrew vibe at all. No other beer selections (ie bottles or tap) from other breweries. So really limited and disappointing for beer lovers. They have a full bar which is stocked sufficiently enough. Spacious seating. Decent view of river. Parlking is convenient and ample, typically. No beardnets, hairnets or hats on any of the kitchen staff. I typically like to floss after my meal. Not during. Just saying. Sort of an open kitchen concept. Bar is long enough. Noisy. Not a place to have a quiet dinner. Acoustics are tough. We found ourselves talking louder than we wanted to. Servers are mostly attentive. Messed up our drink order, twice. At least we got something to drink. It really helped to choke down the dry Caesar Salad and over cooked pizza. Who makes a caesar salad with no dressing ? Idk I guess it's a thing ?? I'm not rude enough to make an issue of it. Left hungry and unsatisfied on both visits. Our tab was about $85 on each occasion, for two people. After tip $110 each time. No value here. Won't be back. It is not a local go to place for us. Sadly. Needless to say, we will...

We stopped overnight in Augusta and wanted to explore the river waterfront area which is apparently the old main downtown area of Augusta. As we arrived and looked at our choices in eateries, there was no better option in our opinion than Cushnoc. We we able to park on the street right in front. The resturant was built in an old 5 and 10 cent department store building built at the turn of the 20th century. They make their own brew, of course, and all that we tasted was delicious. Try their sour beers! I was disappointed however to not be able to go straight downstairs to the tasting room, but instead had to walk all the way outside the restaurant, around the block on the street and down the metal stairs to get there. Strange I thought, and certainly an inconvenience, to say the least. But it brought me to wonder why? I learned that the reason the brewery and restaurant were not directly accessible together was because of some law. Some old blue law was still in effect. Then I wondered why there was no waterfront development? It is apparent that a Renaissance is trying to take place on the street from some very brave and forward-thinking people; with apparently huge support coming from Key Bank which built a great looking and architecturally-correct building on the street. I look forward to visiting the area again one day and hope to see that indeed Augusta has been successful in their efforts to revive this quaint and charming street. For now, Cushnoc is a...