Spoonwood Brewing Company — Restaurant in Bethel Park

This is only my opinion and the story of Spoonwood Brewing Co.

My wife agreed to join me in starting SBC after a full year of serious Beer-cations, which we primarily spent in OR, WA, CO and CA. The concept is that we are first and foremost a brewery that has a large and very nice tasting room, supported by some pretty delicious food.

Within 24 hours of Mary Lou agreeing to "do this", I had the property that we now call SBC. My search for a Head Brewing began and ended with Steve I. answering my add on the Brewers Guild website. The add was short and to the point and it resulted in only 1 reply. He's been on-board since the beginning, and it shows in the layout of the brew house and the product that is coming out of it!

Steve wanted more than to become our Head Brewer, Steve wanted to become an owner, which is fantastic, because not only does he brew terrific beer, he is now our partner and has brought the focus on beer, the edge we were searching for. Think "beer first" when coming here.

The State of Pennsylvania laws require breweries be able to service "meals", which forced us to either do the hot dog wheel, breakfast bar and chili menu or get serious about offering simple, non-heavy tastes that would compliment our beer. To that end, we are offering fresh, made daily wood fired pizzas, sandwiches and aps...No Micro-wave, no fryer, everything is made fresh daily, made for your order. Who else makes dough the day it's baked, fresh mozzarella from curd and sauce daily?

Back to the beer! Most selections will rotate off of our 12 taps, to be replaced by seasonal and other twists on classic brews. Steve has a lengthy list of beers to come and I've asked for a fresh, green chili beer for the summer...The idea is to keep it fresh, just like the food.

The response to our opening has created some ire from visitors that want SBC to be a restaurant. We are doing our best to stay true to the Tasting Room/Beer Garden concept, which requires some patience, some common courtesy and above all else, the attitude that we share this earth with other like minded people.

It is disappointing for the owners of SBC when we read a negative comments about seating. We have added a Greeter to help explain that Beer Garden/Tasting Rooms are communal. Finding some common ground, in that we want people to have a good experience is a working in process. We not a sports bar, this is a brewery. Definitely work to be done here.

We certainly will get better and the warmer weather will allow everyone access to the back patio and lawn areas. We are working on improving the parking, the food, the service, the overall experience. All I can ask is that people understand that this is not a chain that we bought...we grew SBC from the ground up and we built it for the people of Pittsburgh and specifically for our fellow South Hills residents.

Craft Beer is such an exciting culture and we believe our friends and visitors will "get" that this is a special place, a gathering spot for laughs and the occasional tear! SBC is still rolling out the menu of beers and food, so judge us after you really experience the finished...

This place has a whole lot of upside. Dont be fooled by my 3 star rating. Ive been here 8-10 times and will continue my visits. This is a post that I hope the management sees to improve the place.It's new and has modern open feeling. The place is spotless. The beers are incredible. Very clean, very refreshing. The food, especially the pizza is phenomenal. I can't say enough good things about this place. As much as I'd love to give this place 5 stars, it still has some downsides. The staff is always friendly and I've never had a server/bartender I didn't like. They're very prompt with beer service. BUT every time I've come, they never ask me if I want food. They get my beer fast, then I have to wait until I'm done with it and ordering my next one to mention that I want food. Why aren't they checking if I want any food?

My second improvement would be expanding the menu just a bit. I don't think it needs to be an overwhelming level of additions, but a few more items could help. I do love the wake and bake pizza, and highly recommend it. That's the one thing I could eat every time I come in and nevery tire of.

Another improvement would be the seating situation. I like the seat yourself idea... when it's slow. But on busy nights like when I came to watch a Penguins playoff game, it was packed. There's no seating and people are fighting and bickering with other guests over seats. It's very annoying.

My final, and biggest improvement, is the tv situation. I understand it's not a sports bar. That's fine. BUT, why in the hell is there a (I'm guessing) 90" tv on the wall behind the bar that is almost always broadcasting the beer list that I can clearly see sitting on the bar? What a waste of good money and tv. Then I asked for anything other than the beer list, and they put on the Tigers versus the Cardinals. Be careful what you wish for, right? I would have rather stared at the beer list.

That's it... that's all I've got. Keep going with the patio, keep making delicious food and beers, and make a few small changes, and this will be a standout...

Update 5/2/2022

Hi. Me again. So for my second revision, third score since Spoonwood opened... I went from 4 stars, to 2 stars now I'm back to 4.

In the intervening years Spoonwood has vastly improved their food and we're back on eating terms.

Updated 3/25/2017

I'm not sure what has happened to Spoonwood Brewing, but it's become a problem. A single rating is no longer enough.

For the brewery, a solid 4 stars. The beers are delicious and original. Never have I had one that I didn't enjoy. That aspect of Spoonwood will have my business going forward.

Once you go past the beer, it's 1 star.

The restaurant aspect has deteriorated into long waits for mediocre food with a stiff pricetag.

Waiting 40 minutes for the Adult Macaroni and Cheese, my food came out in a sorry state. It was clearly old. The noodles were mushy, the top was dried-out... You don't need to be a chef to recognize reheated macaroni. That's what it was. Thankfully (?) the bowl was half full. At $12 it was really a sad sight.

It's not the first issue I've had with the food, but I'm not going to be patronizing that aspect of the business anymore.

I'm not happy with having to make that decision. I imagine that the food sales are important to keeping this, my favourite brewery, up and running... But long waits, high prices and bad food is a hell of a trifecta.

Either eat before you come or get the beer to go. If they ask if you want to see the menu... Run.

Original Review: It's not enough that the beer is excellent, and it is, but the food is really solid. Ignore the fact that the parking lot looms full, there is way more space inside than it seems. Park on the street, walk on in and...