Common Craft — Restaurant in Burlington

My wife and I stopped in yesterday because we had to make a trip to the Burlington Mall. We were surprised to see this place and thought the concept was great. Well, it is.

However, the execution was not so great. The server was pleasant, yet I found it surprising that she was referring to the beers being "distilled" rather than "fermented". In isolation that wouldn't be so bad. I thought maybe she is very new to working in a taproom.

What I did have a problem with is this: My wife and I each ordered the 34 Porter. We were assuming that for the $9 charge listed on the tap list, that we would each be receiving a pint . When we received 8 oz snifter glasses, I asked the server about the size of the glass, and she told me that because of the alcohol content and/or ingredients that some beers are served in smaller portions. (*And usually the pour size is listed on the menu.) I totally get that for say, a Belgian Trippel or a Baltic porter one might serve a smaller pour, but not a normal robust porter. The 34 is 6.7%, not a high gravity beer; a porter is actually a relatively cheap beer to brew, particularly given that the hopping is minimal and non exotic - the opposite end of the continuum from a NEIPA ),

Bottom line: I felt badly that my wife, who was treating, just paid $18 + tip for a total of one pint of porter.

We were still thinking about it as we went home. My wife and I were both convinced that this was a mistake. I called today to inquire with the manager because I was genuinely curious, and thought that if they are making this mistake then other people are going to get unintentionally short-changed too.

The manager told me that it is aged in bourbon barrels, which she said accounted for increased cost and the smaller portion. I do see that Idle Hands has both a regular version of this beer and a barrel aged version on their website. However, the tap list did not indicate that this was a barrel-aged beer, and what we drank had no notes of bourbon or wood aging (I am not generally a big fan of bourbon barrel aged beers).

I'm interested in going to Idle Hands in Malden, which seems like an interesting brewery given their range of beer styles, but I don't see myself returning Common Craft.

By the way, a 4 pack of 16 ounce cans costs $14.75, according to the Idle Hands store web site.

We would have appreciated a little more transparency on the menu before we were served. We also would have appreciated more attention to detail (as already stated, this beer was not barrel aged) If you don't mind paying $9 for an 8oz pour (the beer was good), you might feel differently about your experience at...

I recently went here over the weekend, and for a "craft brewery" style place they miss all the boxes. The first bit that set the tone was, this is a self seating place. There are no signs that explain that, but instead I stood as employees walked by me and didn't even acknowledge me. After about 10 mins someone told me, "oh this is self seating." They did not inform that this place is also "self serve." What "self serve," means is you have to scan the QR code and order for yourself. If there is a "traditional" style eating table, that is not outlined or explained. So after waiting about 15 mins at a table, I decide to self order off the QR Code. I'm now 25 mins with barely any human interaction with about 6 or 7 employees walking around, and having to make a toasttab account in order to order. I ordered the traditional burger, and while it was good, the amount of grease that came off on my hands makes McDonald's look like fine dining. My glass slipped out of my hands and spilled with the amount of grease on my hands. I then had to go find an employee to ask for napkins, which weren't given to you at the time. In order to purchase a beer or any kind of drink, you have to wait at separate parts of the restaurant to be served. The employees there didn't even seem knowledgeable on the drinks they were serving. Which traditionally you go to a craft place, the employees are excited and passionate about their product, that is not the case. There is no "grand total," unless you keep a running tab at the bar. Everything you do is a separate credit charge, so you pay the surcharge on your card multiple times for one meal. If you hate dealing with people or even find yourself to be an extreme introvert and self serve, than this is the place for you. If you are someone who enjoys a traditional restaurant or even conversing about craft beer, this is not the place as the employees simply...

Overall impression is that I would go back but I wasn't overly impressed.

The space is large and offers varied seating options. You can bring drinks from one place into another. They also have cold water with cups and takeout containers out for the taking. Just a nice touch for convenience.

Hermit thrush is great. They had ~12 beers on tap and their flights are reasonably priced. This was my motivation for going. Bartender was friendly.

I was disappointed by elevage; mainly the service but also the wine. The bartender cut me off multiple times when I tried to describe what I was looking for and recommended something that was the opposite of what I'd said. I told them I didn't like fruity or sweet and they recommended sangria. It seemed like they really didn't know much about the wine. They did allow us to sample 3 wines before trying. We ordered two half pours, which were decently sized. I wouldn't want to drink any of the wines I tried again. Might be because we didn't get good recommendations or because their wine isn't a fit for my palate. I'm open to trying different wines of theirs again if I'm back there.

For food, I tried the whipped feta, mahi tacos, and edamame dumplings. I thought the dumplings themselves were good (not incredible) but the sauce with them was not good. It was very sweet and acidic. I'd prefer more of a soy sauce based savory sauce. The fish on the tacos was good but the tacos had too much pickled veggies. ~70% of the taco was pickled cabbage (and there was also pickled onion on top) . They should replace half the cabbage with something more umami (more fish, spicy rice, grilled zucchini, etc.) The whipped feta was really tasty. The veggies on it went really nice and the toasty pita was perfect. Feta was definitely on the salty side, but...