Equilibrium Brewery- Taproom and Bonfire Restaurant — Restaurant in City of Middletown

Our last visit to EQ was for Father’s Day 3 years ago, though we’ve been fans for years, since the original location opened and my husband has picked up beer many times since. Sadly yesterday’s visit for Father's Day fell short of our expectations for a few reasons, mostly due to them being understaffed and having 3 amazing bartenders serving the entire bar, restaurant, and outdoor area. I made a reservation online for 3 people at 12:30 and we arrived and were seated by one of the bartenders, who gave us menus and told us to order at the bar. That seemed odd, since 3 of us were getting food, but it quickly became clear that there was no traditional waitstaff (last time we came for Father’s Day, we ordered directly from the table using QR codes, which was totally fine so we could order more as we wanted and then check out online). We had to remember orders for 3 people and wait at the bar to order, which took time, and by 12:45, they were out of the advertised bone-in beef rib, which my husband wanted. Not sure how they sold out of a special so quickly. We got our drinks and settled down then proceeded to wait 45 minutes (yes, 45) for 2 brisket sandwiches, a ½ lb of brisket, pretzels, and skillet mac n cheese. The fries that came with the sandwiches were not even lukewarm, so I assume they had been sitting until one of the bartenders could grab them to bring to our table. Someone else brought the skillet of mac n cheese shortly after and warned us that it was “hot” to which I replied “at least something is hot” because our meals weren’t (she laughed, no offer of further assistance). Getting a 2nd round of drinks took about 10 minutes as well and at that point, we wanted to settle up and leave after. I will say that the food was very good and the brisket was flavorful but waiting 45 minutes for cold food negated it. Waiting to pay to get out also took another good 10 minutes or so. Then my husband wanted to stop at the retail shop to get a few bottles on the way out. Had to wait there as well for one of the bartenders to come over to assist. I asked him if it’s normally this short handed and he sighed and said they didn’t realize it would be so busy on Father’s Day. The bartenders did a great job but 3 people cannot manage to serve an entire bar and restaurant. Other patrons looked annoyed as well as people were piled around the bar waiting to order and when we left around 2:30, a table who arrived shortly after us still had not gotten their food. Though the food was good, it was not worth the wait time to stand at the bar and have to wait and order food and drinks. We could have had a much better experience elsewhere. I don’t know who thought that was an adequate amount of staff to have at a brewery, especially on Father’s Day, but we will not be back and will stick to beer pickup or shipping...

Came here a year ago had a great time food was great service was good. Came in yesterday the bartender said hey you've been here before? I said yes a year ago. Well now you have to go to the bar to order your drinks but you have to go over there to order your food you'll have two separate tabs. Now I love music I am a little bit older at 65 but the music they were playing was absolutely terrible. We sat down at our seats, we had to get our own menus for beer and food. Immediately the atmosphere was uncomfortable. We ordered our food shortly got a text from "Toasted" wasn't sure if it was from the food place or not. The guy at the counter didn't know for sure. I guess it was a privacy statement. Went up to the bar order a beer and ask for a glass of water. You have to go over there and get your water I'll give you a lemon. Really? The food was okay. After we ate I went over to the manager and told him it was like a high school cafeteria. Terrible service from last year. He said he was sorry to hear that From the newest reviews I see I am not alone. I will not be returning. So sad to see one of the Best Breweries that have a beautiful place have such a HORRIBLE atmosphere. Oh yeah just remembered there was a line on the beer glass making sure she didn't give me more than 12 oz. Really? I did ask the bartender if we needed to clean off our table and she did say that she would clean it off for us. There was not enough help either. It would be nice if things changed I like to stop there and eat again sometime but not if it's like this. We will find some place else to go on our way up to the...

I have only been to this place once. I was excited because I had one of their beers in a Brooklyn bar which I really liked. It was an odd experience. The setting was very nice and someone obviously made sure to make it so. The beer was top notch.In regard to the food, there weren't a lot of vegetarian options but what my wife and I had "tempeh ribs" was very good and plentiful. What I really didn't like about the place was the the fact placing orders and/or looking at a menu all had to be done on a phone. They have a lot of beers here with complicated names and ingredients which I found very confusing to read about on a small phone screen When I asked for a paper menu of the beers, one was supplied but it did little to enlighten me. So then I decided to look at the signboard behind the bar but the writing was small and the information kept changing before I could get a handle on the beers. Another disappointment was that you couldn't get a full pint of beer. Everything came in 8 and 12 ounce quantities only. We were told by the bartender this policy was enforced after people would order a pint, not be able to finish it and then expect a refund. Say what? I never heard of this kind of behavior. The bartender said it was common. Why would anyone waste beer as good as this? Anyway, the bartender was very nice, and helpful when we needed something but she was busy and I just hated asking her about everything every time I had a question We will go to this place again. The good definitely outweighs the bad but I think it needs some tweaking in terms of product descriptions...