Karl Strauss Brewing Company — Restaurant in Corona

Our first visit for dinner…started off being greeted by 2 cheerful, conversing ladies Friday night 12/20/24 @ 730pm.

They weren’t stuck on themselves, nor on their cells, nor with their heads down, like “Whatta ya want.” And avoiding eye contact thinking there something. Like it’s about them. Not the paying customer (hint: to other companies, kindly wake up n smell the coffee) Nope, none of that I’ve seen so often in this part of the state.

Those two made us feel welcomed and gingerly engaging! How refreshing!

What a welcomed breath of fresh air. Maybe there not locals read between the lines there. 😉

The manager is brilliant enough to know these are the faces, that set the tone and mood of the company for us customers.

Both servers and what appeared to be a female manager checked on us, warm friendly empathetic and kind. We added a ceasar, and she wasent even our server!!! Whaaat!

The music is 70-90’s with Zeppelin to spice it up l, so loved that!!!!

The crowd is young families and mid ages couples.

Black bean soup Caesar n something else we ate lite tonight , delicious.

Servers Matt, Maddie then Erica all pitched in ensuring our needs were met.

In the end the manager Steve passed by the table and we shared with him how delightful our experience has been this evening. I wrote the top part of the manager wherein prior to...

Hostess was ok. Waitress was above average. Food runners were not pleasant. Nobody really made us feel welcomed. I'm not sure what management expects the level of dining Karl Straus is. It's nowhere near a Maestros, Morton's, or even Ruth's Chris. It's below a woodranch, Yard House, and Taps when they were in business. It might be above a TGIFridays, Outback, and Black Angus, but I haven't been to one of those in years so I doubt it. The staff work uniforms were terrible; some in sweatshirts that look like workout or cleaning attire, some in shorts and a trucker cap, some with untucked shirts. The food was maybe decent. Didn't get the steak prepared how I want it but the way the chef sent out was average. The place felt like a cafeteria. No charm. No uniqueness. Don't waste a night out by going to this location. Drive to Anaheim or Costa Mesa/Santa Ana. Or go to Reunion or WoodRanch. Much much better options. But if u want to just drop $250 on a party of three and wonder if you were going to spend that much why you didn't just go to Morton's and spend $50 more....go to Karl Straus in corona and have a...

I'll start with the negatives, as they are most important. A brewery should take pride in their burger! Should have known when the server did not ask how I'd like it, that it wouldn't be good. The patty was thin, (frozen?) overcooked, and had zero seasoning. Unacceptable, and the exact opposite of a "craft" burger. A brewery burger should be thick and juicy, well seasoned, and memorable.

Thumbs down on the ambiance as well. Drywalling over all the old brick and painting it gray was a horrible decision. You stole away all the warm character that made the space one you want to hang out in.

Positives, the staff are fabulous, friendly and attentive, and the rest of the food was great. The truffle fries and carne asada fries are standouts, and the salmon Caesar salad was great too.

I want this place to succeed so badly, as it's close, convenient, and has great beer, but Karl Strauss, you need to seriously step up your burger game. What you've got going on now is an embarrassment, and an insult to brewery burgers on the whole, and I know I'm not the only one who's been totally...