Campsite Brewing Company — Restaurant in Covina

In theory, this concept is cool and you can tell the owners invested a lot of money to get it off the ground.

There are some fundamental issues that will make this business fail. And the owners are too arrogant to make any changes that will help the business in the long run. If they didn’t have such ample support from the investors in the family, they wouldn’t have made it past a year.

First and foremost. The employees working here are amazing for the most part. Hard working, honest people that truly want to make this place special.

This commitment doesn’t come from leadership tho. Leadership takes every opportunity to leave events early, make everything about themselves, and create an atmosphere of distrust and confusion.

Kate runs the show and which is evident in all of the social media videos where her and Christian film together. Hence the awkward controlled tone he gives off when on camera together.

They do not take feedback. The company policy is not the read reviews, and to not listen to feedback from customers on site. In fact, when they changed their 18% gratuity charge, they made it a point that they legally had to change policies, and disregarded the feedback or complaints from customers.

The beer is just okay. Very pricey, and a lot of selections, but can’t hold a stick to Hamilton, Baldy, Old Stump, or even arrow lodge.

The food is another big issue. They refuse to introduce items that would be popular because “you can’t make that camping” which is a strange excuse. For example, they don’t have wings on the menu because you can’t fry wings when camping. But they have tons of other options that are challenging to cook while camping and it’s not an issue. Most items are on the menu because they “are the owners favorite” like the curry pot pie. But that is a just an example of ownership coming before customers.

I don’t think they care to make Camspite inclusive to the black community. At least it’s not a priority. There wasn’t a single black employee working there during their first anniversary and there definitely was not any programing geared towards building those bridges to the community. Which was surprising to me since DEI was presented as a cornerstone of their philosophy.

I’ve seen employees try to share their concerns only to be disregarded. I’ve seen ownership call guests crazy because they shared they felt like they were being taken advantage of price wise.

The list goes on and on where great ideas are shoved to the side because “Kate and Christian know best”. From showing live sports, to expanding menu options, to general rules around the taprooms, ingredients purchased, and more. They seem to have full confidence in the direction they’re going. Unfortunately I believe they don’t know what direction that is.

On top of that, they are just plain disrespectful to current and past employees. In the managers office they had post it notes with “RIP JOE”, “RIP JONATHAN” making fun of employees they laid off or fired publicly on display for other coworkers to see.

I wish nothing but the best for the other employees, but envision nothing but failure for Kate and Christian. They’re lucky his dad helped finance the place or else they wouldn’t have seen year 2 or 3 or beyond. It’s crazy to be born on 3rd base, but still be thrown out...

Revisited at Christmas (see below)

Checked this place out on a Wednesday evening @6pm.

The location is in an industrial/ residential area. The metro is only a few feet away .

Parking is extremely limited!

You seat yourself. We walked around inside. Nothing available then outside. We saw an empty table but it was directly in the sun's path. The rest of the tables were occupied. There were group seating areas around a fire pit. We sat there until we saw an open table (about 15 min)

That gave us time to figure out how everything was set up.

To order drinks and food, you need to go inside. There are two lines. One for drinks only and the other for drinks and food. If you're in the drink only line you pay the cashier, you step aside and wait for your name to be called (it was less than a minute) If you're in the line for a drink and food, you pay, same as above to receive your drink. For your food order, you will be given a number to take back to your table. If you want to order another drink or food, you go back in line. The food arrived quickly, we ordered appetizers. We were all hungry so everything tasted good.

We were able to figure out (only because we were seated directly next to it) an area located right next to the restrooms, is where you help yourself to napkins, silverware, plates, cups, and water.

When ordering I asked the cashier if they took reservations. The response.... no, not at this time but they are looking into it. They did take reservations for Father's Day only. I also ask about the 18% automatic added fee. The response, it is policy to ensure all of the employees will receive tips equally. I thought about this afterwards, after experiencing seating myself, standing in line to order, getting my napkins, silverware and water, etc... even though the place was packed.

There is an area where you can purchase Campsite merchandise, Tee-shirts, cups..

It was a celebration for my birthday with a couple of my girlfriends so I'm glad I went. It was somewhere new, different and close by.

The atmosphere is unique. I noticed they allowed dogs and I saw families sitting outside.

*Revisited around Christmas. I noticed a few changes.

They decorated for the holidays.

There is a bar code to scan at the...

I recently visited Campsite, eager to experience the ambiance I saw on Instagram and taste their craft beers, I loved the Campgrounds brew. Overall ambiance of the place was delightful, But I was left disappointed by a few aspects of my visit.

Let's start with the positives—the ambiance at is truly remarkable. The rustic and inviting decor, coupled with the warm lighting, creates a cozy atmosphere that makes you feel like you are out in the forest. It's the kind of place you can easily spend hours enjoying good company and conversation.

However, one significant drawback that tarnished my experience was the long wait time to get in and the long wait times for service (food area). Despite the pleasant surroundings, waiting for 45 minutes to 1 hour to get in was frustrating as we had friends that already were inside and were waiting on us. Once inside we did not get food as the line for that was another 25 to 35 minutes.

Additionally, I found it annoying that Campsite enforces an 18% gratuity on all transactions and then you get a screen for additional Tip choices. That is very deceptive and had someone not told me that was happening I would have tipped 36 percent, not cool. Having it clearly posted and getting rid of the additional Tip option would be acceptable to the greater alternative of Tipping as a whole being left to the customer's discretion to determine the gratuity amount as forcing a specific percentage may not always accurately reflect the quality of service received.

Despite these concerns, I must commend Campsite Brewing Company for their selection of craft beers. The flavors were rich and diverse, showcasing the expertise and passion of their brewmasters. The staff, although overwhelmed by the demand, remained friendly and attentive, again I loved the Campgrounds brew and recommend it to anyone who...