Mother Road Brewing Company — Restaurant in Flagstaff

My History: I've been a Reviewer of businesses for 25 years. I've worked in the bar,pub and tavern business, 30 years I've been a Small Business Consultant for 25+ years while doing all the above. Now onto the review of The Mother Road Brewing Company, 7 South Mike's Pike,Flagstaff, Az. Never, NEVER have I ever seen a more perfectly operated small business,bar,pub,or tavern. If you come to Flagstaff and do not visit The Mother Road Brewery, don't tell on yourself. Mother Road is unlike any other pub,I've enjoyed,except The Cross Keys Tavern in the 70-90s. Mother Road-"She" doesn't have music (sing if you like)-or food- (pizza steps away)-or TVs. Mother Road- HAS Charm, a Living Room with furniture where friends may chat, a dart board, outside cafe reminiscent of Paris, a basketball court, a separate outside area for smokers. Mother Road has the very best handcrafted, on premises biers, I've tasted since Europe. They change on an irregular basis, as they should, for that makes them just as the lady "She" is. While all of that is so wonderful and alluring, "She" also has the charm of a first kiss, always to be remembered. You get to have EYE TO EYE conversations with others, your spouse, or date. All that is so very wonderful in this day and age of of people only "seeing" shadows of faces. But Mother Road also has thee most intelligent, Street Smart, customer pleasing Humanist, I have sever seen, outside of the now late Gib Allen, my first employer in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her name is "Sharon" aka "Miss Red". By her side is a son, Dedar ,young in years, but aged in Customer Service, by his mother. The best working together team since the likes of "Laurel & Hardy" "Burns & Allen". Every small business owner needs to visit Mother Road-sit and observe how they operate. Congress should come--sit-drink-keep quiet, watch , take notes and oh well, they'd screw it up. When you come to visit this lady turn off your cell phone and just love being with the new people you'll meet , your date, your spouse----or come and remember the one you should not have lost. You shan't find,anywhere, another place such as "Mother Road Brewing Company", or Miss Red. In closing, she had me...

I really wanted to give this place a better review, but a two star review is justified. First of all, the bartenders were fabulous. They were friendly, hospitable, and outgoing. They are frankly the only reason this is a two star instead of a one star review. Now the bad... Most of their beer just wasn't very good and it was erved in plastic cups (is this a frat party with cheap beer or a craft Brewery?!).

Their selection/variety of beer was also very poor. There were no porters, no stouts, no marzen, no hefeweizens. There was a heavy (over)emphasis of IPAs (most of which weren't very good compared to other craft breweries). There were two Belgians (one of which was good, the other of which was not). They did offer one beer on nitro, which was nice, but unfortunately the beer they offered in nitro was better on CO2.

As a craft Brewery, you're competing locally and nationally. On a national stage, Mother Road stacks up very poorly. Locally (within AZ), it is average.

The experience at the brewery was also poor. Now keep in mind that they are renovating an indoor space, but we literally froze as we drank our beer in a glorified outhouse building that maybe was 40 degrees (outside Temps were below freezing, so at least there was some heat inside).

There were only porta potty toilets available.

While it was nice to have a food truck, almost all of our food was cold and not very good.

There is only on street parking, which currently is free due to covid, but will be paid parking as on April 2021.

This brewery has so much potential, but given the our experience, we won't be back until at least their indoor...

Where to begin... Atmosphere: Went on Saturday at 4pm. Place was beyond crowded. But figured the crafts and food must be good to be so busy. Wrong...I been to breweries in Las Vegas, San Deigo, Portland, etc...this place was the worst! It appears people come for the horrible crafts and burnt food. I don't understand how this place stays open. Reviews must be fake, as there is no way this place should be rated higher than 1 star. Food: ordered the po boy with smoked brisket and hotdog. Hotdog was split in half and burned...how to do mess up a hotdog. The tots that went with it were over cooked and drenched with seasoning to drown out the oily flavor. The hotdog was burnt black and the bun also. Tasted like rubber. The Po Boy sandwich...there was barely any brisket to justify a 20 dollar sandwich. The meat was not tender and very chewy. Crafts: all dark beers and only 1 blonde. No variety. Tried their American beer, tasted like water downed coors light. Server: non existent. Came by 1 time to take order and then disappeared. She had her bus person close us out. Never checked on us. Seated and ordered for 3 people. Was given exactly 2 napkins? Asked for ketchup for the hotdog and tots, since it came with nothing and felt like I was bothering her. Overall: service, food, and craft was all horrible. Why even have servers. Some breweries thrive and do well when patrons get their own food and drinks. Though I am just a nobody, I do travel quite often and understand service and food can be horrible at times, but to have the trifecta of place, food, and service...that's just bad and speaks of the quality...