Good Liquid Brewing Company — Restaurant in Sarasota

I visited Good Liquid at lunchtime for the very first time yesterday with 2 of my best girlfriends. My actual rating is 4 1/2 stars, but they did not have any way to give them the extra half star.

We had an awesome time, and we had one of the most fantastic waiters I’ve ever had the pleasure to be served by. His name was Jeff C., and he was extremely patient and helpful. Two of us had never eaten there before, so we had a LOT of questions because everything on the menu looked so delicious. I even took a to-go order home for my husband so that I wouldn’t have to cook yesterday evening.

We started with the cauliflower bites and the Bar Pretzels with beer cheese. Both were very good, but I have to give the edge to the cauliflower bites. They were fried and served with a delicious dipping sauce. The bar pretzels tasted good, but the beer cheese had a very gritty/grainy texture, as though the cheese hadn’t been melted sufficiently. It had great flavor, but the texture was off, which made the sauce less smooth than it should have been. I did tell the waiter, and he said he would make sure to pass my comment on to the kitchen. They didn’t take it off my check, even though we didn’t consume all of it, but the rest of the meal was enjoyable so no worries.

I had the Wisconsin beer brat, which was served with a mixture of onions and sauerkraut, but, surprisingly, no mustard, which I thought was a bit odd. I didn’t ask for mustard, so maybe that was my fault. I didn’t ask for ketchup either, but they gave me that, which I assume was for my french fries and my brat, if I wanted it. However, when I did ask for the mustard, Jeff was very quick to bring it to me. Actually anything we asked for was brought to us very quickly, and I was really impressed with how fast he was.

One of my friends had the crabcake sandwich on a brioche bun, which she really enjoyed. My other friend had the fried chicken breast sandwich on a gluten-free bun. She really liked the chicken portion of the sandwich, but she did not care for the gluten-free bun.

I took home a to-go order of the All-in Pizza, the spaghetti Bolognese, and the Brussel sprouts. Every dish was delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed them and still have leftovers for today. I was extremely impressed with the spaghetti Bolognese. It actually tasted very close to my own. The Brussel sprouts were very crispy and delicious, just the way I love them.

Unfortunately, we did not have room left for dessert. The strawberry shortcake looked absolutely amazing and the next time we go I’ll be sure to order it. Oh yes, there will definitely be a next time because we promised Jeff we would be back to see him! In the meantime, while he waits for us to return, be sure to ask for Jeff the next time you visit Good Liquid. You won’t be...

New locale, New review. (November 2022) Wow, did this brewery change! Not for the better. More accurate to say it morphed, transmogrified even. The old location was all brewery with some food available. This spot, which I never knew existed in the ever-growing cancer that is Lakewood Ranch, is full-on restaurant with a full liquor license, a hostess, cloth napkins, et al. The beer seems an afterthought. I had expected to chill for a few hours during a tropical storm rainy day. Feels kind of weird to do that now. There is a huge outdoor seating area overlooking one of Yuppietown's numerous little lakes - currently closed due to the inclement weather - looks like a great place to kick back for a pint or three. The main area is dominated by a U-shaped bar that seats 6 on a side. High- and low-top seating fills the rest. Service is friendly and quick. Now let's talk beer. GL had been one of the best local breweries and I had talked about them a lot to visitors & locals alike. The quality and selection were absolutely top notch. Quality is still there but the selection is reduced and not anywhere near the breadth of old. It's November, people!, how about a stout? They used to have a handful of sours rotating through with plenty of experimental stuff. Not any more, it seems. A porter, a Dunkel, two sours, two IPAs (bucking the trend) and ten brews listed under "I Just Want Something Light". Admittedly, three are wheats with an amber and a two blondes backing them up, but ten brews on the light side? Playing to the uneducated, wine-centric crowd, it would appear. I cannot envision ever returning. Yuppies for the kill.

Honestly, you can ignore everything under this, it no longer applies. ‐------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like beer (3rd most consumed beverage on the planet after water & tea) you cannot go wrong at Good Liquid. The owners are the coolest people and the beer is top notch. Even the experimental stuff rocks (loved the unfiltered chocolate peanut butter porter with a spoonful of spiked PB in the...

Great Beer, So So Food We were visiting family in Lakewood Ranch and felt like trying a few small plates and brews and Good Liquid has a primo location right on the lake so we gave it a try. The patio area is partially covered, looks out on a large freshwater lake and the view is great. I sampled their Berry Porter and found it to have too much berry flavor me so I went for the Milk Stout ($7.00 for 16 ounce tap). Very smooth and tasty – I really enjoyed it. My son had the Don’t Feed The Gator IPA (same price). Light on the hops, also very tasty. As we wanted some lighter fare, we ordered Patty Melt Egg Rolls ($14.00) and BBQ Pork Nachos ($15.00) from the Appetizer menu. Our order came out fairly quickly. They take two egg rolls, filled with ground beef, cheddar cheese and some grilled onion, fry them to a crisp, cut them in half, and serve them with some 1000 Island dressing and shredded lettuce. The flavor was just OK and each of us could have one piece – basically 2-3 bites. The Nachos are a bit deceiving. They are presented on a large round platter with a very generous amount of tortilla chip triangles that provokes a WOW! The toppings on the other hand were skimpy. I think this platter had 1-2 scoops of their own beer cheese poured around the center of the chip pile. To me, the cheese tasted like the usual almost flavorless liquid nacho cheese served at ball parks. Maybe 20 pickled jalapeno slices on the entire order. We did see some corn kernels, a few diced tomatoes, don’t remember seeing the black beans and the pulled bbq pork, while tasty, was a bit dry and the few pork shreds on top was just enough for the four of us to say we had some meat on the dish. And if there was a chipotle ranch drizzle over these chips, we didn’t see it. I kicked up the flavor with some hot sauce. I have nachos often and these did nothing for any of us. We would not order either of these again. We will return for a beer and enjoy the lake view. I believe our server was Hayley R and she was attentive and...