Arizona Wilderness Gilbert Brewpub — Restaurant in Gilbert

I’ve been to Arizona Wilderness many times since they first opened years ago and always enjoyed myself despite not loving their beers. I’ve championed Arizona Wilderness many times as being the best brewery in Arizona since Four Peaks sold to Anheuser-Busch and changed their entire menu. However, my wife and I recently moved to just a couple of miles away from Arizona Wilderness and decided to head over for dinner tonight and left the place completely disappointed with the food and we’re honestly kind of baffled.

The beers were good, but the food left a lot to be desired. We started with the elote corn dip, which is apparently a new menu item and the server even recommended it. My wife and I took one bite and immediately looked at each other and commented that it needed salt. It was just so bland. We asked for a salt shaker and that didn’t even really balance it all out… some lime would have maybe helped, but whatever it’s a new item we can forgive it.

For our entrees I ordered the AZ Wilderness Burger with bacon and roasted jalapeños and duck fat fries on the side. My wife being a vegetarian wanted to try the Tepary Bean Burger but asked to have it served with just lettuce onion tomato and pickles, and for her side she wanted to try the onion rings. Well both of these items were disappointing. First of all my wife’s burger came out with all of the topping normally served with the Tepary Bean Burger that she DIDN’T want (roasted red pepper, guac, vegan chipotle mayo). Next, my wife goes to try an onion ring and holy shit… they are siracha-maple waffle battered and my god they are so so sweet. Way too much maple… what a weird combination, just completely missed the mark.

For my burger the first thing I noticed was how sticky my fingers got just on first touch with the burger. Well guess what ingredient they used with the bacon… yeah maple. Way too strong of a flavor, but combined with their house made ketchup, and their new Hawaiian style buns the burger was just way too sweet. I had roasted jalapeño and pepper Jack on my burger and all I could taste was sweet.

Just a really baffling experience all around. How is it that this place seems to be so unanimously beloved for the food and beer. Seems to me and my wife that they could use more talent in their kitchen, maybe someone that is actually tasting the food before it goes out to the guests.

I’d come back for the beer but I have little faith in the food here now. Especially considering we paid like $80 for three beers, an appetizer, and...

We had a dreadful experience at AZ Wilderness today. Our biggest complaint was the abysmal service. We were ignored for no less than 40 minutes after we got seated at our table before our waiter finally came to take our drink order. It turns out our waiter had a group of friends at an adjacent table that dominated his attention. Our drinks finally came out around the 60 minute mark; except for one. No one in our party felt right about starting in on our drinks since one of us was missing theirs. After waiting for about 15 minutes, I went to the bar to ask about the missing beer since our waiter was busy chatting with his friends. I asked the bar tender (female) politely about the status of the missing drink and received in return a snarky and sarcastic response concluding with a "thank you for your understanding" in a condescending undertone. Suffice to say, AZ Wilderness has lost my business, and I will ensure to recommend against this business going forward. Arizona has far too many amazing breweries to waste any more time and money here. Do yourself a favor and check out other great breweries with FAR BETTER trained staff.

UPDATE - 08/08/25 The owner reached out to make things right after our last visit, and so we decided to give AZ Wilderness another try. This second visit was better, but things still didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. We had a different person waiting our table this time, but better training is still required.

Our waitress was prompt in getting our water and some samples shortly after being seated. However, after the samples arrived, she didn't swing back to come check up on us for about 30 minutes. When she finally came around, we placed our drink and food orders at the same time - we were starving at this point.

The food and drinks came out in an expected amount of time, and they were delicious. AZ Wilderness certainly offers a stellar product! Where things took another dip was the lack of attention again after food arrival. We didn't see our waitress for another 20 minutes after the food arrived. During the second visit, we tried to place an order for dessert, but she informed us that the kitchen had closed. We would have appreciated an earlier checkup or a last call before the kitchen closes.

All in all, AZ Wilderness could be a great place if they could only get their waitstaff trained better. If you come here, expect stellar beers and food, with a side of service neglect...

A company that knows a quality product will get repeat customers. The food is from scratch with fresh ingredients made with care. The beer is outrageous and I mean that in a good way. Where as my go to is the Refuge IPA (which I recommend), the beers are different almost every time we go in. This helps to keep the selection fresh. They do seasonal beers and foods as well. We have been coming here at least twice a month for years and I want to continue. Please don't ever lose the quality like other places around town! The only con is the wait can be long. They use to have a beer garden you could grab a beer at while you wait, but apparently that's too scary for pandemic times, yet we can pack the restaurant shoulder to shoulder. Bring the beer garden back! Those who are scared can still sit in their car and wait. Shrug Oh well still not worth taking a star off for. UPDATE 1 year later. It really pains me to drop my 5 star review to 3. This used to be my favorite place and would suggest it to everyone and not have to worry about my suggestion being incorrect. We were going every two weeks since this location opened. They used to have a consistent staff that cared. While the beer and food are still good (even though they cut some of the best items off the menu), the staff changes all the time and they just don't seem to care anymore. I am fine with staff talking to each other and having a good time, that keeps moral high, but when you get an order so incorrect it's obvious you weren't even listening and someone is trying to get your attention to get it corrected for five minutes while you laugh with the hostess. The staff is not as friendly as in the past. It used to seem like everyone enjoyed their jobs and cared, but now it's just like everywhere else where they don't want to be there. For now, I'll still go back once a month or so to see if they can correct things but unfortunately I can no longer suggest it....