Pizza Boy Brewing — Restaurant in Hampden Township

We were disappointed with our visit overall. Visiting on a Friday early evening from an hour away, we had hoped for a better experience. The subs are built to be eye appealing upon delivery to your table, but fail to inspire a craving-driven return visit that a consumer experiences after a memorable meal. The sandwiches are fluffed up with inexpensive and tasteless veggies, messy to eat because of this, and the meat portion of the dishes are on the frugal side. I would appreciate if they added a more detailed description to their products. For example: the sausage and peppers sub(USD $11.00) consists of a well textured pizza dough roll typically used for a heartier dish like a cheesesteak, filled with SLICED sausage pieces of the type used to top a pizza. I advise using a lighter roll to enhance the dish as well as using naturally cased sausages(order the sausages whole from your purveyor, preferably a local or regional provider, and slice them down after removing the skin for pizza topping use if your strategy is to control food cost via streamlining of ingredients-not vice versa). The most concerning was the bland and tasteless red sauce and peppers that did not represent the integrity of Mediterranean cuisine. A pinch of shredded mozzarella is lost somewhere in the mix on this sandwich as well-just save the mozzarella and offer customers a small 2oz souffle cup of a grated parmesan or romano at point of order to enhance taste and experience by a customization aspect. Tiny and thin shoestring style ( I guess?) onions are also included on this sandwich. I used about half of the garlic, salt and oregano provided on the self service condiment cart from the corner of the room to make the meal palatable and give my tastebuds some sort of stimulation. This gleaned a feeling of regret from a health aspect because of the amount of salt I consciously added in order to enjoy my meal somewhat. The chicken hoagie cheesesteak followed similar suit, except for the fact that onions and oil were carelessly forgotten, while listed on the menu as part of the item description. No sides(chips, pickle) are included; not that I would have wanted them but for the price point the general consumer expects more value and/or customization. If these points are not met, the dish better at least taste good. Adding more spices to your sauce and peppers would have driven us to order more drinks to pair with and complement our meal. Instead, we had one beer each(about $11.00 for two beers and spent $23.00 for our combined dinner meals) and left after an hour. A party of two individuals categorized as a Dual Income with No Kids couple is normally the target demographic for this type of establishment. Instead, they missed their mark and profitability opportunity on our particular table. We would have said something about our disappointment to the staff at the front (there is no table service) but to be frank, we didn't care enough because it was a forgettable experience and we did not really intend to ever return. Maybe if the world was ending and I was stranded north of Harrisburg and my life depended on finding food for sustenance to survive, I would return. I got the impression of a well marketed establishment that is lazy in the kitchen. I did not have pizza, but if this is done well, may I suggest embracing that aspect of your menu and eliminate the offerings that are doing you more harm than good, by way of these lackluster reviews. Beer selection was mediocre with too many Pizza Boy brews merchandised front and center, flanked by buzz breweries like Half Acre, Maine and Tired Hands offering outdated barrels of beers that are not the best these brewers have to offer. The popular brewers seem to me to use Al's as an outlet to liquidate their slower moving offerings. This review is meant as helpful criticism to improve a place that has potential. Please do not insult anymore foodies with your amateur offerings in the meantime. Editors Note: staff was extremely friendly which was refreshing. Keep up the good work in that department....

THERES A SERVICE FEE BUT THERE’S NO WAIT STAFF. I asked a staff member what this was for, and they said it’s because the prices of food had increased due to inflation. But instead of raising the prices they added a service fee. The owner is clearly trying to trick people into thinking the food is cheaper than it is. Terrible pricing model and a very shady business practice. I wish the staff had said the service fee was extra money for the employees but no, it’s for managements bottom line.

Honestly had a lot of problems with this place. The menu doesn’t have pricing on it and the staff couldn’t easily give the prices for food without manually checking each item. The staff agreed that many people apparently dislike this and they were unsure why management hadn’t made a change.

THEY CHARGE FOR LETTUCE ON A SANDWICH! This was not explained to me when ordering and again, the menu doesn’t have any prices. After ordering I was told there’s an online menu, but this was only after ordering. This isn’t a problem with staff, it’s a management issue. I like to know what I’m paying for.

Second the sandwiches don’t come with a side. This would be fine, but a chicken sandwich was $15. Well technically $13, but it became $15 because I wasn’t informed that lettuce is $0.50. Again, management issue not a staff issue. I expected a foot long sub for that price, but it wasn’t. It felt small sub with more lettuce than chicken. This is Harrisburg, not California. That’s way too expensive for a small sandwich. I expected the bread to be great since they serve so much pizza, but it was average at best. The flavor of the hot sauce on the chicken sandwich was underwhelming too. There were also little things like no napkins on the table, different condiments on every table, and no wait staff.

Seems like they had a large collection of beer, so maybe if I was drunk I wouldn’t have realized the food wasn’t any good and that they’re robbing people with their shady...

First time here. It was confusing. You seat yourself but have to order food via QR code or at the front counter. Sit at the bar if you'd like to order your food and beer together. Otherwise you'll be getting up every time you need a refill. I know this is normal for breweries without inhouse food (like food trucks), but this place feels like more of a family restaurant where you should be able to order everything from the table. Anyways, the beer glass was clean and the beer tasted good.

Other than the confusing layout the menu offerings are quite standard. I probably should have gotten pizza as everyone else was, but was in the mood for wings so I got them instead. Can't knock the size as they were big bois, but the sauce was skimpy, drizzled over top rather than being tossed in sauce. It left the wings very crispy, almost too much so, but to me they tasted almost as much like fryer oil as they did hot garlic. Not a fan. Anyways, we also had the cheese steak stuffed pizza which tasted a bit too much like school lunch sheets of steak. It was cooked well and ok with enough marinara sauce but I don't think I would recommend it. Perhaps more seasoning would have helped.

I feel sort of bad leaving this review as the staff were nice enough, but I really was not impressed by anything here. Not to mention it could have been a bit cleaner (tables wiped off, communal silverware/condiment area wiped down, etc.). Honestly just the idea of having loose cups of silverware and all the condiments on one table in the dining area for anyone to grab is a bit off-putting, especially with the number of small kids running around. Hard to tell how often that is policed by the staff.

Overall everything was acceptable but there was nothing that makes me want to...