Hoquiam Brewing Co., Inc. — Restaurant in Hoquiam

S L O W -QUIAM Brewing There were only 20 seated customers, but we were neither greeted nor acknowledged when we entered and stood at the "Wait to be Seated" sign for 10 minutes. Tired of waiting & feeling invisible, I stepped up to the empty bar to sample tap beers. Still ignored, I took the initiative to hail the owner who was more or less tending the taps (at the empty bar).

During my 1st 1-ounce taste, the owner was interrupted by an octogenarian intent on providing a nonstop rambling travelogue of her cross country trip (starting on the East Coast). I had to wait the longest 10+ minutes of my life (until she had a senior moment around Missouri?) for a 2nd 1-ounce taster because the owner tending the taps (he explained to me afterwards) "can't do two things at once." He also offered that this Brewery was "not his first rodeo"... that he'd owned several food service operations in the past. Hmmm...

I've been in foodservice for 40+ yrs. The 1st Rule of a Server is "Never allow yourself to be buttonholed by One Customer to the Exclusion of All your other Customers." Why? Because you may please The One, BUT you are Certain To Irritate ALL the Others (whom you ignored). The result was that I had to wait over 25 minutes to get a beer & a table in a Brewery that had 3 floor staff (including the owner on the taps) servicing barely 20 customers.

Let's state the obvious here: #1) If you are a Brewery, you are virtually 100% Guaranteed that Every Customer who steps through your door WANTS A BEER! Get them a Beer PRONTO!! Never, no matter how busy you are, should it take longer than 5 minutes. #2) Make immediate eye contact, smile & greet Every Customer who walks through your door. Every Employee should do this All The Time. Even If the customer still has to wait, At Least they feel welcomed, appreciated & acknowledged. (Not one employee nor the owner did this with any customer during our 1 hour plus visit.) #3) Every restaurant owner needs to periodically step out of her/his box to see the Customer's Experience from the customer's perspective. I understand it's Covid, but still... the place was cluttered & poorly organized - there were logjams & bottlenecks everywhere making the public spaces & even the entrance hard to navigate for customers & staff alike. Example: a long hallway that services both the kitchen & the public restrooms was so full of kegs that barely one person could navigate it - a dangerous situation when Servers carrying food trays had to pass customers going to & from toilets.

Thirsty after a 2 hour drive in 110° heat, it was hard to get over the 25 minute wait for a beer at a brewery... but I'm a professional, so I endeavored to recalibrate...

The two Servers were polite, prompt & attentive in spite of being leaderless. (4☆)

I could tell that the food was made fresh by a cook who cared, but the recipes lacked balance & could benefit from some tweaking & better ingredient selection. Example: Red pizza sauce was too acidic & spicy (hot); pepperoni was low quality; cheese was industrial 4-cheese blend (not 100% mozzarella); fluted crust was odd for me. Sandwiches were decent & well-balanced on homemade bread with good balance, but came with only a tiny bag of Tim's potato chips & a pickle. All in all, food was a bit better than "average", but not as good as it should have / could have been for the price. (3☆)

The brews were ok. Eventually I sampled several. The Stout & flagship IPA & Belgian were...

My husband and I were passing through Hoquiam yesterday on a sleepy New Years afternoon and decided to stop by and try this spot since we love breweries and were hungry. The place was pretty sleepy with only one other couple sitting at the bar when we arrived but shortly a few other folks showed up and all sat bar side. The atmosphere of the place itself was fairly typical "new brewery in old building" vibe. Warehouse feel, low lighting, interesting photos of local history on walls etc. Digital tap board, stainless taps, backlit bartop etc. We each ordered one of their IPA's and I asked for a 12 oz pour which may have been where things got odd who knows. The bartender a woman about my age told me they didn't have a 12 oz pour which is fine but I don't think I heard her the first time she said it so she repeated herself and seemed annoyed. (I should mention I am somewhat hard of hearing so really have to be looking at you sometimes to hear you) I ordered the pint as did my husband and it was fine. Beer was a good fairly unsurprising West Coast IPA, the temperature was perfect, it tasted like the taps and lines are clean, glassware was clean etc. The same woman asked us about food and gave us an adequate amount of time to order. My husband ordered their Ruben and I asked for their burger with cheddar cheese and bacon (which were menu options) and the same woman says to me somewhat ironically "so you want a cheeseburger?" To which I responded "uh yes?" Because I wasn't sure how my request had somehow provoked so much irony. The food came in a reasonable amount of time. It was decent brewery food. My burger was a little overcooked and not just "for me" but since I was not asked how I would like it cooked I was not sure it was an option. My husband's Ruben was delicious as I have seen other reviews mention. While we are sitting there, I am casually observing our curmudgeon bartender be as sweet as cherry pie to literally everyone else sitting around us, but really doesn't have anything to say to us at all. Not that I need to be babysat while at the bar, but it is nice to have someone smile your direction or ask you if you need something else etc. anyway, we were finishing our meal and had long finished our pints without her ever coming over to ask if we wanted another round when she walks up with our ticket slaps it on the bar in front of us and says well I guess you're about done. Wow. I guess I am Sativa. Thanks. So then she walks away, and literally ignores us for another 10 minutes after she clearly wants us out of there before I discover that I can just scan and pay with the QR code which I did. You're welcome to your 15% tip and don't have to worry that we will ever be back. Which is too bad because she was the only bad thing...

The Hoquiam Brewing Co has been open five years. Unfortunately, the covid 'stay at home' was within that period. But recently many friends have been recommending it. So, my husband and I checked it out.

I'm sorry to say that it took us so long to get there. This place is great! I'm a picky eater and most often have a hard time choosing a menu item. The pulled pork sandwich with cold slaw was delicious. Soft bread. Wasn't drowning in bbq sauce. Pork was tender and flavorful. I actually loved it.

My husband enjoyed the battered cod, fries and slaw along with a couple of their owner brewed offerings. All went down with a "oh yum" contentment. He told me he's coming back. And me too.

Its clean and comfortable, with a terrific staff. Kids menu. Prices reasonable for what you get! Hoquiam Brewing Co is only about 4 blocks from the main street through town. So when you are going to or from the beach, bring the family there. You will...