Thunderhead Brewing — Restaurant in Kearney

In short, great food, really decent craft brew in a unique location.

If you're like me, and you've both made and had a lot of craft beer, you can always appreciate a new venue to experience someone else's take on the art. Trevor has been leading the charge for publicly sold craft beer in Kearney, and it shows in his product. The building itself is a restored historic storefront just off the downtown main, and it retains a lot of its former charm in it's new residency.

On the drinks menu, one will find a decent selection of different popular styles of craft brew, all made right here in central Nebraska. Some of the offerings are constant, a borderline institution of the tri-city craft brew scene, others come and go according to the season or the malts and hops available. And a rare few, like the infamous Tiny Tim, are extremely limited offerings, only available during certain times of the year and in small quantities.

Most of the varieties are very good, all having a nice balance of well-selected malt and harmonious hops (it sounds like BS, but if you've ever made beer, it's a thing). Very rarely, one will find a slight note from something hoppy that doesn't 100% feel like it should be there, but it's rare, and most likely comes down to availability and personal preference more than a technical flaw. The one nitpick is, the beers on offer seem to lack that 'final 1%', that secret sauce, the little tiny bit of polish that makes something like Zipline or White Elm beers feel really professional; these still feel like they are a craft brew. That said, I would drink it from a tap, but I'd be less likely to buy it in a can or bottle than one of the above.

And before we pass over it, the food is really quite excellent. No fine dining, tiny sauce dotted plated here, we're talking brick oven pizzas and calzones, get taproom style apps, and custom, borderline next-level, baked potato possibilities. Ever have a chicken and artichoke alfredo baked potato before? Isn't it time you did? The pricing ranges from almost dirt cheap on a lot of offerings to a little bit much on a couple of the more specialized items, but 100%, you will get more than you pay for in terms of flavors and quality.

All things said and done, this is a must-visit location for anyone that is a fan of taproom style tasting and dining, and has a desire to try some of the best crafted and well established craft brew...

My wife placed an order Saturday night which came out to be $132.91. The person she placed the order with said it would be 20 minutes. I waited 10 minutes before leaving my house. I'm about 20 minutes away. I know that because last week she placed an order for $104.00 and they said it would be 25 minutes so I left my house 15 minutes later. Anyway, I get there' pay the bill at 5:13 pm. They said it would be a few minutes. I waited near the bar and other customer were coming in and picking up their food before me. A family of 5 came in, sat at a table and got this food before I got mine. At 5:57 pm, they brought my food to me. I know that because I looked at my cellphone for the time. I was there waiting 43 minutes not including the time I stayed at home and drove there. The food wasn't even hot. I don't mind waiting but if you told my wife it was going to be over an hour then she would have told me. For a loyal customer who spent over 234 dollars in 2 weeks I don't think it's good business practice. My loyalty account number ends with 1786 if you want to reach contact me. If not, I'm not going to be a...

Went to thunderhead brewing based on the reviews and a love of beer. Arrived and was told it's open seating up or downstairs. Grabbed a booth and placed an order for a couple beers. The beers arrived flat, no head and roughly 20 minutes after they were ordered. My colleague didn't like the beer he had chosen and the waitress offered to take this beer off the bill and get him something else. She offered a few samples and we placed our order. Our calzones arrived and they were excellent! Good flavor and just the right size to be filling. The beer samples arrived after we finished eating. We decided not to stick around for another round and I paid our bill and we left. When I arrived home and checked the bill my colleagues beer was still on there, which truly i have no problem with but overall I won't be back for the...