Lawrence Beer Company — Restaurant in Lawrence

The headline here is that Lawrence Beer Company is most definitely worth a visit for great beer, great food, and awesome staff. (EDIT: I'm updating from 4 to 5 stars as their rock-star social media team clued me in to some helpful info, so read on.)

The building is huge with high ceilings and lots of seating. The aesthetics are interesting and fun with a real community vibe. The downside of such high ceilings and open space? The noise is crazy.

This is not a place to bring a first date, unless you're hoping to avoid the awkward business of actually talking to them.

Bring people who aren't afraid to yell at you. Before our evening at LBC, the last time I screamed at someone that I had to go to the bathroom was in 10th grade gym class when I was asked to do a sit-up.

When you walk in you'll be met with the hostess station where you'll be asked for your phone number so you can be alerted via text when your table is ready. I put my cell on vibrate because there is no way I would have heard it ping.

If you click on the text link you'll see how many people are ahead of you. You can also peruse both the beer menu and the food menu on your phone while you wait. Love, love, love that.

There is a small merch area you can take a peek at while you wait. I wanted to buy it all because it was cute. I didn't actually buy anything, but I did sternly chastise my group when they each took a small lapel pin out of a dish that had no price on it.

"They're free," they said. For all I know there is now a wanted poster on the front door with all our faces on it. I would like it noted for legal reasons that I did not take a lapel pin. I wouldn't last a day in a Lawrence, Kansas prison.

(Edit: LBC replied that YES, they are free! It's such a relief to know I am not going to prison soon...for this.)

If you plan on a visit to LBC, eat a snack before you come. We were told to expect a 45 minute wait. It turned out to be more like an hour and fifteen minutes. When I captured a screenshot of the wait on my phone, we'd already been there more than 30 minutes.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I submit the whole illicit pin thing never would have happened had we not been standing for so long.

We stood looking at two empty tables in front of us while we waited. I'm not in the restaurant business so I have no idea whether there was some reason I wasn't aware of that left them empty almost the entire time. Maybe a secret upstairs security team had watched the pin incident go down and wanted to punish us.

(Edit: Thanks to LBC for letting me know that those tables were taken via reservation. So YAY! We can make reservations!)

By the time we were seated we were, as you might expect, tired and hungry. Thank goodness the service was on point. Our server was super quick and knowledgeable about the beer. The food was brilliant. Worth the long wait? That depends on how hangry you get.

All in all, I'll for sure be back. I'll eat a snack before I go, I'll practice hand signals with my friends, and I swear on all that is holy I'll rat on them immediately if they even go near a dish of lapel pins. (Edit: lapel pins are a go per LBC, but I will for sure rat them out for absolutely anything else they do that I...

Wow. What a horrendous difference 6 months makes.

I came to eat here back in May of 2021 and I absolutely LOVED it - the BBQ pulled pork sandwich was delicious, and everything was well priced.

Now? Now they not only no longer have the BBQ pulled pork sandwich, but the replacement item is an abomination and the pricing is absurd. The new BBQ sauce is actually honey mustard (I confirmed this with others sitting at my table), the bread is flat like pita bread and burnt, and the pulled pork itself was flavorless.

I initially asked for BBQ sauce after getting the sandwich because it looked like there was none on there... only to be dismayed when I realized what they now considered "BBQ" sauce was already on the sandwich and was awful. Oh, and I got charged $1 extra for the "BBQ" sauce on the side - which our waitress did not mention at the time of ordering and there was no pricing for "side sauces" on the menu - for a tiny portion.

I also requested ranch to dip my fries in, and what I received (also for the stupidly expensive price of $1 for a tiny amount, again not mentioned by our server) was more like vinegar sour cream with some garlic thrown in. It was the worst ranch I have ever eaten.

At the end of our meal, we were also surprised to find that there are no free refills on soda - and again our waitress did not let us know and there was no fountain drink listing on the menu for us to learn this ourselves.

I was frustrated and disappointed with the food and the change in pricing decisions that have occurred over the last 6 months (when I was previously not charged additional for sauces or a refill and they actually had BBQ sauce).

I will also mention at the end here that the others at my table were also dismayed and upset by the taste/quality of their meals (more burnt bread and lack of flavor/odd tasting mayo).

I would have recommended this place to everyone six months ago, but now? Please save yourself and your wallet the headache.

(Attached are photos of the sandwich and "BBQ" sauce - the other half of my sandwich was even worse but I forgot to...

Clearly they are just getting started. You're required to pass through an area that has a waitress station on one side and food preparation on the other to get to the bathrooms. My wife did NOT like that at all. (She's professionally trained in food service safety.) The beer is pretty good, but not $5 good. That's a premium price (the highest?) for a pint in our town. If you like fashionable beers, like IPAs and sours, then there are a lot of options. If you prefer more pedestrian beers such as European ales or oktoberfests, there are a couple few. There is a stout. But they are still getting started. The seating is a bit awkward for less sociable people with quite a few 'communal' seating tables. Our wait for a table for two during Friday's busy time was not bad at all. Seating in the bar area seems to be a very popular option. There isn't a lot of 'normal' food on the menu, which we kind of expected, considering the chef was at Pacha Mama's. Be careful how you order your food and ask lots of questions of your server. None of the appetizers sounded appetizing to either of us. Black Bean Hummus was the closest. I'm sure it must be delicious. The cheeseburgers we had were in fact, amazingly delicious. But all you get on your large, blue stoneware plate is a lonely cheeseburger. If you think it should be accompanied by anything at all, you will need to be sure to order it. They do have waffle fries available, but they do not appear on the menu that way. Pomme frites are the closest relative. But once again, simply let your server know what you're looking for and I'm sure they will be happy to help. The staff was all very warm and welcoming. We will be back, but probably not right away. We are going to give them some time to evolve and then...