Mad Beach Craft Brewing Company — Restaurant in Madeira Beach

First of all, I've been to most every brewery and taphouse in the Tampa Bay area. This is a place that I usually stop in when I'm in the area. I generally like the beer selection and can find several that I like when we decide to drive down the beach. This was the first time I've been since they added a food menu and was excited to try a few items. The sign leading up the stairs even stated that their food had won awards so I figured we were in for a great dinner and some decent beers... unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

When my girlfriend and I arrived, the place was somewhat busy and we happened to find a couple empty stools at the bar so we quickly ordered a beer and a burger with onion rings to share... We were told the portions were huge and it would makes sense to split it. I figured a burger that cost $12 must be killer and huge so we followed her advise and added onion rings for an extra $3. After waiting 30 minutes for the food to arrive, we asked the bar tendress whom we ordered from that we'd like to move outside where it was cooler. She sent us on our way and reminded us that our food was coming up soon. So we ordered another beer and continued to wait at our table on the balcony. Did I mention we waited... And waited? Well, the bar tendress finally brings the burger and rings then continued to scold us for moving away from the bar. She exclaimed that she is not allowed to run food and that was the reason our food was now cold! I was dumbfounded. Not to mention the burger was really awful. Cold and awful. The onions rings (all three of them) were worse. Since no one even made eye contact with us for the next 30 minutes I asked another server about the meal. We had tried to eat the burger because we were starving by this time but never touched the rings other than a quick bite to experiment with. She told me she would get a manager for us to talk with as she dropped off the bill. Please believe me, all it takes is a staff with some energy and substance to fake that they care what they are doing. This place had none of that. The manager never came... 30 minutes more of waiting for a manager just to leave some feedback of our evening and no one shows... No one makes eye contact... No one cares. AMAZING! With all the other places to go in this area, they just...

3.4 —- not terrible but not memorable

our server was Emily she did her job well- she was friendly and accommodating she definitely got her steps in…

We a double “smash” burger with bacon and cheese and the chicken pesto club! With regular tots and beer, cheese tots, the winner was definitely the chicken pesto club and the beer tots. The chicken was succulent and juicy, and the herb roasted tomatoes mixed with the pesto made for a flavor packed and delicious combo! Burger was disappointing. I wasn’t asked how I wanted it cooked and you sounded need yo be with a smash burger. But what I got wasn’t a Smashburger it was a burger that had been and relieved of all its juice. My burger came out grey almost all the way through a little dry and was still somehow oily. Could’ve used a sauce or smashed. I think Smashburger is just a trendy item to have your menu regardless of if you actually adhere to the smashing component.

Now the beers, they do have a wide range of German style beers, a lot more stout and darker beers than I would have expected. And they were pretty good. I’m not a dark beer drinker. I don’t prefer stouts I definitely prefer the high ABV crisp hoppyness of an IPA with light fruit or citrus notes so settle on Madeira vice. A solid IPA for sure

The vibe of this place is definitely more tourist attraction than local gem or your standard pub. They have old game consoles at some of the tables and there is a mini arcade in the back and a full-size bus around the kitchen. Plastic silver ware and paper towels. It’s bar food so maybe I’m being too critical… but it definitely feels like they know the food is sup par and they are trying to compensate.

Overall not my kinda place don’t I think I’ll...

I am on vacation, and my hobby is traveling to try breweries in other cities. I have been to so many really good breweries in the last week and St Pete definitely has amazing breweries. This is not one of them. I had to pay $30 to park, because I wanted to try this place. So it started with that. I sit at the bar and there is no bartender for about 10 minutes. When a guy finally walks behind the bar he completely ignored me and went and waited on 3 other groups that had arrived after me. I understand he would not have known who arrived first, but even after patiently waiting, I had to flag him down. He did not want to make eye contact, smile or even talk to me. Just took my flight card and filled the order and dropped the flight in front of me. I then went to the restroom and the only handicapped toilet had a sign that said the toilet seat was detached. So handicapped people that are wobbly to begin with have a detached loose toilet seat to deal with. Then I had to listen to one of the waitresses complain to her coworkers about a table. For a good 5 minutes she ranted about how they thought the food and service was bad. Yeah. It is. The truth hurts sometimes. The food and beer are mediocre at best. I was actually warned from other breweries to avoid this spot but wanted to experience it for myself. Apparently I should have listened to them. The redemption came at shift change when Emily took over and was a fabulous server. She is the only reason I gave 2 stars. This place obviously relies on tourists to pay its way rather than returning...