Crooked Hammock Brewery — Restaurant in Middletown

We usually love Crooked Hammock but today was the worst day we have ever had. So bad we are not even sure we want to return to the Middletown location ever again. It is Mothers Day and restaurants are extra busy, I understand that, I was prepared for that. I originally made a reservation for a party of 8 for 12:30pm. We were going to be early so I called ahead and asked if they were able to accomodate us at 12pm. I also told the young lady that I would understand if they couldn't. She spoke to her manager and they gave her the okay. We got there at 11:50am. The place was complete chaos and lines out the door. They showed us to a table outside. It was a picnic table that would barely fit 6 people. Let alone 8. I went back to the hostess stand to let them know it would not work since there was 8 of us and that was a table for 5 or 6. It was now after 12pm at that point. One of the hostesses said she was looking for a table for us and she would let us know. We waited and we waited. We saw people continuely getting seated. One party was a party of 6. We saw a empty table that would fit our party of 8 with two extra chairs. A party of 6 walked in and the hostess (that was supposed to be "searching" for a table for us) was going to seat the party of 6 that had just walked in the door. I reminded her we had been waiting over 45 mins already AND had a reservation. We did not get seated until 12:38pm. Our food was ordered at 12:49pm. Two at our table ordered appetizers. One was a bowl of chili and the other was boneless wings. It took almost a hour just to get it. The boneless wings were not very saucy and looked and tasted like they had been under the heat lamp for a half hour or more. Our food did not come out until 2:30pm!!!! Almost an hour and 45mins later from order time. We barely saw waitress four times the entire time we were there to refill drinks and to bring the check. We continued to see several smaller parties get their food, even though they arrived well after us. When the food came it was disgusting but we were all too hungry to care at that point so we all choked it down. The pulled pork sandwich was 80% fat and little meat, the backyard burger was crunchy and burnt, a person with a allergy got something on their plate they could not have, the fries were cold, items were forgotten and took a while to get. When the bill came....not even a discount or anything for the extreme wait and frustration. No manager apology nothing!!! Over $200 for awful food and service. We did not get out of there until after 3pm. This is not the Crooked Hammock experience we were expecting. Also there were people in our party who were there for the first time. Not a good impression for them.

Things need to be run a lot more efficient on days like these. Some suggestions ..

Do not have more than 2 hostesses (we saw 3) that way, tables meant for reservations do not get seated by walk ins and there can be a better line of communication. Reservations are supposed to have priority over walk ins. That is the entire purpose of reservations.

If there is a extremely long wait....have servers bring something to the table free of charge...nachos, fruit, bread etc. Something!!! It will help keep hungry customers a little bit more patient. Especially those with small children.

All hands should be on deck on these types of days. The more help, the better things can run. If there is something lacking in one area, shift people around.

If something unforseen happens, management needs to get control of a situation and adapt the best that they can, even if it means getting in the kitchen to help cook or prep themselves.

It should be automatic that if guests wait more than 1 hour (from time of order to the time it gets to the table) they should get 10% of their bill or a free app the next time they come in. Something to show you care about your guests and value their business. It will bring customers back...

We’ve dined out here multiple times and recently had a party.

Dining is great, but it is a popular location and they will not overwhelm their staff by over-seating. If you go at a popular time on a nice day, be prepared to wait.

Food is consistently solid and the menu is consistent. I recently had their in-house adult seltzers and both flavors were delicious and more on par with a vodka spritzer than the over-sweetened artificially flavored big brand seltzers.

For the party, we booked with Kim LaShomb via online event request (thru CH website) and email thereafter. We chose a “social party” so we had to select a minimum or 2 food trays to secure the room and agree to a 23% service fee (as well as individual guest tabs with our party); no other fees. We got the build your own nachos with pulled pork and then a slider tray with pulled pork and chicken caesar wraps. The most popular item was the pulled pork. By default, the slider trays weren’t as consumed because everyone ate the byo nachos, but both sandwiches were good.

So my guests only had to buy drinks or any other menu items they preferred.

I could have kept my total under 450$ by choosing the cheapest trays and drinking water and ordering nothing additional but we spent about 650$ for 3 hours by the end of the night.

Our bartender was dedicated and the family bathroom wasn’t exclusively ours but it was right in the area that was used for our party (the distillery). Air conditioned. Private Door to go to the playground with fairly good view of the play area.

We were served by Graham who was top notch, attentive, and responsive. He was an excellent addition to our party and was most helpful throughout the night.

Oh and they have a rewards program which I finally signed up for before the party. Their program allows you to store a CC that, when used there, automatically rewards you points. Every place should do this.

All around great experience.

Thank you Crooked Hammock, and especially Graham! We’ll...

My wife summed up Crooked Hammock Brewery in a short but memorable remark, “Not gourmet, but okay”.

We were a few hours into our trip, with an hour or so left, so it seemed the perfect place to stop. There are a good many eateries in the area in which we found the Crooked Hammock Brewery: we quickly learned that a number of these restaurants are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The fact is that the area is basically an extended shopping mall that appears to have been constructed last night.

The Crooked Hammock Brewery is bright and airy, and has a delightful outdoor dining area. We chose to dine indoors, as the outside temperature was 98°!

Our server was very nice, and did a nice job explaining things on the menu. My wife had the Signature Burger, I had the Double Smash Burger. We thought both were well prepared. My wife got the Fries, which are more akin to potato chips than regular fries. We both thought that our burgers were very salty, although we should say that we use minimal sodium when we prepare meals at home. I particularly liked the Cole Slaw: it had a tang of lime and cilantro that went well on this hot day.

The Crooked Hammock Brewery has a good representation of beers and ales. I would have liked a hard cider, which they don't have, so I settled for an iced tea (sorry, I'm driving!). My wife isn't a beer person: she had a soft drink.

The Crooked Hammock Breweryis wide open, bright and airy, although a bit noisy, though not terrible.

Parking is great. We did check out the bathrooms: clean and well kept, as is the rest of the restaurant.

So, it's not gourmet, but you won't regret it. The Crooked Hammock Brewery is...