Ghost Town Brewing - Laurel Biergarten & Kitchen — Restaurant in Oakland

Their product is excellent. I've been drinking their beers since they were only making 3-4 in bottles a few years ago. Now, they have an expanded selection, including Foeder aged, porters, and many IPA's. I give 3 stars here because I bought a Growler at this location; when I brought it back to be refilled it was explained to me they couldn't refill it there, and I had to bring it to their brewery location on Adeline. The woman goes on to explain the beer in cans is the same amount, but cheaper, how she's 'trying to train her staff to tell people'. I left with a four pack and an empty Growler from the place I bought it a week ago. I thought they should warn the consumer (me) that the Grolwer would not be able to be refilled at the Laurel location, as most people purchase Growlers to refill and have the freshest brew. They failed on that. So, I'm knocking them down a few stars until they get their customer service game together. Otherwise, it's a good beer in beer garden setting in the Laurel. Gentrify baby. Ya'll replied to my review; but it was a GHOST TOWN Growler that you all refused to refill. So, I'm really confused. You even have the "Refill" prices displayed at the counter. I think I deserve a...

This place has a lot of potential. They have a smaller selection of beers (mostly IPAs), but the ones we tried were good.

We saw people eating the appetizers, which all looked amazing. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich and the burger, both with fries.

The fries were delicious, but unfortunately they couldn't make up for the rest of it. The pulled pork sandwich came out cold and really not that flavorful.

However, the real offender was the burger. Ugh, the burger. For context, I love all hamburgers and rarely complain, unless it's truly inedible... like this one. It came out with just the sauce, cheese, and pickles, but it could still be good, right? Nope - it just got worse from there on out. The burger was also cold, but there was something seriously off about the flavor. I couldn't put my finger on it - but then it hit me... the meat tasted like the smell of a wet dog. My partner said it tasted like the mystery meat burgers from the high school cafeteria.

Maybe we'll come back and try this place again, after which I can hopefully change my review. I really hope they work on their bigger plates, like they obviously have with their smaller plates. Until then, STAY CLEAR...

A welcome new food and brew spot in the Laurel district that’s clean, well maintained, and family friendly. The entire location is outdoors except for where you order. The tables are all ,outdoors with tented tables and a few roof coverings; and with East Bay weather that means it’s pleasant all year round! Bus your own table style ordering with some 4 out of 5 food to go with it. (Their chicken sandwich and Brussels sprouts are a tad on the greasy and less crispy side). It’s clean, hip, well maintained and has corn hole on astroturf (i.e. no mud!!!). Come here on a weeknight or weekend morning and it’ll be packed with families (including mine!) - which leads to me to my only negative surprise of not having a kids menu. I’m sober so I can’t speak to the beer, but I hear it’s pretty good for a local brew.

Overall, Oakland needs more spots like this.

Advice for the owners:

1. Implement a kids menu
2. Make your menu signage more dynamic and print menus more legible by including spacing between offerings
3. Change the name on Google Maps to distinguish this location from the other one so there’s no confusion in meeting up with friends. (I.e. what Drakes does with their...