Belle Isle Restaurant & Pub — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

Let me start by saying I have loved Belle Isle for many years. I've seen live music, played bingo, and done team trivia. I have many fond memories of this place.

I also haven't been there in a while, but it's apparent. Something has changed. I had friends come into town from Kansas on a Saturday and they wanted to go somewhere to watch a football game and play pool. So enthusiastically, I suggested Belle Isle Brewery. I knew they had plenty of TVs, pool tables, and delicious food. It seemed like the perfect place.

That's where this story takes a turn. First, the hours on their website say the bar opens at 11am, but that is clearly not true. Our friends got there at 3:20pm. The bar upstairs was closed. So, they drank down stairs. Me and my date eventually made it and I will say this, our bartender down there, was amazing. She was funny and super helpful. Her shift ended, and she sent us upstairs, said the bartenders showed up and we could head on up.

So, we went upstairs. This is what happened next. First, the lights were off, and the bartender, David, rudely let us know they wouldn't be open for 20 minutes. We replied, "They told us you were open." He redponded, "We'll, they lied to you." We were shocked! We asked, "Well, can we hang out until you open, play pool?" And he said, "Sure. I just won't be able to help you." For us, that was fine. We were already there and we decided to play, even though we also had to ask for him to turn on the lights.

15 minutes pass and two guys walk in and go right up to the bar. The bartender recognized one of them and struck up a conversation. The younger of the two remarked that he was there with his dad and wanted to bring him by. David served them immediately and didn't pay us any attention. I couldn't believe it and was blown away. The blatant disregard was appalling. It was beyond disrespectful. A few minutes later I went over to see if the other bar was open because I wanted no part of interacting with David, but no one was over there. David saw me and finally asked if we needed anything. Disappointingly, I ordered. They were out of Modelo, so I only ordered one beer.

It truly breaks my heart to write this review but unfortunately, it has tarnished my Belle Isle fondness forever. We would have bought food and plenty more drinks had he understood that it wasn't our fault they weren't open when their website and their staff downstairs stated they would be. I only wanted my out of town friends to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, David chose to treat Belle Isle Patrons like they were less than welcome.

I won't be going back and will never again suggest it as a hangout spot. Unfortunately it's just not...

I wish it were possible to leave a neutral review, because unfortunately I can’t speak to the quality of the food here. I just feel like it should be noted that, despite Bell Isle’s name, sign, and google business listing advertising that it is a brewery....they do not brew beer here. I repeat, THIS IS NOT A BREWERY. (sorry for the caps, I just think that is a pretty important point to make). My husband and I were on a road trip and stopped in OKC for the night. As home brewers ourselves, we like to try local breweries when we travel. We wanted to try Bricktown, but we’re traveling with our dog and were looking for a dog friendly spot. Bell Isle was, unfortunately, the only local “brewery” listed as dog friendly on Bring Fido. The outdoor seating is dog friendly, but the patio area was terrible. I felt like I was sitting at a random table outside a mall, there was no attempt to make the patio feel like a cohesive part of the restaurant. It was also heavily caked in pigeon poop. We asked our server about their beers (we weren’t given menus or a beer list) and were told they had Stella, Shiner, etc. When we asked about their actual Bell Isle brews (since, again, the massive sign right in front of us said “restaurant and brewery”) we were told that they no longer brew their own beer because they decided not to renew their brewing license. Incredibly disappointing since we had driven 20 minutes out of downtown...

We were there (six of us) for the Chicago Tribute Band last Friday night (6/10/23)... It was packed and they were under staffed so we didn't order food as it would have been impossible. They only had one person working the floor so I can't rate the food or service in this review. I can say that management needs to be more prepared with more help when they're having an event like this. But, in their defense, nobody wants to work anymore ever since the government started giving money away. So, we just helped ourselves to the bar in order her own drinks. (The waiter that was eventually going to get to our tables seem to appreciate that we did that and I talked to him and he seemed relieved and he apologized about the chaos. And I told him it wasn't his fault. And I could use the exercise to get up and go to the bar. Don't get me wrong, I've been to the Belle Isle brewery many times and I will continue to come... It was just a night of not enough employees.

I must say, the NEW SOUND SYSTEM sounded amazing. The band even made a comment about it. FYI, if you get to see this band perform, do yourself a favor and go! I hope the Belle Isle Brewery will have them back soon. They sounded just like Chicago and they enjoy doing what they do. I'll post pictures of...