Red River Brewing Company & Distillery — Restaurant in Red River

I have been a mystery shopper for many years, for all different types of companies. I have been providing reviews for companies, in house for the last 15 years. Customers are still wanting to know that they are getting the best deal for their money these days. It is important to remember that most restaurants are still short staffed with scaled back hours. With that being said, I do not include criticism about wait times for any service when writing my reviews.

Several years ago, we visited Red River, NM and enjoyed a wonderful meal at Red River Brewery. We all fell in love with their Old Fashion Homemade Root Beer. So, we purchased 7 growlers to bring back to Louisiana. They told us at that time when you come back, bring the growlers back and there is a discount given to refill.

Prior to our return visit to Red River Brewery, I reached out to management by email just to let them know that we would be visiting the area again and would stop in to eat and would like to refill our growlers. Michael Calhoun quickly responded and was delighted that we were returning. We planned our visit during a time that it would be more convenient for the bartender who has the task of filling the growlers.

Our experience at Red River Brewery (2/5/2023) At Red River Brewery you will find a mix crowd of customers, younger folks and the young at heart. We were greeted from the moment we arrived. The wait was not long for a mid-afternoon visit (3:30PM). Art, our server, was extremely polite, knowledgeable, and very friendly. He had other tables but never failed to make sure we didn't need anything. We were with a group of 6 and needed a table that was wheelchair accessible which was not a problem. Everyone at our table ordered something different and we were not disappointed.

FRIED CHEESE CURDS (We absolutely love these) SHANE'S FLAMING BRISKET POPPERS (These are a little Pepper Hot) REUBEN (One couple preferred more thousand island dressing and Art brought more to the table) BACON CHICKEN RANCH SANDWICH (Ranch Dressing is served on the side, but I wanted to add Mayo and Art brought that out as well. Green Chiles are added at additional cost. We did not order them but sandwich came out with them. Excellent) OLD FASHION HOMEMADE ROOTBEER (Our table all wanted Root Beer, so it was a better deal for us to order a pitcher than by the glass. Refills on this item is not included.)

The food was wonderful, from preparation to presentation. However, what truly made the meal unforgettable is the staff…always smiling and helpful. Stephen, bartender who filled our growlers, even carried the box of 10 out to our car. Note: If you are bringing the growlers down from the higher altitude. We recommend that you check to be sure that they remain tight on your trip home, so you don’t lose their fizz.

We never felt rushed and there was plenty of time between appetizers and our meal arriving to enjoy the atmosphere. Payment is taken care of at your table, so there is no standing in line when you leave. If you are with a party of 8 or more and 18% gratuity is added.

Michael & Sharon Calhoun clearly have the respect of their staff. They represent the type of Owners/Management that any company would want on board if they truly want positive recognition and feedback from their customers. We have never been disappointed with RRB food or spirits and found all their menu items to be reasonably priced. Even if you are not staying in the Red River area, it is...

You can't beat the view! The service was really good and I would say the good was also really good. Not amazing but "really good". Our waiter was very friendly, personable, and helpful. He made revisions when we asked and the good got to us quickly. We sat outside (like everyone else because of covid) and I had a seat in the sun. I loved it! Out was only about 70 and I felt like a big lizard basking in the sun. I would have taken a nap, if I would have been assured I shouldn't have fallen out of my stool. A couple with a baby came a little while later and the sun was bothering the poor little guy and the wait staff was very attentive and raised the shade so they could be comfortable. It was a bit windy but the patio area was very protected and comfortable. The huge pine table tops are incredible! Our food was "really good". Not life changing, but really good. We shared some garlic parmesan wings. Great quality wings! They most have been of a pterodactyl. Seriously. They were cooked well and came out surprisingly quickly. They are "wet" and i wish that would have been part of the description. I prefer drier, crisper wings. Having said that, they were very flavorful(maybe a bit salty). We then shared a hatch green chili burger with fries. The shoe string fries were great! Slightly crisp but not over cooked. Fantastic. Our burger was really good. My wife hasn't had Hatch chili before (that she was aware of) and really liked it. It had great flavor. The burger came on a nice bun and the lettuce, tomatoe, and onion were perfect. The patty was cooked perfectly. My only disappointment with it was it seemed like a patty you get in a box. Don't get me wrong, they did nice job but I was really expecting a hand shaped, fresh patty at a place like this. We finished the meal with some homemade icecream on a fresh, hot chocolate chip cookie in a tiny cast iron skillet. My daughter and I have a cookie bakery and this was an excellent cookie (truth be told, I don't really like chocolate chip cookie but it was still a great one). The icecream was fantastic and, even though we really didn't need it, it was a nice end to the meal. We will definitely be back, but we wil try something...

We drove up from our place where we were staying ,which was about 10 miles west of Angel Fire to eat here. We have some close friends who have a family connection to the owners. We had heard great things about the place.

The has a very cool vibe with lots of outdoor dining as well as inside. They have a nice list of beers they brew which are quite good. They also are a distillery. The food menu, while not huge offers a pretty good selection, so you should be able to find something you like. We had chips and salsa and queso ( ordered it later. I'll talk about that in a moment). We split a burger. It was good not memorable. You can add some things to make it more unique, but I would still call their burger average. They make their own BBQ sauce so maybe we should have tried the BBQ.

Here's the main reason for the 4 stars rather than 5: the waiter. While he was certainly pleasant, he was very slow, especially with getting our beer to us and he never removed our dirty dishes. A good wait person will always be attentive to you needs. Once we ordered, the food came quickly but delivered by someone else. A bit later, my wife decided she wanted to try the queso with our chips. When were finished and the waiter came with his handheld device, it only showed the total amount. No itemization. When my wife ask to see the itemized bill, the waiter provided his device and left. After a very long absence he returned, at which point my wife point out that they charged the wrong price for the queso that came with chips. She noticed that the device had an option to change the price or delete the item, which he did neither. He left and waited on other tables and eventually spoke with a manager. When returned, they removed the item from our bill. We only want the correct amount to be charged.

I know this a very long review. I am sorry to be so long winded, but it took about 30 min to get one minor issue addressed and resolved.

Finally: We say go there. It is totally worth it. Just require your server to...