b² Taphouse & Grill — Restaurant in Salem

Update: b2 is under new ownership as of 8/5/24. It's probably too early to re-review, but changes are happening including:

now open 11a-11p everyday no longer a happy hour (used to be 2-5pm on weekdays) the quality of the taplist has gotten worse. It seems like the new owners don't know much about craft beer prices have gone up seems likely the b2 house beers will go away once the current inventory is gone

This has been my go-to bar for years, so these changes are concerning. I will continue to go for now, and hopefully things will improve. I'll update the review again once the new owners have had more time to settle in. I just didn't think it was fair to leave my original review as-is since things are changing. Original review:

Open concept taphouse & restaurant with solid house beers & a strong guest tap list. Excellent selection of canned & bottled craft beers to take away or drink on site. Wine, cocktails, and a wide selection of non-alcoholic drinks are available as well. Food is higher-end bar food, and they usually have an off-menu special going.

Seating is separated into bar & restaurant sides. There's also a great covered outside seating area with a fire pit, along with some uncovered outside seating options in the nicer months.

Family friendly, as well as pet friendly (outside only for the pets though).

Definitely one of the better options for beer and/or...

Reply to owner: The beer that tasted infected was not yours, and my palate is very sensitive to off flavors. Being a homebrewer, I can usually detect this. Just because other people don't say anything doesn't mean there isn't an issue.

A customer should bring concerns to your attention. You obviously don't care, and instead of addressing a potential problem, you blame it on the customer. Bad business practice. We will not return, and I have informed several people of your total lack of concern.

I've been here a few times with a friend of mine while visiting from out of town. The environment is fair, nothing special, the food is average but good for the money, good tap selection, and quick service.

During a recent visit, I sampled several beers, and at least two were definitely infected. They tasted sour, and neither beer was that style. My friend even mentioned his didn't quite taste right.

If one beer is off, most likely the keg is infected. If multiple taste off, then lines are probably dirty.

I notified the blonde female bartender of this twice, but she shrugged it off and showed zero concern. She wasn't rude, but I could tell she just didn't care. Not good.

I plan to return on my next visit and see if this is resolved. If not, there are...

I've been to b² numerous times and it has been great. Recently, not so much. First, great selection of beers and other drinks, friendly staff, nice vibe. I've had good burgers and tacos there. On my last visit they were cutting costs. There were menu items just scratched off with black marker. The ladies at the till had a list of at least 6-7 things they are out of, carne asada, Korean beef, etc. but many of those items were still on the menu so you had to go through item by item to see if something might still be available. We got two things, fish tacos and beef tacos. The fish were still good, had diverse ingredients and good flavors. The beef tacos were embarrassing. Barely seasoned dry ground beef, a load of iceberg lettuce and some dry shredded packaged cheese. No sauces, no sour cream. The taco shells were stale and should have been toasted a little. They were inedible.

Cut costs if you must but offer fewer food options, and make sure every item brings people back. The difference in quality between the fish and beef was unbelievable. I've had better tacos at Taco Bell and I hate chain foods. I'll give em another go but hope they improve or we'll lose another good option in...