State 48 Lager House — Restaurant in Scottsdale

My husband and I (Lynn & John--this will be relevant soon:)!), were visiting Scottsdale this past weekend from out of town (we live in Oregon). We were looking for a place on Saturday night to kick back, drink some margs and watch the Packers-49ers game. We were staying at Taliesin West and the State 48 Brewery sounded like the place.

Just know, we are SO glad we chose it! We primarily drank margs (which were great), snacked on some onion rings (also very good) and ended the evening with a chocolate sundae (we'd had an early dinner). However, the high point for us that evening was our excellent, clearly experienced server, Gabey. I'm sure she realized after we arrived and ordered, that we were not going to run up a large tab, but she rolled with that. We discovered quite early that her parents are also Lynn & John, and live in Wisconsin, where my sister lives!! She even took a selfie of the three of us to share with the other Lynn & John (although so funny--very good friends here in Oregon met in Madison and also are Lynn & John!). Most of the patrons were rooting for the 49ers so it was great to have a Packers compatriot! We also met a young snowbird from Green Bay, working construction here for three months, and it turned out Gabey had bonded with him too and when she saw me talking to him wondered if we knew one another- NOT, but it was fun to know that there were at least four of us rooting for the Packers.

BTW, I worked myself through graduate school, working as a server, bar tender and cocktail waitress, so I know good service when I see (and receive it). Despite the fun we had, I saw we were not special--Gabey treated everyone with professional respect but also fun, if that was something patrons desired. Because of my experience in this business, I also observed one other aspect of this place that really impressed me--I even pointed it out to Gabey. The way the the bar and food pick-up is organized, out of the business lane, so to speak, was phenomenal to observe and experience. I recall WAY too many times as a server, having to fight my way up to the bar to get my patrons' drinks, and even sometimes food orders, delaying service and the quality of what was ordered.

Our ONLY regret is that the Lager House cannot be my local bar since it's quite a commute from Oregon! Just know we're working with Taliesin West on a project and when we are back in Scottsdale, we'll be sure...

I have eaten here several times with my wife and our young daughter. Quite mediocre food on most occasions… this time around the service was terrible also… we won’t be back, I gave it three stars because it’s not always this bad, but there are so many other good places to eat, don’t take a chance with this place. On this latest visit we arrived around 1pm on a Saturday. We weee seated promptly…. And then we waited… and we waited…. No server, no recognition, no water, no “hey be with you in a second”. After suspecting we might be under some invisibility shield , we decided to leave and try someplace else. As we started to gather my daughter and her army of small toys a waiter finally stopped by . Fearing this was our only shot we ordered drinks and food at the opportunity. The food came out quickly as did our drinks. My burger was blah… and like most places,… they can’t seem to cook a burger with some pink in it… my medium burger was well done. My wife ordered a Caesar salad… also blah, powdered parmasian cheese and three croutons. The taking of our order was the first and last time we saw our waiter. No check in, no opportunity to order another round of drinks. In fact, I almost dropped some cash on the table and walked out after we finished eating as we couldn’t find our waiter to get our check. I finally spotted him and walked over to get our check. This was a one star experience… but on previous visits it’s super average… so if you like bad service and average food, this is the...

I'll start with first impressions- the atmosphere is inviting from the moment you walk in. Very spacious and open with plenty of seating. The tremendous number of beers on draft at the bar as you walk in made me giddy with excitement. The hostess gave us the option of sitting inside or out. Had it been warmer we would have opted to sit on the patio, however my colleague made a comment he wished he brought his flannel he would be warm enough to sit out there. I'm giving the hostess the benefit of the doubt but I found it odd that we were sat virtually outside- as close as possible without being in the sun. It was colder than had we been sat out there. My only neutral feedback about the visit.

We both ordered blueberry lagers- tasty and not overly fruity. I had a State 48 burger- the beer battered pickles on it sold me right away. Opted for fries on the side- it was a very generous portion. Our waiter was friendly and timely with his check ins.

Back to the decor- some cool graffiti on the walls, simple place settings with cloth napkins. The patio had some games scattered- large size jenga and connect 4.

Will most definitely return. It's surprisingly close to OHSO and Four Peaks- both great but always overly busy during lunch and HH so it's a nice...