Wharf Hill Brewing Company — Restaurant in Smithfield

Had the chance to visit the Wharf Hill Brewing Company this evening. To sum this place up in one word? That would be WOW!!! We did take out tonight so my atmosphere rating is limited but entering the bar you're presented with an open area with huge windows for sunlight. There's a couple of tables there that make for a calm, well sunlit area for reading while enjoying some really great food and drinks. As you walk up the 3 or 4 steps, you enter the bar area. A little darker, but not so dark you can't read the menu or the receipt. The music was loud enough to hear but not overpowering. The rustic decor, wooden floors and a beautiful bar top really added to the ambience of a home town bar. The prices were really good considering the amount of food you get. So let's get to the food..... First let me say that any time my wife gets something and she can't put it down, even after we get home, you know it's good. For starters we ordered Non Wontons. BBQ pork, cole slaw and a little parm cheese all wrapped up in a wonton wrapper and deep fried. The coloring was a perfect golden brown, and when you bite into it the middle is hot all the way through, moist, and the pork is juicy and well seasoned. The slaw is crispy and you get this bite that is a little sweet, savory, and a really nice crunch from the outside. Fantastic. (That's what my wife couldn't put down) Next was the meatball appetizer. Beef, sausage and seasonings drizzled in a very tasty marinara sauce and covered in mozzarella cheese. Not greasy, and totally delicious. I ordered the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THAT WAS SCRUMPTIOUS!!!! First, they don't use any prepackaged meatloaf here. Definitely homemade. It was tender, moist but firm, just the right amount of seasonings and really gives you a substantial bite. The mashed potatoes were Yukon Gold potatoes, buttery, Definitely real, and oh so good. The brown gravy they cover all of it in is rich, beefy, and the mushrooms I had them put on the meatloaf were perfectly cooked. As a side with the meatloaf I got the onion rings. Again, no prepackaged stuff here. Hand breaded, and fried to a golden brown. The breading was crispy, perfectly seasoned while the onion was tender and hot. Just the way you want an onion ring to be. For desert we tried a couple different things. We got the bread pudding, (I had to.....hey, it's bread pudding) and the peanut butter tort. So if you've read any of my previous reviews you know I absolutely love bread pudding. That being said, this one was a little different. The presentation was gorgeous. A perfect square of bread pudding, topped with pecans. Now I'm going to assume that had we had dined in instead of take out the might have warmed it up. But it was cold. Not bad, but not the creamy custard like consistency that I would prefer. The initial bite gave me an immediate vision of pumpkin pie. A lot of allspice and nutmeg. And although I adore pumpkin pie, I don't expect my bread pudding to taste like it. Just as a side note, when we got home I warmed it up in the microwave and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to it and it really came alive. So I suggest that you ask for it that way when eating in. Now the peanut butter tort is in a class all to itself. Peanut butter lovers will absolutely love this desert. Picture this: a thick soft peanut butter cookie over a layer of dark chocolate. Yum yum yum!!!! If you are visiting Smithfield you owe it to yourself to visit the Wharf Hill Brewing Company. They have something for everyone, and you won't be disappointed. Ratings are as follows: Atmosphere: A Apps and entrée: A Desert: B Price: $43 before tip so I would...

Revised 14 Mar 21. Spoke to one of the owners and gave it another chance. We decided to dine in this time and we’re not disappointed. We started with fried green tomatoes. A generous portion of six slices were perfectly cooked and delicious. They also served little yeast rolls that were some of the best I’ve had. I ordered a cup of the fisherman’s stew and the Ruben sandwich. The stew was a creamy tomato base and was delicious comfort food on the cold winter day. The rueben was piled high with beef and the bread was toasted golden brown. Though I would have preferred just a little more sauerkraut is was really good. My wife ordered fish and chips. The fish filet was giant and the fries were perfectly cooked. The fish was perfectly cooked with a golden beer batter and tender flakey fish was delicious. She loved it all. We’ll be back again for sure now!!

A mixed bag for a first visit. So I ordered online and the pickup time was 45 minutes for a burger and meatball sub with fries. I went in fifteen minutes early and the order was already done. I can imagine how the food would have been after sitting in a sealed container for another fifteen minutes. I had to request ketchup up and to my surprise nothing else was in the bag either. Not even napkins. Fortunately I had some in the glove box. We drove to the parking lot a minute away to have the meal while enjoying the water view. The fries were still pretty warm but my brat burger was not. It was likely the worst burger I’ve ever had. First the pretzel roll was not soft and chewy as it was stale which accounted for the bun cracking and falling apart with the first attempt to have a bite. The beer-braised onions were cold and bitter with almost no flavor. The house made brat patty was thin, over cooked and had no flavor at all. I could not even detect the brown mustard or even the sauerkraut I paid extra for. The entire burger I was so looking forward to was a total disappointment. If they had actually used some salt or given a proper amount of mustard and kraut it would have improved but the onions were just terrible. The fact they were noticeably cold told me they came from fridge and weren’t fresh at all. My wife had the meatball sub and it was really good although the bun was extremely soggy from the steam of being sealed and the pickle juice that was just tossed into the bottom of the container then the sub sat right in top of it. It was not fresh hot either. We started eating less than five minutes after picking the food up so I’m glad we showed up early. Fries were good as well. If you order online show up at least 20 minutes earlier that the time shows on the order. You’ll be glad you did. Not sure we’ll be back but we may give it one...

UPDATED REVIEW

I've been coming here for a few years now and everything has changed. The service is slow and god help you if you need to get the attention of your waiter. They seem to vanish as soon as you put in your order. It honestly felt like they forgot us as table after table that arrived after us received their food.

Two of the last three times I've been there I had the grilled cheese. It has been cold and the cheese was unappetizing. I had it a few years ago and it was amazing, nice and gooey and, most importantly, warm when it hit the table.

The last time I went with some friends and it was just awful. We got burnt onion rings for our appetizer, a shrimp poboy with shrimp so rubbery and cold they would have bounced if you dropped one, a BBQ plate that was just a pile of absolute mush (hilariously the onion rings with that were totally raw), a meatball sandwich that was so under done you could hear it moo and a like warm chicken pot pie. None of us finished anything. We were told after about 45 minutes that there was a problem with the meatball sub. My guess is they forgot it and the rest of the food just sat there while they rushed the sub, hence it being raw. They did knock my BBQ off the check so that was nice.

It is a shame things have gone downhill like they have because it used to be my go to place for lunch when I had to go to Smithfield. Hopefully they will get some better cooks and staff and it will pick back up. Not that I will know because I do not plan on going.

AMAZING! I had the cowboy burger, loaded fries and onion rings. The fries I could do without, but I am already planning on going back for more onion rings and to try another burger. Our server was the sweetest guy ever and extremely friendly. Can't recommend this...