Hop Häus Craft Eatery - Southington, CT — Restaurant in Southington

Visited Hop Haus on a Thursday night, around 6pm. Place was fairly quiet. A few people at the bar and maybe a few people sprinkled outside or inside at tables. There was no wait to sit down and had the option to sit almost anywhere.

We had looked at the menu online before stopping in, so there wasn't much surprise when placing our order. Before being asked to place the order, our waitress brought over water in glasses that seemed like they were meant to rinse and spit at a dentist office. Comical, but someone who might not want anything other than water, not really a good way to drink.

Placing our order was quick and simple. If you've read my other reviews, my wife is GF, so we make sure there are GF options for her to choose from.

We ordered 2 apps, and then 4 meals, and 1 to go. Apps were deviled eggs and the fried brussel sprouts. Apps came out super quick. Eggs had a little different taste, no one other than me liked them (Fine with me, because I got to eat more). Brussel sprouts were good and everyone enjoyed those.

Main meals took a REALLY long time to come out after that. We didn't officially time it, but everyone at the table was kind of thinking the same thing that the food order might not have been fired, or maybe something happened. Two of our 4 plates came out, then we saw other peoples meals coming out and being placed at their tables, then one more plate came out, and sadly, our youngest, who ordered a kids meal, was the last plate to come out. In our order, we had 2 taco meals, 1 adult Mac and cheese and 1 kids mac and cheese. We always prefer to have kids get their food first, if not at the same time. That in our eyes lost one star there.

Main meals were ok. Again, wife GF had corn shells. They were the 6in shells, but they had cooked them so long that they actually looked like hard taco shells you get at the super market in the taco kits. It wasn't until she showed me that they were over cooked that I noticed what they really were. She had Pork Belly as her taco meat and all three taco's the bellies were dry and stiff to chew. Under the pork was some lettuce and that was it that made up the taco. Very underwhelming.

The two pasta dishes were soupy and lacked flavor, never mind good. One dish was supposed to have different pork in it (Pulled, Pork Belly, and Bacon). The pulled pork had good flavor by itself, but with the Mac tasted a little off. Pork Belly was dried out and tough to chew. Bacon was also well done.

My tacos were blackened shrimp tacos. They came out with shrimp, lettuce and some aioli to dress them up. They were probably the best meal of the table.

During dinner, back to the water glasses, the waitress kind of left us be. This meant that our swish and spit glasses that the kids were drinking out of were empty. I had to wave her down and ask her to refill the glasses. Going back to how empty the restaurant was, we all felt like there shouldn't have been a need to flag her down.

Our to-go order came out towards the end of the meal, which was fine and the waitress gladly held it to the side for us. When I looked at the bill however, there were upcharges all over the place. The To-Go order was a burger. I noticed that they hit us for an additional $2 for Fries. I didn't look when ordering for my other child what it came with, but $2 for fries seems a little silly. Burgers ALWAYS come with fries. I get offering maybe chips with it, but come on, $2 for fries?

All in all, the atmosphere was nice. Focus was on the bar with tables spread around it.

1 star removed for the service and timing/speed of meal, and 1 more for taste and feel of meal. I really wanted this to be amazing, but just missed the mark.

Might try it again, but with all the better options here in town,...

The best part of the evening was the ‘Naughty Nurse.’ Otherwise, a long wait to be seated (understandable) and then another long wait to be served. It took forever for the giant pretzel after ordering. My son requested the mustard, but it came with the blue cheese instead, so that had to be added.Our server was borderline snippy, rattled off the specials and could have said we’re out of fish and chips before my son ordered that and was then told there was none. She seemed to be struggling with the handheld electronic order device. My daughter-in-law ordered the veggie burger with her salad and never received it when the food finally arrived. It looked like there were a full staff of servers, but we noticed they were standing around, waiting at the food counter for their orders. Clearly, the shortage was in the kitchen as we were not the only customers complaining about the service. Really too bad as it looks quite quaint and rustic inside. I ordered the taco special and ended up not being able to eat the meat as it was beyond spicy hot, burning my mouth, making my nose run. Food left a lot to be desired. After the burger omission mistake, server became downright curt, stating “check?” I felt like we were being given the ‘bum’s rush’ at that point. I will point out that the salad order was deducted from the first check as it was obviously sensed that we were not happy at that point. What I also found alarming was noticing a group of young boys (pre-adolescent/adolescent) horsing around on a back porch area, running around, yelling and screaming, some of them hanging over the railing, clearly all under aged. Looked like an accident waiting to happen. Overall, something seems to be missing, just generally...

WOW! Hard to believe I'm just today hearing of and trying this place.

HELLACIOUSLY GOOD BURGERS .... but more about that later.

I got together here with an old friend who suggested the Hop Haus. He had recently tried it on a date night with his wife, and was impressed. I can easily see why they were. They have a very large selection of locally crafted beers, which is what he Hop Haus is most noted for, but since I'm on a diet that doesn't allow for any alcohol intake, my only drink was a couple of glasses of Dr. Pepper. My buddy had a locally brewed dark ale that he enjoyed two of. But I digress. I wasn't at all expecting anything special in the way of food from a place known mostly for it's craft beer selection, but I had what was easily one of the very best burgers I've ever had. We started with a plate of orange jerk wings that were sweet & savory. I was expecting more spice with the orange flavor, but these were excellent none the less. My grass fed, locally sourced beef burger was cooked exactly as I like it, a little rare, and it was just, plain, awesome... I asked for cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce & tomato on it. I even asked our server what is mixed in with the meat because it's so good, and she said, "nothing other than a little pepper, it's just the beef we serve". I really thoroughly enjoyed it. I had to give kudos to my buddy for suggesting this little local joint that he lives near and was unaware of until recently, himself. Four stars because they don't offer sautéed mushrooms... sorry... Will I be back? You...