No-Li Brewhouse — Restaurant in Spokane

If you're looking for a spot to celebrate a special occasion—keep looking. Our recent experience was, unfortunately, memorable for all the wrong reasons. We came to celebrate my husband’s birthday with a group of 12 and left feeling dismissed, frustrated, and completely unimpressed.

From the moment we walked in, the staff made it clear that customer service was not a priority. I asked for help finding a table large enough for our party and was met with a curt, “Did you need something?” before being told to “just sit wherever.” After reiterating that we needed seating guidance for a large group, we were eventually pointed toward a separate room—already in use by another party. The lack of assistance was baffling.

Things didn’t improve once we were seated. A guest with vision issues asked about the nachos and was told they only had meat, cheese, and spicy ranch—yet they showed up with unexpected toppings, including pickled onions. When the mistake was pointed out, the server casually replied, “Well, I really like pickled onions, don’t you?” No offer to correct the dish—just a snarky remark and a charge for food that couldn’t be eaten. The server boldly stayed she wouldn't be refunding it either.

My own burger was made incorrectly after I inquired specifically about the sauce. I was told it was garlic aioli—it wasn’t. I didn’t even bother raising it after seeing how other concerns were brushed off. And when my drink order was wrong—after confirming it twice—the bartender fixed it without an apology and just moved on. The entire staff seemed either overwhelmed, uninterested, or both.

To top it off, I followed up with the owner hoping for acknowledgment or some kind of resolution. Instead, I was met with condescension and excuses. He admitted my burger should’ve been comped, but made no effort to do so. He blamed poor service on “problem patrons” from previous days, brought up long-past COVID restrictions (from FIVE years ago?) as a reason they’re not equipped for large parties, and even questioned where else in town I could’ve gotten a reservation for 12. (Spoiler alert: I told him exactly where.)

Rather than taking accountability or offering a solution, he doubled down on defending his staff and made it clear that customer experience just isn’t the focus here.

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this one is earned. We wanted to support a local business and enjoy a special night with family. What we got was bad service, zero accountability, and a side of attitude. Disappointing doesn’t even begin...

Let me set the scene. I was paddleboarding last year and heard No Li brewery was a very popular place to paddleboard too and grab food and drinks. So here I am, I've rounded up a few friends and my husky to go paddleboarding a year later, stoked to go to No Li brewery. We're having a blast paddling to the brewery, we tie up at the designated spot and climb to the top of the hill. As we enter the gate I stop to observe the sign that says shirt and shoes required. I'm good I'm in a tank that covers my top and sandals with swim bottom that covers my butt. I have ordered a drink and food and am really impressed with the set up, it exceeds my expectations. Good food, good vibes then a manager walks up to me after my food gets there and says "sorry not to intrude your eating but do you have something to cover up with, to which I replied you're sign says shoes and shirt and she says its implied...okay I'm from the south where that sign literally means just shoes and shirt. I felt kinda ambushed since I was a paying customer like everyone else and just got my food handed to me and essentially immediately was unwelcomed, then mulitple managers came by to make sure I was covered up after that. I feel like we are past that, we have gender neutral bathrooms, men dressed as women and women dressed as men, but my swim bottoms were not acceptable at a known paddleboarding/kayak/watersport brewery by the river. I looked forward to this experience for a whole year, followed the sign rules and still was belittled by an "implied" rule/complaint by a manager and then watchguarded by another manager to make sure I was dressed appropriately after the incident. I don't know why I expected anything different...

Today was the last time I will spend money on No Li beer or patronize their brewhouse. Service was slow, food took 45 minute and arrived cold, manager was rude and argued with me when I had an issue. If you want more details read below, if not save your money and time and go elsewhere.

We got their before noon shortly after they opened and it wasn’t even very busy, took forever to get served and by the time it was past 1pm I just asked the server for our food to go, the place had gotten busy, but it was an incredible wait for food. We got the food boxed and went to eat it maybe 2 minutes later and my burger was terrible and my girlfriend had nachos that were like warm at best, totally solidified.

I walked back to the restaurant and the manager tried to tell me the nachos just don’t travel well. That may be but we are talking just a few minutes, and we had been waiting for food for almost 45 minutes after we ordered. I said no food goes bad in 120 seconds it was clearly boxed up this way Then he argued with me over the definition of the food having gone bad, obviously it wasn’t expired or dangerous but I could have made a plate of cold congealed nachos at home.

After I made an issue out of it and told him I wasn’t paying for it he refunded me but it was a ridiculous process. The food should never have been sent with us cold and in that condition, and when I came back and brought it up he should not have tried to argue about if it qualified as having gone bad.

I haven’t had this bad of an experience at a restaurant in years. I am so sad, this used to be one of my favorite spots but I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to talk my girlfriend into...