von Trapp Brewing & Bierhall — Restaurant in Stowe

It's sad for me to give such a low rating, because I truly love this place. The beer is great, the disc golf course is a fun change of pace from nearby Smugglers Notch, and the food is legitimately good. The problem is, service is always incredibly slow, the staff always seem overwhelmed and unhappy and prices are a little high for what you get. It's been several years and every time we come it's always the same.

Just to give some context, here's an example of a pretty typical night out here for us. We're currently sitting at a table. We were seated about two hours ago. It was very chaotic inside when we arrived. That's fine, honestly it's a touristy time of year and a cool spot, can't complain about that, although it would be nice if the staff didn't seem so unprepared for it. They took our drink order quickly, and informed us several of the menu items were not available (seems to happen a lot). Beer came quickly after that, but then it was a looong break before someone came to take our food order. It was almost an hour before we got our appetizers and a good while after that before the food came. The portions on the appetizers were silly. The $13 radish dish was tasty but essentially a garnish when split four ways. Pretzels were similar, tasty but gone in a few bites. Didn't get the cheese addon because it's overpriced (we've had it before). We were very hungry by the time the main courses arrived. Then they realized we had no silverware or napkins, so it took a few minutes to get those before we could dive in. The food was good, but we were all still pretty hungry after dinner, so we made the mistake of ordering strudel for the table to share. It took another 45 minutes to come. Granted, it was good, but we should have just taken the check and said nevermind. We didn't really get the chance though because nobody checked in with us in the meantime. The waitress seemed to be in a bad mood from the outset and checked in with us maybe twice over two hours (not including the initial orders being taken or food being brought out).

If it was a one time thing, sure. Shit happens, places get busy, people have off nights. But this has become the norm here. There are some great spots in Stowe. Do yourself a favor and check those...

von Trapp Brewing in Stowe, VT for a few pours of some delicious light beer & a killer double smash burger. My second time visiting here, the first being in March 2022, I had been looking forward to returning & drinking some more of their excellent traditional offerings. In a world dominated by IPAs, von Trapp Brewing says f**k you to the haze phase & makes some of the best lagers, kolsch & pilsners in New England this side of Schilling Beer Co. & Brewery Silvaticus. I covered all those styles referenced previously during this visit with three excellent light beers that paired excellent with the burger I put back. 🍻🍻🔥☘🍔

I grabbed a 6oz pour of the COLLAB SERIES NEW ZEALAND PILSNER, a super tasty, hoppy & smooth pilsner. I then scooped a STOWE STYLE: DRY HOPPED KOLSCH that was one of the better kolsch I've tried, it was the perfect cold & crisp pour right from the taproom tit. My last beer here was the 75TH ANNIVERSARY NATUR HELLES, it was a extra large pour in a nice big mug, but well worth it since it was really good & refreshing. 🍻🍻💪🏆🔥

The double smash burger I got here was the truth when it comes to smash burgers, exceeding my expectations for what I expected, it had the juice. I apologize for the inappropriate picture of me pounding the burger, nobody should have to see that. My friend Justin got the bratwurst plate & was raving about it, definitely looked good. Plenty of seating options here including tables, hightops, a decently large bar & an outside seating area. Beer to go for days with a lot of what is on tap available plus some stuff that isn't. It might be a couple years until I'm back, but I can't wait for another excuse to return. Cheers! 🍻🍻🔥☘✌♥️🍺

P.S. - I didn't get as many pictures of the place as I would have liked since there was a lot of kids in the dining area & I try to avoid taking pictures of people's children, but it's really big inside the taproom. ✌♥️🍺

BEERGASM RATING - 84/100. 🍻🍻🍻🔥🔥🔥☘☘🍆🍆🍆💦💦💦💤🏆✌♥️🍺

BURGERGASM RATING - 80/100 🍔🍔🍔🔥🔥🔥🍆🍆🍆💦💦💦✌♥️🍺

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Von Trapp, more like tourist “trapp”. Came here with friends over the weekend and wasn’t overly impressed with the $9 beer and $12 pretzels (that tasted stale) with $5 beer cheese add-on (about two tablespoons). But I’m really not writing this review to talk about that. I stupidly left my purse behind, and I called the next day to see if it had been found. I gave them a description and was put on hold and then told it was not at the host desk or in the office. I explained my keys were in it and it was important that it be found, and the guy took my name and number and said they’d call if it turned up. Knowing it had to be there (unless someone stole it), my friends drove me back there (40mins away from where we were staying). I approached a woman at the hostess desk and explained I had called earlier looking for a handbag. She turned to an older man next to her and he told me it hadn’t been found yet. I proceeded to point and show him where I had been sitting at the bar and asked if anyone had looked there. He said it wouldn’t be there. It would only be behind the desk or in the office. I started to explain it really needed to be found since my whole set of keys were in there, etc. and as I was speaking a young man standing on the other side of the older man reached down under the hostess desk and pulled out my bag, held it up, and asked, “is this it?!” When I thanked him he said he wasn’t the one who originally found it. When he handed it to me I proceeded to look inside to confirm everything was there, and as I was doing so the older man started to tell me no one would have taken anything. To that I said, “Yeah, I didn’t think so, that’s why we drove here to look for the bag!” With that, we left. I was so infuriated with how nonchalant and uncaring they were about a pretty serious situation. How could they not find something right under their nose?! I’m not convinced anyone even looked when I had called earlier. Had I not pushed them to look a little harder in that moment, I would have been trying to figure out how I was going to get into my car and drive 6hrs home without car keys. Yes, I’m the idiot for leaving my bag behind, but why can’t people be a little more kind? I would...