Great South Bay Brewery of Ronkonkoma — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

This place is 50/50 for me. The food, the drinks and the atmosphere are all five stars for me. I've been here more than 5+ times and I've never gotten anything I haven't liked and the atmosphere itself whether you go on a trivia/bingo night or not is still a fun time.

Which is why I find it so hard to write this review. I would've stopped coming to this business but I really enjoy the food, drinks, and Trivia Tuesday's that I kept wanting to give it a chance. The past two times I have been here were disappointing. The second to most recent time, my table of 3 had placed drink orders through the QR code, the place was very busy considering it was trivia. Twenty minutes had gone by and I was getting concerned that maybe there had been an issue because we had just ordered drinks on tap and no food, so even though it was busy we should have gotten it by now. I got a worker's attention and they proceeded to say that they were extremely busy but they can assure me that my order will be out soon. After 45 minutes I had gotten another worker's attention, they proceed to tell me that "the kitchen is slammed". Totally understandable, but we did not order food, just drinks. After I had said that, the worker did come back to our table with our drinks in hand and apologized and said that they would get our next round on them. So they took care of our next round of drinks, sure I was a little peeved that we had to wait that long but all in all, they took care of the issue.

The most recent time I had went, just yesterday. The place was once again very busy. Before I had even put an order in, I overhear the table next to me ask a worker where her food was because it had been 30 minutes since she had placed it. With that in mind, I figured I wouldn't order from the QR code and instead go to the bar since I'm just ordering drinks. While waiting, the guy next to me asked the bartender if she can check on his order and states that he just got a beer. She then checks the computer, apologizes, and hands him the beer he ordered. I stood at the bar for 15 minutes while other people who came after me were getting served. I ended up just leaving early all together because I was frustrated that as much as I enjoy this place it's very difficult to order food/drinks.

With that being said, I have also been here on night's where they are not busy and things run very smoothly and the wait times aren't horrible. I'm not sure where the error is whether it's the system that we order from or the lack of workers that are unable to get these things out. I do hope this place resolves this issue because with nicer weather coming this place is just going to get busier and busier and it really is a nice place when things...

First I just want to draw attention to the fact this place has been open 2 weeks and has 170 reviews. That’s INCREDIBLY rare. Secondly every single positive review lists the bartenders or servers name so clearly they are not real reviews. And third- most of them have under 5 reviews total so I don’t buy it! Now- we went there last night because we are within walking distance and have been excited for it to open. There is nothing I can say but the place needs management. It was pure chaos. It was crowded but not packed for a sat night- we easily got a table but only after we were informed at the “order here” area that you had to have a table number first so I run to look and she took the girl behind me- she was ordering 3 drinks and I had to wait! The frustrating part was there were a bunch of us standing in line who had never been there and were all confused. I left the line to go to the bar to see if we can order drinks there for tables as well and I did- but it doesn’t seem like that’s what everyone assumes because as I was talking to the people in line- none of us had known you can order anything at any bartender to any table- not just where it says “order here” so they should take the sign down. What I found so unprofessional is the fact that all of the workers watched these long lines form and didn’t tell them they could order anything at the regular bar because I stood there a long time waiting when I didn’t need to be. Lots of complaints from other people standing there as well. Hopefully they can work the kinks out because it’s a perfect...

Been a long time patron of the GSB on Drexel. This spot has a decent set up. The beer selection wasn’t as good in my opinion as the options at the Drexel location especially when you factor in ghost st the back. Bit of a sit at a table vibe, but there is a pool table and such. People may block the bathroom doors with giant connect 4… that’s not the new cone, just obliviousness. I’m sure it takes a while to get everything just so.

Mostly I just wanted to point out something about coming here that caught me off guard.

Beware: parking is paid. There’s “free parking” if you go over to the public lot off to the corner… but if you miss the 3 hour parking cut off the next minute costs 10$. Understand that’s not GSB and I don’t know if validation might be possible on their end but if it was it wasn’t obvious. Clearly it’s my fault for assuming it would be reasonable instead of hunting down the fine print and setting a more exact timer.

I thought I should share for those who are impetuous if there are no google map review warnings. I like to be able to chill at a brewery without worrying about the meter, especially when the penalty is more than a beer when you just miss it,… so don’t miss it or be prepared. If you’re treating it as a short stop or a restaurant with beer it might not matter. If you’re planning to chill and have a few beers and games / conversation with friends… there are options around without that issue, even other...