Killabrew Saloon ️☘️ — Restaurant in Town of New Hartford

I have eaten both takeout and dine in about a dozen times here. Usually the staff service is great to excellent. The setting is quiet and the craft beer selection is always incredible.

However, as much as I hate to be "that person" I am leaving a negative review based on my experience today.

I ordered pickup, and it was on time and the server was professional and friendly. The food however was horrid. It is no exaggeration to say this was the worst food I have ever paid for in my life.

I ordered a shepherd's pie, and it was warm, but not hot (no big deal to be honest). The food however was extremely greasy. There were actual pockets of pure grease in my meal, and the paper bag had a grease grease stain from the takeout carry. It was so clogged with grease that the entire meal was thinned and the potato topping was loose and soggy. I'm assuming that this was an older batch still being served, which is normal for most restaurants and not usually a problem. This shepherd's pie was disgusting, and if this batch that I received was normal, it should be removed from the menu, and they usually have better fare.

I mixed my meal to dilute the grease, but that just made it worse. I ate about a third of it, and couldn't continue. The pictures posted are of the remaining meal.

Killabrew has quality service, excellent wings, and a great selection of craft beers. however, the stews I've ordered have usually been tepid to middling warm, and this experience has assured I won't be back for a while. It may have been a fluke, but it was extremely disappointing. Maybe it's new kitchen staff, I can't say.

Honestly it's a fine establishment, and worth checking out, but be wary of the food as I've had mixed experiences throughout my patronage.

(Edit: I'd be glad to respond through a private conversation. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a business email to offer further discourse. I am not...

We went here for the first time on a day where the owner was out. Yes we ordered to go because of different tastes. My other got a surpise that they don't salt the fries, his panini was lukewarm, the bread had some grill indents but no press toasting or anything. I ordered the pierogies, thinking they were going to be good (they really sounded good) they were super floppy, lukewarm, and the taste was just off. The spicy thousand island dressing wasn't bad. The Irish Beef Stew.... sounded so good..... the meat was like chewing through leather (yes I ate the meat because I was starving), and what they don't salt with the fries they make up for in the salt lick of a stew. I brought the food back because it was so bad. I asked for a refund, they said the owner was out of town and would be back around the 6th of March and would be the only one able to process the refund. It's been about a week with nothing. So.... figured it was time to share our not so great experience. The woman I spoke to was nice.

Update 3/16/24

I reached out to the owner and got in contact with him on March 14th. He was kind, listened to what happened, and is supposed to be refunding the money. He offered a coupon for the next visit, which I declined. I appreciate the prompt attention to this and the offer, as long as I get the refund for the visit that's all that matters. We might be back to try again depending.

Update 4/1/2024

The owner never refunded my money. He said he was going to email his credit card company and cc me. He never did and haven't heard anything since that phone call on 3/14/24. Won't be back now...

I went to dinner here arrived @ around 415, only around 2 tables. The bartender was friendly and told us we can sit where ever is comfortable and told us or options we sat he grabbed us drinks and told us he would check in after a couple minutes. I decided I wanted a beer and went up and ordered that and also a chicken quesadilla and french fries. About 10 minutes later he came and took our order but didn't bring out good which was okay. About 5 minutes later we heard him yell" I need that chicken quesadilla and french fries before the BLT and chicken salad ( which we ordered) another 10-15 minutes went by and he brought our apps and when I told him that was a long wait he then said" our flat top doesn't always work with the chicken quesadillas" which I thought was very weird considering I work in a restaurant myself I know we would make sure that wasn't a problem. Anyways we eat and our food comes the BLT which I ordered extra bacon on ....had no extra bacon on one half .. it had 4 peices on the left half and 2 on the right. So I made the waiter aware and he brought more out..for my first time being here I wouldn't come back after my experience, I was looking forward to dining here because I've always heard nothing but good things about...