Rough Cut Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Town of Rochester

Having past this before on the highway, I thought it was just a hole in the wall bar for locals (and I am local). I could not have been more wrong! The food, drinks and service were all phenomenal! We went on a Saturday night and had to park across the street as it was packed. When we walked in we added ourselves to the list. There really wasn't a comfortable place to wait as every spot was taken. We were eventually told that it would be an hour wait for the 2 of us unless we could find a seat at the bar. We weren't willing to wait an hour but found a nice couple leaving their seats at the bar within 5 minutes. The bartender was fantastic!

We ordered the wings (delicious!), mussels (loved them and the broth - cooked perfectly), the mushroom soup (tasted nice and fresh, was puree like), the steak burrito and tacos - all amazing. The beers you ask? I mean isn't that why we went in the first place? DELICIOUS! And cheap (are you hearing me Clemson Brothers?). I included a picture of the beer choices and prices. The place was comfortable and very rustic. There was a fireplace, regular chairs and a couch. Some long tables were being shared by different parties. Other people had their own 2-person tables. You get your own water from the coolers. We usually rack up$100+ for just the 2 of us but the prices were cheap and our bill was less than $70. It states they appreciate cash, and they have ATM right there, but I asked and they do take credit cards.

The Police, "Tainted Love" and Erasure(!) were just some of the music mix we enjoyed there. We cannot wait to go back to try more of their...

Rough Cut is an absolute gem. I had never heard of it (or Kerhonkson for that matter) before my wife had business in the area this weekend and we decided to make a family day trip of it. The premises is fun and eclectic in a way that suits the name well. The staff was friendly and attentive. The menu had a decent amount of variety without spreading itself too thin, and we all quite enjoyed the food (I ate a barbecue lamb sandwich, my wife had the ahi tacos, and my daughter ate the kid's breaded chicken).

All of that was great, but the beer here is really outstanding. I've been to a lot of small town brewpubs through the years, so my expectations were pretty low. All four of the beers my wife and I shared were impeccable (the Desert Island IPA, a session IPA, a peppercorn saison, and a porter). Each one was executed perfectly. You can tell that the brewers had very specific targets in mind with these beers, and they absolutely nailed them. The porter (which was definitely on the Baltic side of things) was among the best I've had in recent memory. That's a hard beer to the mouthfeel right on, but it was amazingly well balanced.

Along with the exceptional beer, their homemade ice cream was also stellar. I was particularly fond of the basil/balsamic ice cream, but the saffron/bourbon and chocolate were great too.

I'm now determined to figure out more excuses to drive the 2+ hours to get there. We're already talking about trying to convince some friends to go camping at Minnewaska State Park (which is right down the road) later this summer as a pretense for going back...

I wish I was writing a good review, but I'm afraid I can't. We are visiting from out of state, and we were excited to try Rough Cut after looking around online for a local restaurant. They were busy and we had to wait for a table, but the place isn't that big and it looked like they had plenty of waitstaff on hand.

We placed our orders, then 10 or 15 minutes later our waitress informed us that they no longer had tacos available, as they were out of tortillas. 3 of the 4 of us had ordered tacos. When I commented that tacos was half their menu, she responded, "I know, right?!" We had to ask her to see menus again, and she brought 2 (for the 3 of us). I asked, if they were just out of tortillas, could I get all of the ingredients, just in a bowl. She checked, and told me that the chef said no. So, either they were lying to us about what they were out of, or they just didn't care about pleasing the customer.

We re-ordered, and one of us asked for a house salad. They were out of that, too. Finally, we placed our order, then waited way too long for our food to come. When it finally did, only the 3 re-ordered meals arrived. (We had to ask for utensils.) The 4th person, who didn't have to change her order, didn't get her food. They admitted that her order didn't get placed, so they rushed to get it out. She was served after the rest of us were half-way through our meal.

Although the staff apologized a few times, I didn't get the feeling that they really empathized with us. It was as if this is par for the course and they really didn't...