Alibi Ale Works - Truckee Public House — Restaurant in Truckee

It’s not often I walk into a place, and the staff are sofa king rude I literally turn around and leave immediately. But whoever the trucker-mustached bartender was on May 16, he made it very clear he doesn’t want to deal with customers. This must be one of those locals-only places. You all can have it. Luckily for me, there are like 100 other bars & breweries nearby. Adios!

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Yes, I am the man who brought in the dog. I came in after dinner to see if I could get some cans of beer to take to my hotel room. It should have been a very quick transaction, in and out.

My "very large" 75lb dog has learned after visiting dozens of bars and breweries, all over your lovely county, the town of Truckee, the state of California, and in other states as well, that bartenders are generally quite friendly and welcoming. Thus he put the soft pads of his paws on the bar—ONCE—expecting a positive interaction.

As did I.

Unfortunately, the bartender made us feel more unwelcome than anywhere I have been in recent memory. He spoke to me with the tone and demeanor a prison officer would take with an inmate. Policy or not, his tone and manner was completely unacceptable and hopefully you can at least acknowledge that you see it as off-brand.

To be precise the bartender said nothing more to me than “Please get your dog off the bar please” and then turned and walked away. In most circumstances the word please would have carried a lot of value. But unfortunately its very hard to hear the word please when it's placed inside an aggressive, nasty chastisement. He did not offer rationale as to why he was so disrespectful, nor did he say anything at all about your dog policy or your dog friendly patio.

I think as he walked away he said something about the bar being recently refinished. Which made me ponder that it must also not be acceptable for your human guests to put their hands, fingernails, glassware, cutlery, personal items, etc on the bar. And perhaps it also means that protecting the bar's finish is a more important core value among the staff than, say, hospitality.

Here are a few suggestions for how the interaction could have gone much better:

Start by saying hello. Consider something akin to "welcome" in the same greeting, and perhaps in a friendly tone.

Advise me of the policy in a friendly way, and ask politely for me to instruct my dog to come down. (which as the bartender will recall, I did immediately)

Let me know about the dog-friendly patio, and welcome me to enjoy myself there.

Ask if there's anything I might want or need, perhaps enquiring why I came in this evening.

Had there been a shred of EQ in the bartender's interaction, I would have bought some cans and been out of there in 2 minutes. Instead, he scolded me like a school marm and walked away, like I was so beneath his lordship and as such it was an incredible privilege for me to be in his lordly company.

I can clearly hear the spin job from the bartender's retelling of the story in your notes below, and what reads like another obvious spin back to any readers of this review... ("very large dog" - "jumped up twice" - "asked to get control of the dog and take the dog to the dog friendly beer garden").

This is what I mean by it being a locals' only place. If you don't already know the policy the second you walk in, you'll be treated like garbage by the staff onsite. Then if you speak up, you'll also be scolded passively-aggresively online as well. As if the bartender's retelling wasn't colored by any self-interest...it was no doubt perfectly neutral and unbiased. And this evil customer with the very large dog who doesn't listen to anyone...well, he's definitely an outlier - no one else has ever had such an experience here.

Bro, you all can keep your locals' only brewery. There are a hundred other bars and breweries in a 5 mile radius, for the 2 times a year I pass through Truckee. I'll go to one of the many others who have been welcoming all of the times I have come through before. I won't be back...

OK so the beer is all really good, but we're repeat customers because the nachos are ridiculous. I'm not going to mince words--the Mexican street corn nachos are probably in my top 3 nacho experiences in my entire life. The queso blanco they use on all their nachos is exceptional and the queso fresco adds a wonderful salty kick. This most recent visit we also had thai chicken and chimichurri beef. The chimichurri was amazing and the pickled red onions weren't as overwhelming as they can be. I was personally a tiny bit disappointed in the thai chicken, but that was entirely because there was a bit too much fish sauce and it was overwhelming. Not enough to knock off a star, just worth noting.

For beers everyone was fairly happy although nothing was really mindblowing. We all got samplers ($12 a pop which is fair for the area) and nothing stands out a week later, but also no one had a beer they didn't like. Personally, I'd like to see a really sour beer on tap instead of the middle of the road sours they usually make, but they definitely have a good selection. Also the nitro cold brew is super smooth and amazing for hangovers or just as a pick me up!

If you're in Truckee, it's worth coming by. The staff is always fun and professional and the...

Alibi ale works has a good selection of beers, cider and kombucha. They also have their own non alcoholic kombucha on tap. The interior space is really great and well appointed and decorated. There are impressively large speakers that are playing tasteful music. There are long communal tables where everyone sits together it is 1st come 1st serve.

We also ordered some food which included a Greek salad and a lamb Burger. The Greek salad was tasty and did not have too much dressing and included some fresh veggies. The lamburger was incredible, I found it well seasoned cooked correctly and served on a fresh brioche bun I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes burgers or lamb or both.

While I was not blown away by the bears that I had there are some good choices on tap that were ordered by my friends including sour beers. I also had only 4 different beers the taste and there are over 24 beers on the menu. They offer crowlers of any beer that they don't have...