Explorer Brewing and Pizza — Restaurant in Vancouver

The name tells it all. Which for me, is perfect. As a 51 year old metal enthusiast, I really love Heavy Metal Brewing Company! I've been there three times recently and there are several very good reasons to go there that I feel the need to share with anybody who is reading this review because the words, heavy metal, caught their attention.

Heavy Metal Brewing Company is owned and operated by a very nice couple. It is very clean with a heavy metal theme throughout. Metal has been my favorite music genre my entire life and I think that had it been up to me to create a proper metal environment, I would have outfitted the establishment the exact same way as they have. Their stage includes sound, lights, and a drum riser where they host live music on the weekends and a Wicked Wednesday Jam Night (which is why I'm so compelled to write this review!).

Beer & Pizza: We ordered the Lolo Wahine (true hawaiin) pizza. It was very good with a nice crust and what I felt was a good topping/crust ratio. I would definitely recommend ordering this pizza. For beer, I've tried the Metal Meltdown IPA and the Painkiller Chocolate Cherry Stout. I feel that these two beers hold up to any IPA or Stout in town. I would rate them both as very good. The bottle selection was also impressive. I picked up a bottle of the Iron Maiden Trooper Beer to add to my collection of all things metal.

Here's the part that I'm stoked to tell you about. Every Wednesday, they host their Wicked Wednesday Jam Night. This is an open-mic, all musicians welcome sort of thing. They have a sign-up board where you put your name, instrument played, and songs you know so that other musicians can join up with you to play on stage. The typical tunes are representative of the name of the place. Covers of Judas Priest, Ozzy, AC/DC, etc are a common theme. The vibe is very relaxed and casual. There are no rock star ego types at all. It's a great group of people having fun playing music together in cool place with good food and beer.

I've played guitar since the age of 13 and have never really had the time to commit to being in a band but I've always really enjoyed playing music with others in an impromptu setting. The Wednesday Jam night gives musicians of all skill levels the opportunity to get out and do just that, which in my opinion, is one of the funnest and most rewarding things a...

As a person who loves pizza and who grew up during the 80's and listened to heavy metal music this was a place I definitely had to try. I mean, hey it's all there in the title, right? We got there early on a Saturday night before it was crowded which means we had the time to look around and observe how cool this place was. They do have a stage where they can have live music play and also do karaoke. We were there too early for either of those, but it's cool to know that they have it there. They have lots of video screens and TV monitors around where heavy metal videos are being played, which is awesome! Plenty of long solid thick wood tables to sit at for large groups, which is great. Also lots of pub tables that sit high. They also have outdoor seating for those warm summer evenings. They have a couple of pinball machines there which we played after ordering our food. Even a can holder on the side to hold your beer while you are being a pinball wizard! They have lots of their own special craft beers on tap that they brew themselves. In fact, one of them was so good that I bought a four pack of it to take home with me! The service there was great. The two guys that were there were very friendly and helpful. One of the guys' names was Kevin and he was very personable, however, both the guys were really awesome! Now for the good part..the pizza! We ordered two medium pizzas. One medium taco pizza, and one medium double pepperoni pizza. The double Pepperoni pizza was hands-down the best pepperoni pizza l have ever had. You could actually taste the garlic in the crust, which doesn't happen with other pizza places. Th Taco Pizza was also fantastic as well. Our family of three dang near eat both pizzas. We had just a few slices left over to take home and enjoy plus the four pack of their specialty craft beer that I bought. We will definitely be...

I had 2 beers, both of which were pretty good. I can't say great cause face it, there's a ton of beer that we're spoiled with up here. But Heavy Metal can hang with any of the other small brewers in the region and surprisingly they can do different styles really well. Some breweries focus on a style and flop when they brew something outside of it. Well-rounded tap list here.

The pizza was great. Had a hankering for pepperoni and it did not disappoint.

This place would be 4 stars if just for the beer and pizza. It gets 5, 6 if I could, for the service. I was by myself and had someone come over to my table 3 times checking on me- whether I had enough parmesan, needed water, ready for another beer, etc. Not in an annoying "I wish they'd leave me alone" way. In such a friendly way I wondered if they had just opened a couple months ago and were being over the top with customer service. They've been there 6 years.

And you can't beat the hair band decorum if you grew up in that era. I wanted to buy everything off...