Ale & Cider House — Restaurant in West Linn

Update: The owner replied and gave some insight. I guess the branding and decor along with the menu made me think it was a restaurant. It sounds like it's a taproom with some additional food tacked on top. Due to my confusion, and the clarification, I'm happy to give this taproom/cidery a 5 :) Original review is below as the egg on my face. (I still think the barrels were awkward to sit at lol)

I want to give this place a 5... The beer was great. The music was great. The staff was super friendly. The Atmosphere was fun! HOWEVER, there is definitely room for improvement, and I would love to see this place improve to its potential (hence my current rating). Here's some hopefully constructive feedback for the owners :)

The food The food tasted like it came off a Cisco truck. Just... "Meh". No offense to the cooks, but It didn't have anything special at all. I had a cuban sandwhich, and while it wasn't bad, it tasted like something I'd get at an Applebees. Girlfriend had the grilled cheese and this seemed like there was a little more effort, but it still was just... meh. Maybe more cheese. We had the spinach artichoke dip, and it tasted like frozen spinach in a thin soup... very little in the way of "dipability" The pile of chips was a disappointing side... they were mostly crumbs, too.

The ..confusion.. Now that I've been, I know what to expect. But as newcomers we were pretty darn confused when we walked in. No one greeted us so we found a table (the barrels are an interesting, bulky, and uncomfortable choice of table). We had no expectations as to what we were supposed to do. We saw signs everywhere, but there were two different bars and unsure which is which. No menus were provided, I guess we were supposed to pick one up on the way in? Finally we sat at our 'table' for a few minutes, looking around the place, and decided we should go up and grab a menu. then we weren't sure where to order. Do we go to the coffee bar? Do we go to the front bar? We wanted beer, so we went to the front bar.

Ultimately, I bet it's exciting to own a joint like that and it's exciting to fill it with all your wildest imaginations, but I think sometimes "less is more".

Improve the food. This one I think is the most important. Lose the barrels & stools, get some real tables that don't take up nearly as much room. If you're going to stick by the pay-as-you-go method and the "come to the bar to order", then make it WAY clearer so you don't alienate newcomers like us.

Anyway... all in all, I've definitely had way worse, and we will be back, but I'm hoping for some vast improvements...

Three of us tried The Cider house for the first time tonight and were completely disappointed. Two of us ordered food, even though the menu was a bit odd. By odd I mean non bar food, for a cider house who brews their own beer, odd. Nothing grilled or fried. If they advertised as a pop stand or lemonade stand, maybe the chips tasting like they were straight out of kettle chip package, would be an excusable reasoning for eliminating fries from the menu. Agreed, a step away from the normal bar fare could be a nice change, by nice change I mean, less fat more flavor, tastier, healthier, more inventive, or at least a new take on "same old". Do not be fooled by the word "grilled" on the menu as we were. The grilled chicken sandwich is not grilled in house, I know this because Cider house doesn't have a grill. So they served my husband and my friend a warmed chicken slab on tough sourdough bread with a slice of cheese (not melted) and a piece of hard avacodo, leaving all the pressure on the aioli to bring the flavor.The pressure must have been too much for the aioli, while it offered hope of flavor to follow, the flavor never arrived and the sandwich was left dried out and boring. I thought myself fortunate to have only ordered a drink since nothing on the menu tempted me to break my gluten free diet. My husband and friend went to the counter and ordered their food and my drink. After awhile a nice waiter delivered their food. I waited for my drink. They finished their meal including the faux chips. I waited for my drink. Finally I had to ask a very nice young man from the kitchen about my drink. It was on the drink menu (Nose Warmer)as one of their signature drinks so I assumed it to be a simple order. The nice young man (Izzy) made the appropriate apologies and proceeded to check on my order. He returned shortly to advise me my drink should arrive soon. Well this after dinner drink became literal when it took another ten minutes for my luke warm, melted whip cream, very small, below average drink showed up served to me by an older man (Alex) who I can only assume possess the ability to speak since he, without words set his drink tray on our table, handed me my drink, all with out words, eye contact, or anything that could be confused as a friendly gesture. Sorry to the little town of Willamette, technically West Linn, we will not be returning to or recommending your cider house. Props to a Dan and Izzy for their smiles and understanding of great customer service and...

The event was an absolute blast from start to finish. Anne did an amazing job of setting everything up and ensuring that all of our needs were met throughout the night. The accommodations were top-notch and created the perfect atmosphere for our end-of-season celebration.

The food from Kelly’s Taco’s , on location, was delicious, and the drinks were flowing all night long. It was clear that Anne and her team put a lot of effort into making sure that everyone was having a great time, and it definitely showed. The venue was spacious and comfortable, and it was the perfect place to gather with our team and celebrate all of our hard work over the past season.

Overall, I would highly recommend the Ale and Cider House in West Linn for any type of event. Anne and her team went above and beyond to make sure that our West Linn High School Mens Tennis award party was a huge success, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Thank you so much, Anne, for everything you did to make our night so special. We will...