Campbell Brewing Company

Caesar salad that doesn’t come tossed in dressing?! Of course, not that it would matter because the dressing lacks any flavor whatsoever. You order at the counter and pickup from the counter so there is no server refilling your drinks or checking to see if you have everything you need… Like pepper for your extremely lackluster salad, for example. The BBQ chopped salad beats the Caesar but, only barely and still leaves your tastebuds hanging. The BBQ here is no good. Portions are weak and flavors are flat. One redeeming menu item… Grilled cheese. And I can still make a better one at home. Unfortunately, CBC joins the majority of the newer eateries in campbell in providing barely mediocre food yet, have a downtown location and serve alcohol which is their key to success. Sigh… Was hoping this place would’ve improved their food now that they’ve had some time to settle in. But, if you are bar hopping on a weekend, I’m sure you’ll find people here drinking, watching tv and/​or live music. Just stay away from the food.

Went on a date with my wife. Seems family friendly, spacious, and very good food. Reasonably priced and not too crowded for a Tuesday night.
Cowboy Burger was very good. Side salad was very well portioned. Good presentation too.
I was told they do music Friday and Saturday.
Sunday mornings they have been doing reggae bands.

I’d give it zero stars. The live band played the same song over and over again. It took a half hour to order drinks. I asked a bartender who happened to be pouring beer if he could just grab me a couple of limes. Without even looking at me he says,” yea sure, let me just stop what I’m doing.” Prick. Yeah. Your restaurant sucks.

The food is decent. Sometimes the sandwiches are really soggy. The jalapeño poppers are the best thing I’ve had here. Burgers are good, but the fries are pretty horrible. Each time I get fries, it seems like I get the left over fries from the bottom of the batch.
Service at the order counter is awesome. However,
one thing that is pretty annoying–
I come here for lunch about once a week. I usually sit at the bar. The bartenders pay more attention to their phones than to customers. Looking down at their phones, their backs facing the customers, not looking up for long periods of time. I also see them playing dice games. They are usually nice, but they should be a little bit more attentive to their customers.

Bring back the brisket sandwiches, they are the only reason I and many of my friends ever come to the brewing co. Raise the price if needed, just bring them back.

nothing to really rave about or complain about. my Tri-​Tip salad was mediocore, the service was mediocore.

So let me start off with the fact that I’m an optimistic type of person and give everyone and everybody the benefit of the doubt. With that being said. What in the world is this place doing?
It’s almost as if the place is open but there aren’t any people trying to serve you. The bartenders are here and the cooks are here. But no body wants to take your order. (yes I know there is a self serive side and a full service side).
At this point. I want to love this place. It’s a brewery in downtown Campbell, walking distance from my home with tons of space and plenty of TVs for sporting events. but unfortunately at this point I have to sell my friends on coming here and essentially twist their arms to get them to agree coming here.
Every single time we’ve been here, the service is so pathetically sub par that we find it humorous at this point. We’ve sat outside and sat there without even getting a greeting for over 10 minutes. We’ve sat inside dead center of the restaurant and waited way too long for a drink order. We come here for NFL playoffs and there isn’t a single staff member taking orders for over 10 tables. Are we supposed to awkwardly crowd around the bar to order drinks, upsetting the only patrons at the bar?
Let’s discuss the «live music»… The acoustics in the place make you not only hate live music but make it impossible to hold a decent conversation with anyone in your party unless you take your hands and cup them around your ears and continue to yell like a buffoon.
I have no idea what the strategy is behind this establishment, but it seems like they banked solely on the fact that they have a huge venue and the concept could work. But that is literally it. Literally. That’s it.
Foods decent when it finally comes to you. Beers great as well… But by the time I finally get it I’m more sour than the kamikaze’s they poorly serve.

I came envited here for a company holiday Christmas party (buffet style service) The food was fair. (Similar to Sonoma Chicken Coop) I was very shocked, because the bouncers helped them selves to the left over food from our party… without asking. The party host from restaurant actually packed one of the body guards a to go box! Another body guard actually ate a rib from the buffet right infront of the entire party! I found this VERY unprofessional. When the bodygaurd was asked why he help himself to the food his reply was, «What you want $ 20?, it wasn’t for me» I tried numerous time to contact restaurant management about the incident. I have never received a return call. I will never eat here again!

Great food and service from Mike bartender
Jalapeño poppers rock!
Watching wild card playoff, lots of TVs

Went here instead of aquis, and I am so happy we came here. Happy hour is mon-​fri before 6, and the deals are almost to good to be true. I think the waitress said if you buy two happy hour drinks, appetizers are $ 2.50 (I could be botching the details, but that’s what we got) and the appetizer includes the house burger with fries. That’s right… A filling burger with fries for $ 2.50.
The house beers were ok. The Scottish was my favorite. Very smooth for the alcohol content. Was very surprised to see how empty it was. Lots of TVs, live music, and too good to be true deals.

I am so glad that the SCC has been replaced. It is weird to be in this newly remodeled bar and think of the place it used to be.
I came for a pre-​holiday Happy Hour– a good time to meet up with friends before the craziness of the holidays took over our lives. It was a good group. The place was very popular and space was tight.
It took time to get drinks but this was fine as it was crowded. We ordered food and it is handled in the same way that SCC was– order at a counter, get a buzzer and pick up. The jalapeño popper things with bacon were good and the rest was good, but not particularly memorable.

³⁄₅ solid stars
Review based on service and drinks – no food was ordered.
We came here to meet up with some friends for drinks, and the service was incoherent. Food was delivered to our table when we didn’t order any, and wrong drinks were given to us… hmm, wonder what was going on.
On a side note, their live band was awesome!!! They were playing covers, and I really enjoyed listening to them.
Given that it is a brewery/​bar/​pub, my expectations are not too high. For any other establishment, I would’ve given them 2 stars.

Friday night and it was dead. The food here was decent. Ordered the chicken wings (buffalo sauce), grilled cheese, and their garlic fries. Their garlic fries we’re plain and just tasted like regular fries, the other two were good. I didn’t like their ranch– too herby tasting for me. The bartender was efficient and we didn’t have to wait long.
Really huge selections on beers and it was an okay place to eat and drink. Rather would come here for the food and skip their nightlife.
The table right in front of the dance floor, next to the kitchen smelt like a sewer! It was such a horrible poopy-​like smell that we had to leave.

Great beer selection, solid food — not sure how/​why they decided to go with a whole Southern BBQ theme, but for being down in Northern California, it’s not so bad. Nothing that’s going to blow your culinary hat off, but compliments the beer well.
The huge issue with this place, however, is the noise. Hot damn, they have some acoustic problems. With a half-​full restaurant on a Thursday evening, my dinner companions and I had to SCREAM at each other to be heard. Most of the conversation consisted of «huh» and «come again?» Which is quite sad because it’s really a lovely space, but not at all what you’d want out of a brew pub. When I think of brewery, I think of low-​key and a perfect time to share stories over pints… here, not so much. I dunno — maybe if you can sit outside when the weather is nice, it’d work.

While I’m a bit embarrassed to have visited a brewery and not have ordered beer, Campbell Brewing Company delivers a great barbecue dinner in Downtown Campbell. I ordered the two-​meat platter served up with two sides and cornbread. After much back and forth, I ordered the St. Louis style ribs (3 ribs in total) and beef brisket. The ribs were great, with plenty of meat, and great flavor. The brisket was tender and great with the several BBQ sauces available on the table. For sides I went with fries and the brussel sprouts. Fries were nice and crispy, and the brussel sprouts, while good, seemed a bit oily. I would definitely recommend this combination of the two-​meat platter.
As for service, it is a «get in line and order at the window» kind of place. However, the manager came over and asked how our meals were halfway through eating, and was very friendly as we chatted about the large selection of brews on tap. There was also a cover band, with a good amount of dancing, that kicked off around 9pm on this Saturday night.

This is a fairly new place that replaced the Sonoma Chicken Coop that used to be here. They’re no longer utilizing the space as two floors, and instead it has high ceilings that are reminiscent of a brewery, which makes sense. I came here during a non-​busy weekend lunch, but I imagine the sound could get quite loud if it were crowded. There appeared to be two areas, one that was full service with waiters and one that was more of a self-​serve that is like what Sonoma Chicken Coop provided. Since I was here with my young twins, I thought the emptier self-​serve area would be better. Even here, they bus your tables after you are finished, and one of the waiters responded very positively when I told him that one of my children had spilled some of his milk.
The food was also decent, we had ordered the children’s mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwich, but the serving size and style of the food seemed like it would be the same as the adult. The mac n cheese came in a pretty large bowl and the grilled cheese came on a platter with too many fries for a child with really thick slices of sourdough bread. I ended up having to cut it into pieces for my kids, but they enjoyed it nonetheless and it was pretty delicious.
Overall, my family enjoyed our experience there partially because it wasn’t as busy and the feel was very relaxed, so I didn’t feel pressures to have my children be «perfect» restaurant visitors.

I was so used to the prior occupants (Sonoma Chicken Coop), that I was pleasantly surprised at the changes.
If you’re going here with friends and expect to hear the conversation, sit outside. Not sure if it was the prior staircase that helped with the noise, but it is considerably louder inside now.
The food — I opted for the 2 meat combo with a side of mac n cheese and baked sweet potato. I chose the tri tip and ¼ chicken. Not huge portions and not served on plates, so the sanitary issue is a bit weird and questionable. They’re served on paper that is put on metal trays. The mac n cheese was served in a bowl of course. I had high hopes (probably because I was starving), but it lacked flavor which was sad. I found it odd that I wasn’t told they were «out of sweet potatoes» when my food was ready, but the cashier wasn’t aware of this.
The guys at the pick up counter (one is super cute in particular) were very nice and accommodating. I ended up with a little green salad.
The best part was probably the appetizer of 3 pork belly tacos. The pork was delicious.
The band, Sugadady, was playing this particular night and they were so good!
Pros:
–Better live music
–Tri tip (small portion) and chicken are delicious
–Pork belly tacos
–Cute staff
–Still pretty cheap and lots of options
–The chopped salad with chicken looked really good. They served my friend with a healthy portion of chicken that made me re-​think my order
–The crowd is definitely different than it used to be. a lot more diverse in ages and genders. It was refreshing.
Cons and/​or annoyances:
–Too loud to even carry a conversation
–Not a ton of seating in the dining side
–While they seem to have remodeled the dining area, they let bathroom go. It’s still the same.
–Main meals aren’t served on plates, but on a paper on a metal tray
–Lame fake plants/​trees/​shrubs that block the seating near the door/​windows to see the band.
–Corn bread was horrible. I think the jiffy mix tastes better.
Good place to go with a group of friends to hear music, but not really talk to each other. It’s just weird how loud it is now vs. before.

This was borderline between two and three stars for me, and I decided to be stingy and round down.
As another reviewer mentioned, it gives the impression of being a table service restaurant with a hostess who seats you and gives you a menu, but it’s actually counter service.
I got the smothered fries with chicken as an «appetizer» — but there’s not really a point for appetizers unless they come out before your meal, which they don’t here. The chicken was dry and the cheese was already getting cold and not really melted anymore. Really could have used some kind of dip like a ranch and would have been better if it was served hot.
I also got the brisket platter with Mac and cheese and Texas toast. The Mac and cheese was marginal, really lacked flavor and seasoning. The Texas toast was fine. Now, the brisket. I’m pretty much a BBQ snob having eaten at all the top places in Austin, Lockhart, Luling, etc. And this was actually pretty decent compared to the top BBQ, except they were leftover day and a half old. I’m skeptical they smoke it on site, or that they have someone up at 2am so I get freshly smoked brisket at 12pm. It had promise, but was too dried out and again not heated through well enough. It had smokey flavor and what could have been a decent crust. The flavor was there, it just tastes leftover.
I’m not sure if I’ll be back to give them another shot.

So, I’ve been here twice now and waited to write my review because my first visit wasn’t spectacular…
STAFF/​EXPERIENCE:
On my first visit, I came after Music in the Park. We had already eaten dinner so we stopped by for beers. Everything was great and dandy, we were having a good time drinking our beers (will review in a second). Near the end of the night our group was being harassed by a woman who clearly was not in the right state of mind. At one point, she approached our table (she was not invited) and when I asked her to leave, she grabbed my half-​full beer and poured it across the table. The staff saw this and didn’t make her leave or talk to her. My friends and I grabbed our beers and moved ourselves to another table. If I could give zero stars for this experience alone, I would.
On my second visit, I came for the food (don’t worry, I’ll get to reviewing that too). They’re definitely not understaffed, their waitresses are just extremely slow and get sidetracked by boyfriends who show up while they are on their shift… Rude. It took at least 10 minutes to get our waitress to bring our check, and another 10 for her to come pick it up. And I know you weren’t busy, I saw you two sitting near the bar/​back register on your phones.
FOOD:
We ordered mac n cheese, wings, jalapeño corn bread, and onion rings.
Mac n Cheese: I was not a fan because I like creamier macs with a deeper, sharper cheese flavor. My friend did enjoy it though and polished it off.
Wings: Definitely the highlight of this meal! The sauce is fantastic and had a great little kick to it at the end. I ended up ordering extra sauce and poured it on the mac n cheese! yumm
Corn Bread: You could taste the honey more than the jalapeño but that’s fine by me! It also wasn’t dry and was delightfully moist!
Onion Rings: Don’t order these. The breading falls right off and you end up eating a plain onion because all of your breading is in your ranch/​ketchup/​on your plate
BEER:
They have a great beer selection at super reasonable prices, their (Campbell Brews) beers are also pretty good.
Campbell Kolsch: super refreshing and great with wings
Campbell Psycho Porter: omg too delicious!!! you must try!
Summary: If you go order wings and beer. I wish I wanted to come back — the brisket smelled amazing

HH Happy Hour info: M-​F 2PM to 6PM
$ 3 fries, sliders, spring rolls, quesadilla, sticky ribs, brat w/​fries, burger w/​fries
$ 4 drinks select beers, wines, and wells.
at bar only, valid with at least 2 drinks.
Replacing Sonoma Chicken Coop, I like what they’ve done with the interior and décor. It’s more open and inviting with lighter colors and décor something hipsters would like.
Service seems friendly and it looks like they have enough waiters to cover everything.
Food menu is comprised of American BBQ type dishs, and their beer menu is exquisite as it features local (California) beers.
I came here for just for beer and was amazed to see the beer options. I’ll have to come back to give the food a shot!