New Bo Alehouse

I stopped into the New Bo Alehouse, hoping to find some local brews and hearty bar food at a place with a patio. I couldn’t have been more disappointed.
I walked in and asked if I could get a table on the patio. The host did a cursory look and said I could sit in the sun but I’d have to wait for a table in the shade. I sit down and wait. A couple comes in and says that they would like to sit outside. The hostess (a new girl had appeared by this time) asks the couple if they want the shade or the sun. The couple says shade and she immediately escorts them outside. She comes in, I explain that I was waiting for a table outside in the shade, so she gets two menus (I was meeting someone) and escorts me outside… where there were four tables and three completely unoccupied high-​top tables. It seems to me that the host just didn’t feel like going outside I guess.
The waiter was good — but the beer was over-​priced (go to Granite City for better beer at half the price) and the food was terrible. I ordered a burger, which was served cold on a bun where the grease had turned the bottom bun to mush. The fries were lukewarm but hard (like they’d been sitting around all day).
For real, it was so bad, I wouldn’t go back if they offered me a $ 50 gift card.

Sat at the patio bar for 20 minutes by myself there was no one else there before I got served. I heard a few waiters and waitresses cursing while I sat there I watched multiple items from multiple tables get sent back the atmosphere here has just gone downhill

We went in for lunch on a Sunday. Only a couple other tables were occupied. Ordered quickly, were told they were out of many things, and then waited 50 minutes for the food. The food was mediocre at best. My shrimp po boy was poorly made and not flavorful. My boyfriend’s burger was burned. The best thing was the fries, which, sad to say, I think were frozen.
The service was terrible. Our server disappeared after taking our order. He didn’t even bring out our order or check to see if things were okay. We had to flag down another server to get our check. No apologies for the wait or the fact that he was never around. Do not think we will return.
Do yourself a favor and just get lunch at newbo city market, if it’s open.

Firstly the only reason there is 2 stars is because the spicy mayo was good. Ordered the crab cake sandwich. It was cut in half, let me tell you that the second half of the sandwich had no crab cake on it. Lmao only lettuce bacon and tomato. Then once I switched over to the second half of the sandwich I wasn’t expecting fresh jumbo lump crab but geeeez they could’ve given me more than 1 tsp of imitation crab. So in conclusion I had a breadcrumb BLT sandwich with a side of cold fries. I’m going back to work with a tummy ache and $ 12.84 broker.

Service was decent and atmosphere outside was great. Food was overpriced and not great. The nachos for $ 10 was poured cheese only (we asked for no meat and veggies on side) …our jerk pork wrap was so salty and almost inedible.
Sweet potato fries and wings were good
Not worth our $ 65 bill at all

Nice spacious facility. Great patio area for socializing. Looks like they host a regular bean bag toss tourney. Noisy outdoors ambience. The menu didn’t have anything that popped out. Food was disappointing. The nachos lacked flavor. The rib eye sammich had no taste. Nice watering hole, but food not impressive.

Interesting sounding menu, good sandwiches, nice ambiance, HORRIBLE service. After we asked a busser to find us a server, we ordered the «house specialty» wonton. They were advertised as cheddar bacon, but were lightly filled with processed cheese and we found no bacon. Definitely skip these, totally not worth $ 9.50. All three of us ordered sandwiches, the breaded tenderloin, the southern grilled cheese and chicken. All were good. However, due to the poor service, we will not be going back.

I’d been here once a couple years ago when I was in town visiting friends and had an okay experience, but wasn’t blown away. A series of mediocre experiences had led my boyfriend to not ever want to go here, but one sunny Sunday after a very poor service experience at Parlor City, we closed our check after a bloody Mary and wandered across the street for lunch. We were very (pleasantly) surprised at what we found.
We sat on the patio, which is huge and beautiful. I can’t wait to see it at night. Our server was very attentive and came over for our drink order right away. They have a Sunday bloody Mary bar and they’re doing it right — several kinds of bloody Mary mix, lots of hot sauces, and a wide assortment of accouterments.
My boyfriend said his burger was delicious and the black bean burger was the best I’ve ever had. Most fall apart a couple bites in and I end up eating them with a knife and fork, but this one held together through the end and was also the most delicious patty.
I hope this good experience wasn’t a fluke!

This place has amazing potential… the building is awesome and historic and their patio (where the drive-​thru used to be) is wonderful when weather permits. Unfortunately the manageme t and staff just can’t seem to get their shit together and don’t seem to care. They run out of the beers on soecial all the time and don’t take them off the board, the food generally sucks unless you order something super basic like fries and the service just isn’t that good. The last time we were there, the barrender and manager were gossiping instead of paying attention to customers. It wasn’t that busy and we sat at the bar with empty glasses for far too long. I doubt we will be back.

Not the best experience at lunch with my clients. Seated right away and immediately hounded by Ryan, our server, as to what we wanted to drink. (This was a precursor of things to come). It’s an Alehouse, wouldn’t you want the guests to cruise though the drink menu? I WOULD’VE had a beer, but apparently we were being timed. Nevertheless, we ordered drinks and were immediately told that there is no refills on the fresh squeezed lemonade. Ryan then brings our drinks back and keeps looking around like someone is after him. And then repeats himself three times, «do you just want me to come back, do you just want me to come back, do you just want me to come back… I’ll give you guys 2 minutes». He comes back and starts to take the first guy’s order. Before patron number one was even done with his order, Ryan was skipping to the next guy, all the while still looking around, like the police were going to take him into custody. This sort of behavior continued throughout the lunch. Even when he was going to drop off the check. «I’ll just put it on one check, ok?» How bout he ask how it should be divided, not tell us. It was A.D.D. gone mad or drugs or something. FOCUS MAN!
Now on to the food. I learned how NOT to make a spicy chicken sandwich. DRY DRY chicken, nonexistent cheese, and absolutely no spice whatsoever. Fries were WAY overdone. Plus side, the ranch was pretty good. 1 star for that alone. All 4 of us agreed that the food was not good and the way Ryan tried to push us out of there was odd, for lack of a better term, and won’t be back. It’s too bad because their drink selection looked good. Plenty of other places with as many, if not more drinks. If nothing else, look elsewhere for lunch.

This place has a huge menu and based on my dinner I will be back to try a few more selections. I love spicy so I ordered the Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ sandwich and it was delicious. It’s topped with their tangy spicy coleslaw and jalapeño straws.
I withheld one star because the fries were only warm and a bit over cooked. But they do have a nice seasoned salt on them.
Their service is polite and helpful. The place is big and very clean.
I know there are some bad reviews but my experience was very positive. I recommend you give it a try. It’s a great addition to the New Bo area.

I had 3 big problems with this restaurant:
1. the floors were terribly sticky as if they had been cleaned with a sugar mixture. We arrived at 6pm and they weren’t that busy so they would have had time to remop the floor. I can’t imagine why a manger wouldn’t have the floors recleaned. They were so bad that you could hear people walking on the floors because of the suction.
2. Everything was over spiced and 3 out of 4 meals were to spicy. I got a mango shrimp wrap that was good but to spicy and another guest at our table got a bean burger wrap and she had to send it back because it was so spicy. Both of these items were not suppose to be spicy.
3. The atmosphere wasn’t pleasant. The lights were turned up to bright (maybe they didn’t have dimmers) and there was no background. Unfortunately people’s voices carry probably because of the high ceiling.
I doubt we will be back there just wasn’t enough good things to get us to return. One interesting thing was they kept a lot of the old bank’s characteristics which is nice. Our waitress was very good and we were impressed how she memorizing all of our orders. The customer service over all was very good.

Started at the bar for drinks. Very good variety of beers on tap, including a cidre. Had the roasted red pepper hummus app with carrots and celery — it was good. Then our friends joined us and we sat at a table. Waitress was very nice. After ordering, we didn’t have to wait too long for food. Everyone thought their food was good. I had a Cuban sandwich with sweet potato fries and it was good. The homemade mustard sauce was awesome. Server didn’t come around too often but made sure our drinks were full. I will come back again.

I wanted to like this place so badly and even after hearing mixed reviews I thought we should still give it a chance. Unfortunately, I was EXTREMELY let down, mostly by the service.
We went with a group of six on a week night. It was still a little early so the restaurant was pretty dead. We noticed the patio seemed pretty nice and it was a nice summer day so we decided we wanted to sit there. A sign on the patio said «see hostess inside for table» so we walked in through the front door only to have to walk essentially back to where we came from near the patio door. Why the hostess station is so far from the front entrance I have no idea, but that was the least of our issues that evening.
Once we found the hostess station there were about three workers standing there and chit chatting. They definitely looked at us but it still took them a minute to finish their conversation and then ask if we needed a table. After getting seated, things honestly just got worse. Although our waitress was SUPER nice, the service was still horrible. It took forever for our drink orders to go in. Once we finally got our drinks, my friend noticed his was wrong but our waitress was no where to be found. The wait time on the food was pretty average, but once again there were mistakes and one of the food orders was wrong. The waitress seemed pretty confused herself, but that was pretty much the end of that situation.
Now for the part about the food. I ordered a spicy ahi wrap. The price seemed pretty reasonable to me as did most things on the menu. Once I got my food I was super excited because it looked so good. However, this is where my excitement ends. About halfway into the wrap, I couldn’t taste ANYTHING. Just heat. I really don’t mind spicy food but if something is just heat with no flavor, it’s kind of an issue. So here I am, chugging down water (most of which I already drank because the fries were so over-​salted) and once again our waitress is no where to be found. She didn’t come back a single time during our meal to refill waters, ask how the food was, or anything. Eventually I ended up just having to down my beer to kill the heat which was unfortunate (on the kind of plus side, I think they have an okay beer selection here). Everyone else I was with said their food was «pretty good». Maybe I just ordered the wrong item on the menu, lucky them.
After we were done with our meal, we played the waiting game once again to get our checks. Lucky for us when our waitress brought us the checks she asked if we wanted to run the cards right away. Yes please!!!
With all the other places to eat in the Newbo area, I can’t say this is one I plan on returning to.

I would give them one star, but two out of the six at our table were OK with their food. The four others had food that was almost inedible.
Two people ordered the same menu item and were served what looked like a child’s portion. The shift manager agreed and was going to bring more, but what was served was cold. We finally got our server back to the table and told her to cancel the order as we had waited a long time for our food, did not even get our dinner salads or soup before our main course… had to ask twice AND the dinner salad was the last item served just as we were getting the bill !
The appetizer was way too salty as was the chicken, horrible. Food was brought out sporadically. Had to round up our own silverware, as server was not to be found.
The server was immature and when questioned about items on the bill that were not ordered, she actually snarled her face at me. First time that has ever happened. Granted, she was probably frustrated with the kitchen for messing and our complaints, but we were actually charged for stuff we didn’t order. She snapped back that it was served to us anyway… and we ate it. Not true… but by this time I didn’t want to cause anymore stress on our young server… the overcharges on our bill were deducted from what would have been her tip.
I think I will just wait until this place closes down and re-​opens as something else before I go back.

I had heard bad things, but my experience here during a lunch time rush was not bad at all. We were seated quickly in a booth in the main dining area. I would have preferred to be in the raised section with the windows but I arrived late and my party was already seated. The service was good; the waitress was attentive but not exactly friendly… a smile would have helped. The menu is ginormous. Yes, ginormous. I am usually skeptical about places that have expansive menus because they usually don’t do anything especially well… but the wrap I ordered was delicious.
I don’t remember the menu name, but it was a vegetarian wrap complete with a black bean patty, corn and black bean salsa, avocado, jalapeños, field greens and chipotle mayo. I opted for the chipotle mayo on the side (to cut down on calories and prevent a soggy wrap) and got it in a sun dried tomato wrap (there are 4 or 5 other wrap flavors to choose from). I opted for an «upgraded side» of seasonal vegetables which were sautéed perfectly and not over seasoned to retain their crunch and fresh flavor, though the portion could have been larger. The flavors in the wrap were phenomenal and perfectly complimented each other. The jalapeños were fresh and packed a real punch, but my water was regularly refreshed donut was bearable.
My lunch date ordered shrimp tacos and seasonal veggies… she frequents this place for the shrimp tacos! The extra side of fries she ordered came to the table over cooked and hard, but the waitress happily took them off of her ticket. Overall, I enjoyed my food greatly and will return to try something else!

The smoked wings are unbelievable. A little tangy Carolina BBQ to go with it and a Surly Furious IPA to wash it all down.
No 5^th star though. Service… not bad but could be better and this is a consistent issue.

We spent the afternoon of the 4^th here and our waitress was amazing. The shrimp tacos were great & the veggie taco looked ok. Other than that there weren’t a lot of vegetarian options other than salad or a sliced up veggie patty in a wrap.
The music (old r&b) drove us away. The mood of the music did not fit the venue or day or anything. That was not enjoyable at all. There is a time and a place for it but not NewBo for the 4^th.
For July 4^th and out of 4 toilets to have 2 out of order was hard to wait so long.
Idea– get the menu, toilets & music down before opening the sushi side.

A lot has changed since mt last review. They’ve added a massive outdoor patio and bar setup but still have issues servicing the whole space. The host station is inside in the middle, most people wander around a little bit before finding it.
The space has potential, and it stays busy. The beer selection isn’t as deep as that place across the street but they seem to be putting real effort into improvements to make this the spot. They currently dont have service — at all — to the outside bar… but that’s okay for the self-​service crowd I guess?
There have been some small changes to the menu but pricing seems to be about right, high-​end bar food and craft beer with specials to appease the domestic drinkers. Easily $ 30 a person for dinner and a few drinks.
I haven’t seen anything to discourage my previous 4 stars. I prefer this place over nearby (across the street) competitors…

A bank turned restaurant, and that’s about all the compliment I can give on appearance. It’s pretty clear the place was once a bank, and the restaurant decorations try to embrace the concept, but really it’s like a dog hugging a cat or monkey hugging a deer. It’s cute/​cool/​intriguing, but they just don’t fit together. I am not saying it never could, but this place doesn’t. I could go on, but my biggest complaint was the hostess stand was in the center of the building and there was five (or more) different entrances. We entered, kind of wandered around until a waiter pointed us over to the hostess stand. We walked over only to be escorted back into the seating area to sit.
Enough on that, let’s talk food and beer! It’s an ale house, so of course they have a great list of tap beers and even longer bottled list. The best part however, was my chocolate porter was only $ 2.50. That’s less than what the Loch Ness monster wants (South Park anyone?). I had a Pork Trio Po’Boy (pictured) that was very delicious and made with fresh ingredients. My wife had a tenderloin recommended by the waitress that was also quiet good. No complaints on the food, that is for sure. I do want to note though, it is a very sandwich heavy place.
As we left, I did take a quick scan around and notices they had three or four spectate rooms, some with their own bars. A perfect place for a private party event. Something to keep in mind in the future.
In the end, I would probably go back, but not a place I would take my visiting friends and family. There are better places in the corridor for that purpose.