Arcadia Brewing Company Kalamazoo

The food is so good! I recommend the chicken, collard greens, and corn bread. No where else in Kalamazoo where I can get such delicious food for the soul. The beers are good. The venue is fun. They’ve got an outdoor deck with a disc golf basket, a bonfire pit, and the river is nearby.

Had a couple of tasty brews and enjoyed my visit here, the waiter was nice and super attentive. Didnt try the food but seemed to have a great menu. Would definitely come back as it was a great brewery in a great location. Only complaint was they show alot of merchandise that they dont actually carry.

Drove by and almost screamed as I have tried, and loved, many of there beers. The staff here are amazing and assist you in you selection. Nothing here taste ordinary and that’s why I love it so much. The tastes will lead you back next time you are in town. Love the bar area and décor! Just great place all around. I was not excited to return to kalamazoo until I remembered this is here!!!

I was DD so I can’t comment on the beer but all of my food was delicious! I had: collard greens, Mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, and jalapeño corn bread. My favs were the sweet potatoes and corn bread but it was all good.

Good beer, great BBQ.
Date of Visit: 9÷12÷15
Stopped by Arcadia on a friend’s Michigan roadtrip bachelor party and was pleasantly surprised by their in-​house BBQ offerings, which were pretty darn tasty. Our group tried just about everything, the standouts being beef brisket, potato salad, and the whitefish they had on special. As far as beers, the Rapunzel White IPA was my personal favorite, but all were pretty good, with the exception of one random Saison that even the server admitted was a pretty horrible idea in theory and execution. Oh well, ⁹⁄₁₀ ain’t bad!

Arcadia is everything I could want in a brewery.
They have decent to delicious beers, they have great service, good indoor space, food offerings but the money maker at Arcadia? That patio.
The outdoor patio seating is so chill with picnic tables around and a fabulous view of the Kalamazoo river surrounded by nature. We went during the day on a Saturday and although there were a number of people it wasn’t packed or overly busy. A couple of people had their dogs on the patio & there is a nice little area gated off for their ‘walking’ needs. I seriously fell in love with their patio and am dying to go back on a nice day.
Beer flights range from $ 10 – 15 depending on which beers you get but our server gave us some tricks to keep the costs at just $ 10. You get 5 in a flight so it’s a great deal and well worth it. I wish my liver was stronger so I could have had a go at everything they had on tap, but really this just means I have to come back to continue tasting.
I tried the Cheap Date (pale ale), Hopmouth Double IPA which I’ve had before but was great from the source), their IPA, Maris Otter 50 (English IPA), MI Berry Vice (fruit beer), Femme Fatale Saison (very farmy farmhouse ale), Morning Nightcap (porter) and Sky High Rye (rye beer). Most of these beers came in at about 3 bottlecaps for me, drinkable and good, not the most amazing I have had but nothing to scoff at.
Loch Down Scotch Ale is a wee heavy scotch clocking in at 8.5% that was my favorite of their offerings. What can I say? I’m a girl that likes it hard.
When people think of Kalamazoo beer, they may instantly think Bell’s. At least for me, Arcadia blows Bell’s out of the water on atmosphere alone. I plan on going back to check out more breweries in Michigan’s lower peninsula and Arcadia will be one that I will keep coming back to time and time again. My Chicago people, it’s just a 3 hour drive to Kalamazoo and you can make a fun weekend trip out of going up there! On a side note, they think they are funny on Instagram. Psh. =P

It was a picturesque fall day, the leaves had just begun to turn and the grand bay doors of Arcadia were open wide to welcome the the warm afternoon sun. As we debarked our bus the excitement was palpable, the venue appeared to be about as idyllic a drinking establishment as one could conjure.
A few of us had carried a beer off the bus, but found no trash receptacle near the parking area so I brought the empty cans inside and politely asked the bartendress if I could dispose of them in the trash can behind the bar. She smiled and granted permission and in they went. Several minutes passed and a manager strode over behind the bar, and in a gruff and unnecessarily confrontational manner asked if we were «the ones who were throwing beer cans into his trash can». I explained to him the circumstances of the disposal, and told him that I had asked permission to do it. He begrudgingly accepted my explanation, and sent a bartender to take our order.
Determined not to let one unpleasant exchange ruin our experience, we took our first round out to the back patio where we proceeded to enjoy a rousing round of croquet and some fine beverages. We moved on the the bags boards, and were a few throws in when a gentleman in a purple shirt approached and began talking to us about the game. I said «talking» but really he was yelling because the malted hops congealed in is brain had reached critical mass and were now oozing out to plug his ear canals. I also called him a «gentleman», that was just a mistake. We politely responded but remained focused on our game, exhibiting social cues to terminate the conversation that would have been apparent to anyone but the most reprehensible inebriate. Purple shirt was not receptive.
A few throws later: enter purple shirt’s friend. A fatter and infinitely less amusing version of Dave Attell introduced himself by chest bumping my friend’s beer into his shirt, followed by the classy apology «watch where you’re going». My beer-​doused friend perceived the diminished capacity of his assailant and brushed off the encounter. Unsatisfied with the lack of retaliation, Fattell joined his buddy purple shirt and proceeded to trash-​talk my friends with all the subtlety I had come to expect from them. The glassy-​eyed harassment went on until we asked if they might like to say what they had to say to our faces. This request was graciously granted, and our new friend expounded gratuitously on his unwarranted feelings of ill-​will.
Some of the staff came out to dispose of their over-​served guest, and again we attempted to resume our day. But now we were marked, apparently the unprovoked verbal altercation had made us guilty by association and the Arcadia staff weren’t subtle about letting us know. This was enough to convince us that we really shouldn’t continue to patronize the current establishment, and we closed our tabs to leave. On our way out I considered what a shame it was that such a nicely appointed locale should be staffed and patronized (though not entirely) by such poor humans.
I can only hope that this review inspires some effort to improve a place that by all appearances should have been a great time. Better management that removes over-​served patrons before they pick fights, and doesn’t alienate patrons that are causing no trouble at all might earn more than the $ 1.00 I overtipped them with.

What is so hard about giving good service? I was sitting at the bar waiting for my wife, and I ordered a flight while I waited. The bartender was attentive and courteous. When my wife arrived, we decided to move to the patio. The bartender assured us that their was a server for outside. I went to get some food while my wife waited for the server to come over. I got my food and returned, no server. Waited another ten minutes and I swear the girl was purposely ignoring us so off to the bar we went to order. The whole time We were there the girl never came over to us once to ask anything and the place was not busy. I can’t see how crappy service to go with mediocre beers is a profitable business model but I will not be returning a third time.

First time at Arcadia and we loved the southern bbq. The beer is great too. We loved the Brussels sprouts! The ribs were a huge hit. Chicken was perfect and the lamb chops were too. Pulled pork was excellent. And even the catfish looked boring it tasted great. The only thing we would pass on is the cornbread, it just was too dry and nothing special.
I’ll be back!

A friend and I came here just to check out their beer since Kalamazoo has a lot of breweries. We came to this town for three days as a small getaway vacation for the weekend. We love craft brews so this place was a must.
Their parking lot is huge and it was packed pretty much all the way to the back. Even after entering there were lots of people around. The only place that had room to sit and best suited us were the couches in the middle area of the eatery. We wanted to try their craft brews so I got a glass of their Anglers Ale. Was a little too hoppy for my taste while my friend got the Whitesun Ale. It was better than the Angler’s Ale to be honest, not too hoppy but still had a bit of hoppy flavor.
I wondered how long we would have had to have waited if we had ordered food, knowing this place was crowded that day. I have a feeling this place is crowded all the tim which is good for business but not so good if you’re the impatient type. Overall though this place wasn’t too shabby. I might come back here next time I’m in Kalamazoo.

This place is awesome! It’s right on the river with a great patio and yard that is dog friendly. The place has a very rustic but modern motif and is capacious in terms of size. I’m a big Bells fan and their eccentric café is very cool but I loved Arcadia. It was the perfect place to burn a few hours drinking and hanging out.
I sat at the bar in front of s good sized tv for some football and a beer sampler. I was already familiar with a few of their beers, especially Jaw Jacker pumpkin ale so I tried about six others including Cheap Date and the barrel aged Jaw Jacker. All were pretty decent! The best part was the bbq counter towards the back where they prepared and served food. Gotta get the sweet potato mash it’s so good! The honey jalapeño cornbread was good but kinda cold and crumbled at the touch of a fork or finger. We also tried the brisket and it was ok, a bit cold and fatty with only a sweet bbq sauce to accompany it.
Either way I got a pint glass as a souvenir, a good overall experience, and a full stomach of beer and bbq!
A few things I didn’t like was the lack of apparel available to buy and the giant stink bug hanging out in one of the pint glasses in the shelf in their Merch section. That kinda grossed me out a bit! I would definitely come back with a group for an afternoon buzz!

I’m a pretty big fan of the Arcadia Brewing Company in Kalamazoo. First it’s a cool atmosphere/​vibe where you could spend a night with friends and not feel like you have to go anywhere else. Then you throw in the great beer and it’s over. But wait, there’s more. Then after that you throw in the great food that they have and it’s a place to spend the night and eat and drink.

Jesus this place is awesome!!! I stopped by with some friends after the taste of Portage. totally blew Bells out of the water! I honestly think this is twice as good as the original in Battle Creek.
The service was the best Ive had in a long time. It was fairly crowded but that didn’t stop our waitress (Cynthia) from getting our drinks out lightning fast. The food was great and came out pretty quickly. And well the beer doesn’t need any recommendation from me it speaks for itself. Try the sky high rye if you like something refreshing and unique!

Chef Sean Kelly has always been one of the most talented chefs I have known. I came to kzoo 15 years ago and the food was all cookie cutter except for his doing. To see him with Arcadia let’s the town know it’s going to keep getting better. The smoke house food was amazing.

Not only great beer, but the food is amazing too! Go in the warmer months and big garage doors open out onto a patio with a nice view of the river. These people know how to do meat! Food is served cafeteria style and you just order your preferred meat by the pound and add sides to it. They have some really interesting side dishes, even the traditional items often have a twist. Lots of great beer on tap and most are offered in two sizes.
It can get loud and seating is family style so you might end up sitting at the same table with people you don’t know. But it’s still a fun atmosphere!

The food is different from anywhere else in Kalamazoo! The things they serve are awesome to try. Just a different take on things. The beer is also really good! Always fresh.

Beer and atmosphere are great. On the river, sunny, modern décor. But our food was mediocre at best and the food service was atrocious. French fries under a heat lamp. Everything under a heat lamp. The menu and prices were missing. The food is unlabeled. A kitchen worker told us he’d be with us in a second and never came back. We were the only people in line and had to wait 5 minites for someone else to acknowledge us instead of blatantly ignoring us.
When someone finally did, she was confused about where the menu sign was and so had to list their items. They have «a bunch of sides» but didn’t say what they were.
Our lamb stew was undercooked. No one trimmed the fat or renderer it off. The vegetables were hard. It wasn’t served with bread and when I asked if it was supposed to be, the kitchen person was clearly annoyed. He gave us a bun. A cheap, bulk processed bun.
Our scotch egg was good. And we liked how they tap into the Kalamazoo disc golf culture with a few baskets riverside.
Overall, save the food option here for drunks. And until they hire a new kitchen manager stick to the front of the house.

Team VP went to Arcadia Ales early on Saturday night because we wanted to try the barbecue. I wanted to love this place and there were parts of our meal I enjoyed, but I had hard time getting over some important details.
First, I realize and appreciate that I am noise sensitive, but that large room is loud. We sat tucked way back in the corner, but I still had trouble hearing. What is it with loud restaurants in Kalamazoo?
For the uninitiated, the kitchen is all the way in the back, so walk in the door and just keep walking. It’s a deli counter system where you order, get your meal and pay.
The staff at the counter was friendly enough. They would not win any helpfulness awards.
After you sit, a waitperson will bring a beverage menu. As we don’t drink beer, we asked for club soda ($ 2 each) and then never saw our waitperson again. My guess is beer drinkers see their waitstaff a lot.
Anyway. Mr. MVP had ribs which he really enjoyed. He also had cucumber salad, which is cream based with onions, so it was a no go. We asked about the cornbread that was just coming out of the oven and were told that it was, stunningly, a Jiffy mix.
I had the pulled pork and it was just okay. I am ultra picky when it comes to pulled pork. I appreciate there was sauce provided on the table, but this pork was dry and the buns it was served on were just abysmal.
We visited Arcadia because we actually know the farmers that source their meat and we anticipated they could not do a disservice to amazing animals raised so close to our house. The problem Arcadia has is its sides and extras. They need to pay attention to the details and with a little extra effort and no Jiffy mix they could really have something.

Arcadia was stop six out of seven on our beercation. It was probably my favorite stop for several reasons.
The service was top-​notch, beginning with the doorman who checked our IDs. He was friendly and not intimidating like you so often see. There were anywhere between two to four bartenders behind the bar during our visit, so drinks never took long to get to us. The manager was really friendly, too. And the food? Oh man! The food was so, so great. Arcadia had, hands down, my favorite food while visiting Grand Rapids/​Kzoo.
Arcadia offers flights for $ 10 – 15 depending on which beers you try and their gravity. They don’t have liquor, but they do have Faygo and wine for the non-​beer drinkers. The food is served separate in a different area than the bar and we were told the menu rotates. We sampled a delicious smattering of BBQ and were not let down with anything. Their brisket chili was the best chili I’ve ever had in my life.
We even managed to sneak our way into a private brewery tour. The manager was really cool about showing us their open fermentation room and their bottling set-​up. It was really neat. I look forward to visiting Arcadia in the future.

It’s a bit confusing how to order food when you get in to Arcadia. Insider tip: you have to go up to the food counter to be served… Their smoker came all the way from Texas, so you know it’s good. Slow’s Bar BQ in Detroit and Arcadia are the only two businesses in Michigan that have this smoker!