Rockford Brewing Company

Coming from Indiana to visit family we went this brewery. We were refused service from a waitress with a tattoo on her neck and a hostess who forgot she was supposed to seat people. My children were upset as it was hot and we were ignored and pointed at because we sat down outside without being seated.
Disappointed in the service we did not get from here… We took out large party back down the street to where they usually go… Tads.

The waitress charged me double of what I should have paid for a drink because of her own mistake and wouldn’t correct the issue. Then the waitress tried to keep all of my change (70% tip). TERRIBLE service and a huge scam.

The staff was super nice, place was cool… We sat by the river. The food portions are enormous! The cheese curds were great! The fish n chips tasted fishy and greasy.

First off, the atmosphere here is over the top! The ambience, the water, the vibe… just beyond cool. When you think of an awesome spot to drink beer — thi should be one of the first places that comes to mind.
Now take an incredible beer drinking spot and add to it gourmet food.
Hopefully you get the picture.
They have got an awesome chef! Great food, incredible beer brewed on site.
I tried many a beer… my favorite was the cask conditioned double IPA. HEAVENLY.

I’m a big fan of craft beer I have traveled around to many breweries to try craft beer. That being said, the brew house has some of the best. The amount of variety on their beer menu is unreal. The food is tasty, just wish there were larger portions. Maybe that is because I just want to eat more of the delicious food. Fair pricing on the drinks and food. The building is unique. They have done some cool stuff to it. I’ll be stopping next time I’m in good olé Rockford.

Visiting the fiancé in Rockford and he took me out last night for the dinner on the dock event. Live music, good food, drinks, great service, games if you want to play, and a beautiful view. Can’t go wrong. I’ve been having a hard time accepting Rockford as his new home however places like this make it a little easier.

Their new menu is awesome! I highly recommend the cheese curds!
My husband loved the beer he tried. Both of our meals were excellent, and our server was great, friendly, and made some suggestions that were very good.

The stars reflect RBCs inability (?) to fill growlers other than RBC-​branded glass. The food was good. The beer was good. The service was also good. Two managers explained that state law prohibits selling beer in a container that does not have their name on it. If this is true, will a helpful Unilocaler, or perhaps RBC management, please respond with said statute?
Otherwise, I will take my business to the dozens of IL breweries that take my money in any growler I bring in.

Good beer, good food. Great patio.

Killer beer, great food and it’s always busy. Great job and a great place for all. You can put any of their beers next to some other great Colorado breweries.
The upstairs bar has a great atmosphere and the bartenders always have a smile on their faces. This is the diamond in Rockford Illinois!!!

Wow was the salmon amazing. Really… Smashed beets and pistachio’s are awesome. Who knew??? Oh and of course the beer samples and I liked two of them and forgot the names!!!

Wow! I didn’t expect this place to be so nice! Right by the Rockford river, awesome view. Awesome beers!

I guess I am very middle of the road with this one. The beer that they brew is rather mediocre at best, The West Coast IPA has good flavor. The food though is really really good. Luckily they carry other beers on tap down stairs. I am not sure about the upper bar. Anyways you really cant go wrong with the Poutine or those amazing wings.
Overall great food mediocre beer but a great atmosphere.

Excellent experience for our whole family! Atmosphere is wonderful. I love the exposed wood and brick of the restaurant.
We started with an appetizer of cheese curds (amazing!) and then I had pork chop special and my husband had the cod. Both entrees were fantastic. Perfectly cooked and the taste was great. My kids were also happy with their choices of pizza and Mac and cheese.
The service was great. The waiter was attentive and prompt with every thing. The manager also stopped by to make sure our experience was what we wanted it to be.
We will definitely be back. This is a great restaurant in the Rockford area!

My boyfriend and I loved it! The building is awesome with seating right on the Rock River (indoors is super cool too). We only tried the hefeweizen which we both liked. I had the turkey club, he had the black bean burger but with a meat patty, and we split six buffalo wings. Plus we both had the sweet potato fries as our side. All so good! And very reasonable portions for the price! We would absolutely go back!

A perfect summer day that was topped off with as close to a perfect dinner as we could have imagined. Sitting outside on their beautiful dock was only part of what made our dinner great. My wife and I shared their massive pulled pork nachos and their pulled pork sandwich. The nachos alone could have fed four people! And they were so good! The star of the show was definitely the pulled pork sandwich on a pretzel bun, with a healthy serving of coleslaw right in the sandwich (just the way I like it :)
Now for the beers. I wasn’t feeling too adventurous so I went with their hefewiezen to start. Which is by far the best Hefe I’ve ever had in my opinion. Then I tried a blackberry kolsch that was recommended to me but I didn’t care for that much so I just went back to the Here. I’m not a huge summer beer fan so the available selection didn’t really appeal to me.
Our one miniscule complaint that probably doesn’t deserve mentioning. The bees were kind of annoying and they definitely multiplied as our dinner progressed. We do understand that is just part of eating outside, it just started to become a nuisance. We eventually left maybe a little sooner than we anticipated because of the bees.
All in all… This place is amazing! It’s a beautiful, eclectic, friendly atmosphere with an amazing view and even better food and drinks.

One of my new favorite spots in Rockford! The beers that I’ve tried here have all been delicious. I’m a particular fan of the saison & the hefeweizen. Both are on the lighter and sweeter side, without being overly sweetened up. Perfect for summer! I came here on Sunday night hoping to try the Black & Blue X-​Brew, but they were sold out. I was told that the brewers aren’t going to make another batch but that a new round of summer seasonals are on the horizon. Hoping to check some of those out too!
Service was pretty good overall, though our server did forget about the Sunday wing special and charged us full price. He quickly adjusted the bill to reflect the 60cent wing special and apologized. He was attentive with our service throughout the evening, took my dad’s «dad» jokes in stride, and immediately put in an order for fresh fries when we let him know that ours arrived at the table pretty lukewarm.
The food was above average for the Rockford area. The wing special was a good deal — 6 wings for 60cents each and they were all big, more meaty drumsticks. We tried the parmesan garlic and the porter BBQ and preferred the parm garlic. It had more of a «fried» chicken feel with a good dusting of garlic and fresh parmesan. I had the chicken sandwich, which came on a light bun, with two stalks of asparagus, gouda, and homemade pesto. It was light, springy, and delicious. The homemade pesto added a nice flavor to the sandwich. I would order it again! We also shared the pretzel stick appetizer. It came with 3 big pretzel sticks that were piping hot, salty and fresh. The cheese sauce needs some work though — the cheddar flavor is very mild and it was a little too congealed rather than saucy for my liking.
Looking forward to going back and trying more of their craft brews & some of the appetizers we didn’t have room for! Dinner on the Docks also looks like it will be a fun time — food, beer, and music on the river. What’s not to like?

Lovely. 5 stars for me. Really good beer with traditional styles like a Hef and experiments like the vanilla Kolsch. Flights and beer overall are very reasonable. Plus, place is cool to hangout — very cool and industrial inside — but then dining by the docs outside. It was too cold to go outside when I was there but could see the possibility.
I really enjoyed the black and blue Kolsch. A light and refreshing Kolsch infused with black and blueberries. Loved it.
Food is also good. We started with the soft pretzels with cheese drip. Some of the best pretzels I’ve ever had. We then tried the poutine but I dressed it up with avocado, duck bacon, and topped it with a fried egg. Very good. We also had the Mediterranean chk and it was so tasty. Home run. Would come back just for that. Finally, my son had the kids burger medium rare and he enjoyed thoroughly.
Great beer, ambiance, and food. A must try in these parts.

Overall: there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about this place. The beer is really good and although the menu isn’t large they have enough different options and all the food that we had was great.
Good:
$ 5 craft beer
Sweet potato fries
Fish tacos
Veggie burger
Service
Lighting and overall decorations
Very reasonable prices
Not sure what I was expecting when I went to Rockford but it definitely wasn’t this. I would without a doubt eat here again. The outdoor dining area looks like it would be awesome in the summertime.

So much to say. To sum up, I’d say, «top notch». Let’s break it down…
Atmosphere: My wife and I are big on atmosphere, and we were very impressed. Prime location close to downtown Rockford right on the rock river. I can imagine it’s hopping in the summer with live music and outdoor seating. This place opened up in June of 2014 so it is pretty clean and new but has an early 20^th century industrial feel. The building is huge with many rooms
outside the restaurant area, and appears to be perfect for holding large events. Love the all wood bar… when sitting at it you can admire the brewing area through a large window. The handles for the beer taps were wrenches! Very cool.
Food: We went for lunch. Ordered the poutine as an appetizer. Never had poutine before so we don’t have anything to compare but it was sooo good! I ordered the vegetarian burger which had a very unique and ultra tasty home-​made walnut cheddar patty. Props to the chef for the great idea. Normally restaurants skimp on veggie burgers. My wife got the fish tacos. A graduate of culinary school and not easy to impress when it comes to food, I trust her opinion. She said it was the best fish taco she’s ever had! No desert, we were stuffed.
Beer: I got a flight of four. Starting with the «Petritz pale ale» one of their «flagship» brews using an original rockford brewing company recipe from 1949. I enjoyed it! Very tasty and smooth. Next was their coffee stout and it was good. I enjoyed the apple ale next. It was slightly sweet and a bit sour. Last was my favorite of the four… the west coast ipa. The first sip slapped me with a wave of citrus and after gave my taste buds a chance to simmer I enjoyed the hop flavor. I believe the ibu on this beer was 68. Yum. Some friendly strangers at the bar offered me a sip of vanilla kolsch. They didn’t like it and neither did I.
One of the best brewery/​restaurants I think I’ll ever go to! Looking forward to eating leftovers today!