Big Grove Brewery

I love this place. Always fresh farm to table food and delicious beer. Favorite recently is the mushroom, goat cheese and poblano pepper sandwich. Tator tot casserole, cheese plate and salads are also always delicious here.

Overall we had a great experience. The wait for a table was shorter that originally predicted and the staff is friendly and attentive. We tried the famous brussel sprouts. They were very good. A little spicy, and a little sweet with an asian finish. Truely unique! My wife had the prime french dip sandwich. It was a very well thought out sandwich. The flavors and textures all complemented each other to form a really good meal
My choice was a let down. I ordered the pastrami. The meat itself was tender and flavorful. Too bad they covered it in sauerkraut, thousand island, and swiss cheese. Yup they turned a great pastrami into a ruben. Even the rye bread seemed mediocre. I was really disappointed. However, I will go back! Service wsa great, amd their beer is really good. I can’t wait to try a different meal.

The restaurant is beautiful and the beers and food are great. Always a treat when I go to Big Grove. Highly recommended.

Amazing food, delicious beer and gorgeous atmoshphere! BGB is the place my hubby and I go for most date nights! Their salmon is to die for, love the pizzas and the Brussel sprouts are a must have when in season!

My wife and I go here on a regular basis with our kids. I love how kid-​friendly this place is, while still catering to the sports bar look and feel. Each and every experience has been excellent. The Roasted Mushroom pizza is my standby; the West Main Wheat is one of my favorite beers that they brew (it’s the only one that my wife and I agree on). The service is top notch, everyone seems very engaged.

A haiku throwdown for my favorite BGB things…
Décor like the farm
Vibe akin to big city
Solon’s so lucky
Brussel sprouts so green
Packing such a nutty crunch
Hot sauce ‘n honey
Arugula pizza
Mushroom and goat cheese
You have won my heart
Cream top six percent
Left hand brew milk stout nitro
They’ve done it again

BigGrove lives up to it’s name! This iconic Iowa stop can accommodate nearly any food & drink preference! To start, they use local suppliers whenever possible then enhance from there with top notch conscious options designed into comprehensive & satisfying food & drink menus. I appreciate their attention to important details too numerous to cover here… my food arrived… gotta go enjoy.

Great outdoor patio with fire pits and lights. Fabulous sports bar area with live games on big screens near the bar. Big and small booths surround the interior perimeter with four-​tops in the middle.
The décor is rustic charm meets industrial cool. Think reclaimed wood, steel, big windows and leather. Comfy and progressive.
Okay, but the food. The Brussels sprouts app is my favorite. Pizzas and sandwiches are tasty and fresh. Salads are innovative and seasonally relevant.
One of my favorite Oases that makes me feel like I am not in Iowa… in a good way. Eclectic, original and yummy!

Gastropub outside of Iowa city. Popular & loud. Garden salad well seasoned. Service occurred.

First time diners & we loved our experience. Our waitress Olivia was helpful & able to recommend things to try. We started with flights of the Big Grove brews & the brussel sprouts. The sauce on them is amazing, it’s definitely something everyone should try! We also had the Almost Cuban sandwich, Beet & Bleu salad, tomato bisque, and fries. All were fresh & delicious. We’ll be back for the cozy, friendly atmosphere & the fresh, farm to table flavors.

While sitting in dining in this place you’ll find it hard to believe that you’re in a small town in Iowa. I’ve been to many brewpubs/​restaurants all over the country and this ranks as one of my favorite.

Worth the drive to the small town of Solon. This hidden gem, though typically a await to get in, has it all. great food, great beer, great whiskey selection, great wine & cocktails, great staff and great atmosphere. The owners have found a magic formula, as all of their establishments are in my top favs. And «Beer Man Bill» works his great magic in the brewery turning out some impeccable beers that are getting regional and national recognition. They make all their smoked meats and charcuterie as well as breads, and many facets of all the dishes. I’ve got many favorites and find myself trying new items all the time. They get my five-​stars.

Service — Decent
Food — Ok. A little adventurous but sometimes it doesn’t pay off.
1. Garden Salad — Different but in a good way.
2. Pork Belly BLT — The flavors just didn’t work.
Merchandise — We wanted to buy a t-​shirt but I think $ 25 is a bit pricey for free advertisement. If you want your name out there, you should be marketing the t-​shirts for $ 15.

This is a brewery I have heard a lot about but being from central Iowa I don’t really get many chances to make it over to eastern Iowa. However the opportunity presented itself and Big Grove was on top of my list of must visits.
Nestled away in the small town of Solon, IA, which is basically halfway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (about a 10 – 15 minutes drive from both), is Big Grove Brewing. They have a very nice looking spot in the old downtown area. I parked on the street but I think there is a private lot as well. While walking in I noticed a nice patio area.
Inside was nice as well. Typical brewpub type environment. I stayed on the bar side and bellied up to the rail. Couple of TV’s behind the bar were turned to sports stations. My only beef here is that for some reason their WiFi was not working well that day. I could connect but it was running at super slow speeds and I was only getting one bar of cellular service. Not a huge issue but an annoyance.
The food I ordered was absolutely fantastic however. I got the hand breaded chicken sandwich dipped in their Korean BBQ sauce. It was extremely sloppy but I didn’t care. The sauce was phenomenal and my mouth is watering just thinking about it right now. I didn’t get a picture of it but I think there is one on here. I will be back just for that alone.
The beer was also top notch. At the time they were releasing their barrel aged imperial stouts. They had three in particular called Richard the Whale. One was the standard aged stout and the other two were the base aged stout one aged with coffee and one aged with hazelnuts. Honestly they were very reminiscent of some of the rare highly touted barrel aged beers like Bourbon County Brand Stout and Kentucky Breakfast Stout. I was super impressed. Their core line of beers were also very good, especially the IPAs.
Service at the bar was great but it was a Thursday afternoon at 1:30 when I got in so it was pretty slow inside. However one of the brewers came by and had a lengthy beer conversation with me. It’s always great to pick their brains.
Overall, Big Grove jumped up to the top of my list for brewpubs in the state. Great food, great beer and a solid atmosphere make this place a must visit.

The food and atmosphere are excellent. Lots of good options for vegetarians, with great sides. Service attentive and friendly. Really, it’s worth the drive! Only bummer is it is very busy at times and wait can be long. Recommend call ahead seating for weekend evenings.

Wonderful food, wonderful and fun atmosphere. They serve quality American classics like Mac n cheese, tater tot casserole, burgers, and their fried chicken (gasp) fogetaboutit! They use all fresh ingredients, and I believe the bulk of it is locally sourced too, though I could be wrong about that.
Service is good too AND they have a really nice outdoor seating area for nice summer nights in rural Iowa.

So I finally managed to get up there and check out the place with some friends who had also been wanting to check it out. The short and simple version of this review is 5 stars for the beer, 3 stars for the food, so 4 stars overall.
I do love their beers and beer always tastes better at the brewery. I will admit that I was a bad beer drinker since I started off with their Arms Race pale ale, then drank lighter beers like their Que Sera Berliner Weisse, finished off by their kolsch. Totally wrong order, but they were still good. The kolsch is one of the better versions I’ve had and is a great beer for outdoor drinking on a warm day. Bartenders are knowledgeable and can definitely help you pick something out based on your preferences.
Unfortunately, the food was hit and miss for us. The deviled eggs were a definite hit. The only problem with them was that there was 5 of us and only 4 eggs. Oh well, we’ll know better next time.
Korean BBQ wings were both a hit, and miss. On the hit side, the wings were big and there was plenty of delicious sauce. Small wings and a lack of sauce annoy me with wings, these hit the mark. On the miss side though, the sauce had a bit of an odd, grainy texture. It was still good, just was an odd texture.
The pretzel was a miss. It was lacking salt, flavor was just ok, and the texture was off. The side of mustard was good, but the cheese sauce was quite runny.
Olives were a definite hit with the rest of the table. Olives aren’t my thing, but everybody else loved them.
Charcuterie plate and cheese plate was pretty good. The bread was solid, cheeses that day were good as was the apricot mostarda. That day we had salami and prosciutto, the prosciutto was good, the salami was merely ok. The hit of the plate though was the baby dill pickles.
Definitely will be back, and trying other food items. Don’t let the 3 star rating for food scare you off though, it’s well worth a try.

There are few expectations of Solon, Iowa as a center for cuisine. A small unassuming town in Eastern Iowa has fostered a gem. The refined palette meets backyard grilling sensibility. Have the boys (or girls) over to knock back a few and put something in the Weber kind of feel. But peel back that preconception and dive into the complex flavor palette the head chef is bringing. I haven’t had anything in the menu that makes me reconsider the decision. From burger to pork sandwich, from pizza to salad. This is Midwest fare at it’s best. Comfort food well conceived and beautifully executed. The soundtrack from our evening included: The XX, Radiohead and The Boss. In the immortal words of an Austrian which I hold no love for…“I’ll be back…”

Thursday. Happy Hour. Game day. Very busy…
Amazingly fast and excellent service. Good beer. Great food. Had the BGB burger, fried Brussels sprouts, and a chowder. All excellent!

Great place to come and grab a great beer! It is usually busy but fairly large and good at accommodating larger party’s and groups. There is usually a wait but it’s well worth it.
Server was very tentative and informative in helping us make our beer selections. I had the Korean chicken sandwich and found it to be the best chicken sandwich I have had in awhile. Nice big juicy chicken breast, Very crispy breading smothered in Korean sauce. Very tasty and the fries are what I would call above average.
Overall I say the prices here are a great value. Can’t wait to return in the summer and use the large outdoor beer garden. All in all this place is a great spot to take your large group, relax and drink great beer!