Growler’s Pub

Looks like they’ve unexpectedly closed down. We live in the neighborhood. New sign went up today. Thank you for your patronage. Signs on door say closed

I am giving this place 2 stars only in part because I have visited this establishment several times in the past with moderate service. However, last Saturday, I tried grabing a late dinner and some drinks with my father and husband. We were seated immediately in the beer garden outside. We sat there for 20 MINUTES with no acknowledgement by the wait staff. Not even a quick «Hey, sorry, we are totally slammed with all of these 20 year olds drinking all over the patio, your dinner is gonna have to wait. But I will get you some water to hold you over for the next 7 hours, ok??»
Aggrivated, our group of 3 traveled inside thinking we would be readily seen and served since everyone was outside. This unfortunately not the case. I even told the hostess we were moving inside, and she couldn’t care less. We waited for another 10 minutes, and looked around to find more frustrated people without food or drinks. ON A SATURDAY NIGHT – this should be primetime service! I was going to give them money in place of dinner and drinks, but obviously they weren’t interested.
This place has mediocre food, deplorable service and high drink prices.

This review is tricky because I’m torn, so I’ll just cop out with a 3 star. To preface, I spent many, many a great night here 10 – 15 years ago. Growler’s was always a go to, and one could always count on there being a variety of interesting and cool patrons. And I LOVED their old menu — Shepard’s pie and an incredible buffalo chicken sandwich.
That said, they have changed their menu. Having not been here in recent years, I bought an extremely generous Groupon for Growler’s a couple months back ($ 40 for 4 entrees/​4 drinks… BOOM) and we decided to use it to use it to take my parents out to dinner. It was really disappointing that the menu has been changed from a traditional Irish pub style to standard American fare.
I was pretty saddened to see how dilapidated the exterior of this place is. It’s a lovely tudor building, but is in serious need of a contractor (paint job, gutter work, etc). And unfortunately, the interior also needs some updating. It has some great features — stained glass windows, a great bar, stone fireplaces, etc., but just needs some affection.
The food itself was actually pretty good. I’ll start with the bad — the «grilled» chicken spedini sandwich was totally deep-​fried & almost burnt. Burnt aside, it tasted ok, but my mom is the one who ordered it & she’s pretty much allergic to fried. It’s pretty egregious to called something grilled, but serve it up fried, regardless of the end taste. The hand cut fries were rather soggy. On the other hand, my husband’s burger was pretty good. My strip steak was slightly over-​cooked, but it was huge, had a really nice flavor & was surprising tender. The side veggies were delicious (a blend of onions, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots). And ummm, hello fried pickles. The sauce that came on the side was INSANE.
The service was pretty negligent & forgetful. The hostess was MIA.
They have a really lovely draft beer selection if that’s your thing. Ciders, lagers, lambics, hefeweizens, stouts, ales…
Worth a visit.

I have not been here to eat since they changed the menu, but I am very glad I gave their food another chance. The Ruben is to die for and labeled as a house special on the menu. Substitute the chips for the truffle parmesean fries. Everything I tied had great layers of flavor. The menu has been edited down and I agree with their decision to do so. Much better than your average pub/​bar food. The only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars is that they have since extensively altered their beer list. Cut in half would be a better way to describe it.

Another Groupon-​Another day– Another review– Another OK.
I wish I may, I wish I might, I wish my visit inspired me more to write.

Even though they have new owners now and don’t offer as wide a beer selection, it’s still one of the best in the city. I discovered a Unibroue wheat beer that I loooove, that I never would have come across if my waiter hadn’t recommended it to me after asking me about some of the other beers I like.
I haven’t eaten there since they changed owners, but their food has always been very decent. Not fine dining, but some seriously good grub after a handful of drinks.
Their back patio is maybe my favorite in the STL area, and I LOVE a good patio. I drug all of my friends here for my birthday back in September and the weather was perfect. The outdoor bar is a plus too. This is just a great, laid back place to have some laughs and meet good people.

Went here with five members of my family. They made us stand there by the door, waiting to be seated, for almost 10 minutes even though the waitress said, «I’ll be right with you.»
Waited about 15 minutes for her to come around and take our drink order.
The place was half full, they had a bartender and at least 3 waitresses and an oblivious and evidently ineffective shift manager who walked by us numerous times without looking at us or checking to see if everything was alright. He wasn’t hustling so he certainly wasn’t that busy. But I still had to wave him down so he could get me another beer since our waitress was M.I.A. most of the time.
When we had to resort to going to the bar, the bartender girl acted huffy, seeming to be burdened by us asking her for drinks. I know honey, keeping track of what table we’re at (even though we’re seated directly across from you) is just the worst.
So, that was kind of the theme for the night: waiting, being looked past, and treated as if we were a burden.
I had what were called «parmesan truffle fries» and they were pathetic. Room temperature and flaccid. They appeared to be just their regular fries (I’m betting frozen) with only that grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of it. No truffle oil to be found. And trust me, I’ve had parmesan truffle fries that would make you weep.
Other than the fries the food was good and the beer list was impressive but it just wasn’t worth the poor service and (what I interpreted as) disrespect.
Won’t ever return.

Growler’s Pub is NOT A BIKER BAR, I REPEAT, NOT A BIKER BAR! Don’t let the name and location fool you. It certainly surprised me. This is a hidden gem in the KIRKWOOD/​SUNSET HILLS area. Seriously, they have an amazing beer garden in the back, much to the style of a real one you’d find in Germany. It’s pretty spacious, wide and neatly flanked by ropes of Ivy all around. The beer menu on tap is out of this world. There were 40 on hand, and I chose «TANK 7» from Boulevard Brewing and I was pleased. It was at a great price as well, not like downtown where I’m from. I am coming back for sure to check out their extensive food menu. This place makes for an ideal destination for large groups, or happy hour occasions. I highly encourage you to check this place out while you shop around in the area!

we ate lunch yesterday and the ENTIRE menu is changed… which is good… It has a completely different feel and the food I had was delicious…
Sitting outside in a garden with trees overhead and no smell of exhaust was so relaxing… try it…

My wife and I stopped into Growler’s for a beer and some dinner. We were surprised by the new menu, which is pretty small and a bit pricey. My wife had the fish and chips. She gave them the thumbs up. Not a big fried fish fan myself, but the bite I had wasn’t bad. I ordered the Rueben because it said «House Specialty» or something like that on the menu. I love Rueben’s but they are hit or miss in most restaurants. Growler’s is a miss. First of all, it’s $ 10 which I don’t mind paying if it’s stellar (we’re talking about a sandwich). It came with chips, fries are $ 1 extra. There wasn’t a whole lot of meat on the sandwich, but what really set it back was some kind of yellow runny mustard sauce dripping out of it. I think there was 1000 Island on it as well, but not sure. I wouldn’t order it again.
Our server, Mike, did a great job. He explained all the happy hour specials and was quick to fill up our pints. I would definitely go back to Growler’s for drinks in the beer garden. It’s very shady and a few fans kept the air flowing. Nice setting to enjoy some cold one’s. Will skip the food next time.

We used to be big fans of Growlers Pub, but not anymore! We used to frequent the location in Creve Coeur which closed several years ago, and now the existing location has had this new «make over» and gotten rid of most of the great food items and beers that used to make us come weekly.
This also used to be a great place to host an event, which I took advantage of several times with no problem, now they want to charge you an arm and a leg up front, make you pre-​purchase food items from their pretentious menu.
I was also sad to hear they have done away with their beer mug program.
Sorry, but this place has really taken a turn for the worst, would not be surprised if they were closed in the near future!

I used to love the old Growlers. The «new» version is terrible. The beer menu is not the same and the food menu is completely useless now. The old menu was way too large, but the new menu is very sparse. I am not that picky and I even had trouble figuring out what to eat there, settling on some sort of Italian sandwich which was basically some cold cuts and dressing on a bun. I could have made that at home. They were nice enough to ask if chips were ok as a side, but since there don’t appear to be alternatives anymore I think that’s just a formality. Basically you’re paying a lot for a lunch like you and your friends might get served at your mom’s house over the summer when you were in fifth grade.
The beer garden is visually attractive, though.

I’ve been a big fan of Growler’s for ages, usually frequenting the now closed Creve Coeur location. I was a frequent enough patron to complete the entire beer card program (which no longer exists) and earn the giant pewter mug out of it. A friend once asked a manager, who estimated a single person earning a mug spent nearly $ 5,000 combined on beer and food to earn it. Growlers used to be one of my favorite bars and restaurants in the world.
The new menu has drastically changed that. The policies of the new management/​chef seem to be to disregard their existing fervent fans and hope to start over fresh, it seems. The beer list is much shortened and the loyalty cards no longer exist (because it would make so little sense to give people an incentive to return). I had a number of favorites on the menu, and all of them are gone. The menu feels now like someone took the food menu of a national chain like TGI Fridays, shrunk it, and tried to make things sound fancier. The only effect is that the food is fussier and it simply is no longer the Growlers I loved.
I went there a few weeks ago and spoke with the management. They were pleasant enough, but I still walked out of the restaurant without eating or ordering a beer. This is no longer the restaurant you’re looking for.

Good food, decent beer selection, and great atmosphere. It has a neighborhood feel that makes me feel nostalgic for St. Louis.
The outdoor patio is great when the weather is, which makes this a summertime must. I’m sure I’ll be back when I’m in town!

Growlers is pretty close to my house and I have driven by it many times. I saw a picture of a salad with a pretzel on the side and was intrigued, so my husband and I headed here on a Tuesday night to get some grub. We arrived right before 7pm and the place was packed. They have awesome happy hour specials, which explains it. The beer list is out of this world. They have a LOT of beers, including a lot of Missouri beers. The hostess, who I think was the owner or manager, told us the specials and advised us to order at the bar if we wanted to take advantage of them because there wasn’t a table ready yet and happy hour was almost over. We appreciated the heads up!
We got our table shortly thereafter. Our waitress, Casey (?), was on the ball. She provided us with a level of service that was impressive. We ordered our food. It came out quickly. I got the apple raspberry salad with a different kind of cheese than bleu, my least favorite. It came with greens, walnuts, craisins, cheese, apples and raspberry vinaigrette with a hot soft pretzel on the side. The pretzel was a fun and yummy side for a salad. The salad was HUGE and the toppings were generous, which I appreciated. The one thing I did not like about the salad was the apples. They were weird looking. My husband said they didn’t even look like apples. They were soggy and tasted weird, like they had been sitting in a tub of lemon juice or water for a long time. I couldn’t eat them. The dressing was really good though and everything else tasted really fresh.
My husband got the club sandwich. It was big and came with fries. He enjoyed both of those things.
I ended up taking a lot of my salad home, and our server brought me a box and extra dressing, plus a top for the dressing I hadn’t used. Props to that! The owner/​manager/​hostess also was walking around to see how people’s meals were. I like that it seems like a higher up cares!
We’ll probably come back and try it again. My husband wants to try more sandwiches and I would like to try some more beers and the happy our specials/​apps.

What can you say about a place that already has a million reviews? Plenty!
My girlfriend, friends and I decided to chow down at Growlers before a concert at the Old Rock House. They usually take FOREVER to get our food out, so we went way ahead of time. Damn my luck.
The four of us were seated in some dark corner where we were wedged between two «quiverfull» families with about 10 kids each.
*Grammer freaks: I realize that was a long ass run-​on sentence, but I don’t care. It kind of shows how long we waited for our food; too long!
The sad part is, we were waiting for NOTHING since the waiter never put our order in. We were there for an hour before he realized what the hold up was. So did we get our food for free or a discount? No, but we did get a free basket of chips and dip! Yippie!
Besides the free chips, we got cards for free apps for the next time we wanted to dine at Growlers. (Insert eye roll). Two of our friends were from out of town, so that was pointless. At any rate, the food was amazing as always. I just feel the service was wack.
And because this is my first review without mentioning alcohol, I’ll just put a stop to that right now. I gave this place two stars originally, but upped it to three based on the fact that they have every beer known to mankind. This makes a drunk femme like me happy because the more my significant other drinks, the more likely it is that she will buy me Long Islands and cosmos to my hearts content!
So, what should you take away from this long, drawn out review?
If you go to Growlers, expect to experience Ethiopian-​like starvation while waiting for your amazing food and drinks.

Amazing beer collection, they even give you a little card to keep you interested and to keep track of what beers of their nearly 150 different varieties from all over teh world.
The happy hour is great, good deals on apps. Patio is perfect for a nice day. Easy to sit out here for a few hours trying different beers and different appetizer varieties.

If you hate beer, stop reading now. If you love beer, Growlers is going to have its way with you. To really be considered a beer bar, you have to carry more than AB In-​Bev products or PBR (I love PBR so no, I’m not a hater). Growlers carries 131 bottles and a crazy amount of selections on tap. Step into the front door and consider it a mini international tour for your taste buds with beer selections from exotic locales like Vietnam, Brazil, England, Mexico, Germany, Ireland, India, Sri Lanka and the good olé USA.
I started by keeping it simple with a tasty bottle of Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat. I was in the mood for a fruity selection and this hit the spot. I also sipped my friend’s Pyramid Apricot Ale. Does that count as 2 of my 5 servings of fruits and veggies for the day?
I ended my visit with a bartendar recommend delight called Purple Death. Its a beer mixer consisting of chambord, cider and pale ale. Purple Death put me in pure heaven. Seriously if it is the only thing you order at Growlers, you won’t regret it. Maybe you will but at least you tried it.
The atmosphere was good, happy hour crowd. Bartender was nice but disappeared for extended periods trying to manage the entire length of the bar which got full quickly. I have ordered food at Growlers in the past. My suggestion? Chicken fingers. They make a mean chicken finger platter.
Growlers. Good neighborhood spot for a casual happy hour.

Growlers earns a B+ for the weekday happy hour experience if you want something low-​key and easy. Throw on some jeans, grab a seat at the bar, and get ready for…
Beer! I’m not usually a beer lady, but I sure was tonight! Perhaps my problem was that I’ve never had over 100 beers to choose from. I felt like I’d be missing out on something if I went with my standard cocktail instead of a brew, so I made an effort and decided on the Pyramid Apricot Ale. It was light, fruity, and just what I was looking for after a long day! I usually feel so heavy after beer, but not this time. My happy hour date, Pamela R, had the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and she was pretty satisfied as well. The bartender happily made the recommendations. You could get into some serious trouble sitting at the bar at Growlers. So… many… choices…
I actually executed some self control while I was there and didn’t eat the bar food, but everything smelled amazing and I saw some fine looking burgers and chicken wings pass by me a few times. I can definitely see myself coming here on a laid-​back night! Much needed change of pace.

I am pretty sure they used to have a location off of 94 west of the river back in the day. That is the one I am most familiar with. Great beer selection to enjoy and some of the best scotch eggs I have had.
Whether playing catch up with friends or watching the game, a good choice for either.