Saturday 11th of May 2013 11:52:56 AM

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It appears that the brewery expansion is complete but the eating and dining areas remain as described by emerge077. There is still a compact "lounge" back by the open brew area that includes a small bar and additional tall table/counter seating. Seating is at long tables (no 2 or 4 seat tables) including both the bar and dining area toward the front . The draft beer selection has definitely improved from that described previously. There are now a total of 24 taps which were split between a broad selection of house and guest brews (11 house and 13 guest). I enjoyed the Treble Hook Rye and the Beerworks Black, both house brews. The guest taps included mostly imports as well as a few regional crafts. I did not see a bottle list on this visit.
The menu is definitely not typical pub fare but has more an upscale gastropub feel, including starters as well as small and large plate selections. Pricing for both food and beverages is above that of more typical brewpubs and probably reflects the upscale neighborhood. We found metered parking on the street nearby.

Tuesday 1st of November 2011 12:27:47 PM

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An interesting little place, and I hope their brewery expansion succeeds. It seems the township was putting up roadblocks for this tiny brewery to expand into an equally tiny storefront next door, but the expansion looked to be already underway. Apparently the CEO of Dwell magazine lives across the street, and was among the loudest opponents of the brewery, citing noise and "non family friendly" atmosphere. There were kids in there before 9pm when we went, and it wasn't noisy at all (albeit sort of upscale, like the whole town). Parking lot of the Mill Valley Inn next door was noisier than this small establishment.

Back story:
http://bit.ly/eCW2pl
http://bit.ly/qBqEbg

Narrow space with wooden tables up front and a communal table in the back. Short L-shaped bar, hanging lamps, pressed tin ceiling. Pretty dim, music playing. Some brew kettles visible in the back, and open kitchen area that we sat in front of. It wasn't a place that felt especially relaxing, due to a mix of the odd seating, pricey beers, and a little bit sterile interior.

Selection: This is currently more of a beer bar than active brewery, they said this was due to the expansion. One house beer, Morpho, a spiced hibiscus beer brewed at MateVeza. There were some great eclectic and seasonal taps, including a Festbier and JP La Parcela for $12. Drafts were $5-$12. Almanac Vintage '10 on bottle list for $20-something. A few prices were on the high side, the highest being $60 For 3F Schaerbeekse Kriek. Seeing as i've paid $20-23 for this beer once upon a time, $60 sounded like outright robbery-slash-gougery. Other bottles were more affordable, but many things were double digit prices, higher than just about everywhere else in the bay area, save for Monk's Kettle's reserve list.

Service: Quick and timely though one server was little snarky. We were looking for something small to eat, and asked about "milk and cookies" on the menu. Answer: "It's milk...and...cookies." Brilliant! Pressed on after one $12 draft and no cookies, but found some nice meringues from the bakery down the street.

Vibe was trying hard to be minimal and casually unpretentious, but it felt a little pretentious nonetheless. I'd return once they got some house beers on again, and give it another shot.

Addendum: In hindsight, we definitely should have eaten here instead of Avatar's Punjabi Burritos around the corner. The snobbery there was laughable, and from a "burrito place" no less. $14 for one plate of bland rice and veggies with a sweet sauce dumped on it, a side of oily tortillas (ordered naan) and bottled water... The woman behind the counter scoffed when we asked to sit outside (it was 90º inside, tables were near the oven) and acted smug about their cash only policy when asked (pointing at a janky "wall safe" atm behind us). No signs or anything, just a miserable, humorless woman condescending to customers. Indian food may be exotic in Mill Valley, but it wasn't good or authentic here. Zatte in SF was far better.

Sunday 10th of April 2011 08:39:43 PM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

A lovely little brewpub with almost a wine-bar feel but don't let that put you off. There's an extensive bottled beer selection (including many from Belgium) and decent beers on draught (with decent brews of its own). Well worth a visit for a quiet pint or two with good quality snacks to help soak up the alcohol.

The beers come in English-size pints so although a bit more expensive it comes out to the same when you consider the larger glasses.

Food is good quality, but the menu when we went was a bit sparse (maybe because they were just getting going - it had the feeling of a new establishment). It consists of some snacks (cheese board, olives, freshly baked pretzels) plus some slightly bigger items (sausages, toasted sandwich).

The service was also excellent and although the ambience was a little bit flat when we were there this might because it was a Sunday lunch time - hopefully the character will improve with time. We'll definitely be coming back to find out!

Note; parking is available on-street or in a nearby car park but it's all metered 7 days a week.

Sunday 30th of January 2011 11:41:33 PM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

not hard to find thanks to my app. Street parking in down town Mill Valley..I had to look in the window to see if they were open. I've been to many many brew pubs and I'm sad to report this place was like a funeral parlor. Wefelt like we had to keep our voices down. That said...the selection was very good and i was glad to be there. Luckly I know my stuff because there is no info about what beers they have. The board had beer names but no explanation on what they are. I had to ask the somber bothered gal behind the bar. They dont have a full kitchen so the menue is simple..pretzel..pastrami sand..finally some other folks came in an were chatty and lightened th mood. Will I go back..Yes..will i eat first..yes..they do good beer and i was glad they were there