Wednesday 28th of March 2018 10:17:06 AM

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Legend is all about the view – an absolute killer view of Richmond from the other side of the James River. There is ample outdoor seating overlooking the river. There is ample indoor seating too, but that lacks the view. They have about ten beers on tap. What I tried was good. Nothing flawed, but nothing memorable either. There are more distinctive options in Richmond. The food menu is largely burgers and sandwiches. Worth a visit on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to relax and take in the view.

Thursday 30th of January 2014 10:06:19 PM

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Nice place, but as the other said, off the beaten path. The large parking lot greet s with the city skyline across the river. The large restaurant is clean and modern. The menu is large and food is plentiful. The service is great. The flight features all of the beers on tap. Served on a large board it gives the history of the beers. On the reverse side is the history of the brewery. All in all a great place to visit.

Sunday 11th of December 2011 11:02:38 PM

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This area of Richmond has a somewhat unattractive industrial atmosphere, located just across the James River from downtown. But the view of the city is quite scenic on December evenings during the annual city Illumination event. Opened in 1994, Legend Brewing's claim to fame is being Virginia's oldest craft brewery. The building is two story white cinder block construction, with a corrugated steel grain silo to the right of the building. Parking is free around the building. Out front is a spacious wooden deck patio with numerous umbrella circular black metal tables. The lower level of the building is occupied entirely by the brewery equipment. They originally started with a 10bbl brew kettle and 4 fermenters, but they now have 30bbl brewing vessels and a farm of 37 stainless steel fermenters! The low ceiling limits the size of their equipment, and I was nearly lost in their maze of stainless steel vessels! Downstairs they also have an automated bottling line, and the remainder of the floor space is filled with raw material storage. The brewery is ripe for expansion. Upstairs is their brewpub restaurant which has a straight 12-chair wooden bar. Behind it is their kitchen and refrigerator of house beers. They have 9 on tap which can be had by pint, sampler flight, or growler. The main room also has numerous dining tables and the decor motif includes their unicorn mascot. Their food menu has a great variety of appetizers, salads, entrees and sandwiches, which are better quality than standard pub fare. The burgers and sandwiches are delicious. The service is friendly and fast, and I enjoyed their variety of beers. After trying the sampler, I was enticed to purchase some large format bottles to take home. Their lighter beers Lager, Oktoberfest, Pale Ale, and Pilsner were just average. Their more robust ales Belgian Ale, Brown Ale, English Bitter, Golden IPA, and Porter were better than average. I was really won over by their delicious Chocolate Porter, and their incredibly amazing Barleywine (15.6% abv)! I first visited in 2010 and again in 2013, and this old brewery continues to impress. Legend has been brewing for over 20 years, and I wish them many more.

Thursday 2nd of December 2010 08:58:23 PM

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The Brew Basics: Not centrally located to the rest of the city’s nightlife, but with great beers, a great view, and great environment, why would you need to leave?

Overall Review: Home Run!!

Billed as Virginia’s oldest and largest microbrewery; which doesn’t say much for Virginia considering it opened in 1994. Originally Legend beers were accessible only on draught at their restaurant/brew works on the banks of the James River or in limited styles and quantities at your local grocer – in 22 oz bottles only. Recently, a contract with Brown Distribution has taken big strides in getting their beers available for increased public consumption. But never fear, Legend is ready for such mass production, and the quality of their brews does not seem to have suffered in the slightest.

Of course, the best place to go to try these beers is Legend itself. Where once the weakest part of the place was the food, a new chef and some fine-tuning has greatly improved the quality of the menu. The feeling of the building is somewhat of a cross between an English pub and a moose lodge. With a mug club, regulars at the bar, and a huge deck surrounded by live flowering hop plants, which is an outstanding place to go on a steamy Richmond evening. Well built for porch drinking with friends, there are lots of tables inside and out – most of the large picnic or round table variety that can easily seat 6, 8 or even more, and multiple areas that can be rented out for parties. We suggest you even check their schedule and come join us for one of their special events – live music or even outside movie night.

Brew Breakdown:
Being our hometown brewery, we’ve been here often and sampled many of the wares. If you only have time for one, hands down, ask for the brown.

Legend Lager: One of their original brews and, along with the Brown Ale, the one you’re most likely to find on tap at a local bar or in the beer aisle. Definitely not a light beer but a well rounded traditional lager, with a smooth taste, clean finish and bright gold color and a 4.8% ABV, which is higher than the average American mass produced lager, but well within the average range of a microbrew.

Legend Brown: An easy pick if we had to guess your favorite. Dark toasted nut color, hints of caramel and molasses in the aroma and nutmeg and cinnamon in the aftertaste. Lots of malts, which give it a slightly dry taste – and easily drinkable with food or when sharing a pitcher with friends. 6% ABV

Legend Porter: This one is a thick, chewy and dark black ale with a strong coffee flavor. It’s not very hoppy at all, but so heavy to drink that it’s not one Gillian orders often. One that easily fills you up, and makes you forget you haven’t eaten dinner yet. 6% ABV

Legend Pale Ale: While many of Legend’s recipes have a pronounced hop flavor including a pilsner and the Golden IPA, this one is utterly the hoppiest. A light golden color with a fibery taste, minimal malt, and notes of wood and citrus add extra layers and a dry flavor. 6% ABV

Golden IPA: A robust flavor with distinct malt start and hop finish. A somewhat bitter beer, that according to one of the bartenders, actually started out as just an experimental recipe that was brought back and refined just enough to get a solid following and a spot on their permanent menu. Being an IPA this of course has a bit higher ABV – but coming in at 7% it’s only a little higher than the ABV of most of their other offerings, and on the low side for an IPA.

Thursday 18th of November 2010 08:32:34 PM

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This was my second trip to Legends Brewing Company. Both experiences were excellent. They have a great selection of their own brews. I had a flight on the first trip and a pint of their ESB this time. The porter and the lager are good, the Octoberfest and the Golden Ale not to my liking, the rest are about what you'd expect from a small brewer.

The atmosphere on the inside of the pub is industrial but the deck has a great view of the Richmond skyline. I saw business men in suits and folks in jeans and flannel so it seems comfortable to all types.

The food has been great on both visits and the service was friendly and prompt. I'll be going back.

Wednesday 7th of April 2010 04:10:29 PM

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First off I think the 1st reviewer skewed the rating of this brewpub a tad out of wack. I am glad I stopped in here, it was a great experience. I had a sample of all their beers on tap and found all of them quite good and a few that I could see myself drink mass quanities of on a cool summer's eve. Speaking of which the patio overlooking the river is great!

Here is my take:
Lager - (4.8%) light crisp, mild aroma, well balanced, good after taste, clean, very lt in color, very drinkable!!

Pils - (5.8%) lt amber in color, mild aroma, crisp, very drinkable, slight hop bitterness on end.

Brown - (6.0%) nice red-amber color, tan head, very nice roasted malt-hop balance, clean finish w/alc note. Very drinkable.

Porter - (6.0%) dark brown/black, brown head, nice roasted malty tones, well balanced w/ mild hoppiness. Tad alc after taste. Good.

Golden Ale - (7%) dark golden color, light head, definite alc notes, good hoppiness in taste & bitterness. Good.

Pale Ale (IPA) - (5.5%) dark gold/amber, light head, strong hop flavor & bitterness,Nice beer to balance flavorful foods. Good.

Lunch: special-Buffalo Chic wrap, german potato salad. Messed up order & got fries which were good. Potato salad & wrap both a tad balnd for my tastes.

All in all this place is do over! I will stop again next time in the Richmaond area.

Friday 27th of February 2009 04:39:46 PM

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Stopped on February afternoon so I was not able to take advantage of the patio overlooking the James river. Had a nice lunch there. The food came out very quickly. I stayed in my usual spectrum of ales. They had their cask conditioned pale ale on tap as well a their 2009 Hopfest. Both were excellent. The offer a mug club. The also have most of their offerings in 22 oz bottles to take home. Worth the trip!

Saturday 7th of February 2009 11:57:35 AM

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Legend is located just outside downtown Richmond in an industrial area right along the James River. The location is great, the patio is outside right along the river and it overlooks downtown. I unfortunately was there in the winter and didn't get a full appreciation for the patio, but it seems like it would be a great place to grab a drink the summer.

The day I was there, it was unfortunately not too busy, but I was able to sit and talk with the owner, Tom, for quite a while. He has some interesting stories to tell about the place including the name, a story of the coat of arms on the wall and just generally about his beer.

They had a nice selection, seemed like about 8 regular selection and 4-6 specials at any time. I tried the Chocolate Porter- this one is really sweet, but not so much that you couldn't drink a second if you liked the flavor. I also tried the Quad Belgian. Wow, this was tasty. It was also strong, I felt in in the morning, but it was worth it. Overall, they had the full compliment of beers with a focus on the more specialty selections- they also had a Belgian Triple, a barrel aged Porter and a few others.

I did not get a chance to try the food.

Monday 14th of January 2008 09:09:27 AM

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This was my first stop at Legend. It is in an industrial area. There is ample parking, something you won't find at any of the downtown beer spots. There is a really good view of the Richmond Skyline from the large outdoor patio. The view brings the atmosphere score up.

There were at least 10 beers on tap from a basic lager to Bourbon Barrel Porter, Imperial Stout, Barleywine, IPA, Brown and others. That's where the good selection score comes in. I sampled the barleywine and ordered an Imp. Stout. The beer was decent, nothing special. There was a cask pilsner. I'd never had cask lager and I still haven't. I've never been very impressed with the bottled stuff from here either.

The service, while friendly, was slow, even sitting at the bar just having a beer.

The people working here looked a little unkempt, but that keeps with the feel of the place and the neighborhood.

I could see myself going back on a warm spring night and having a couple of beers on the patio. I did not try the food, but I had an open view of the kitchen from the bar and probably would eat elsewhere while in Richmond.

I'd say, despite the low score, I'd give this one a go again.

edit 5-5-10: I've visited here a few more times, including in warmer weather when the patio helps the atmosphere score. Also bumped the service score as it was better on repeat visits. Had the HopFest and it is fantastic.