Tuesday 29th of December 2009 02:38:45 PM

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A huge winner, in my book, one of the best "upscale brewpubs" in California.

6 on tap when I visited. Emphasis is on malty German-style beers which they do fantastically. Nothing unusual in the beer choices.

The food is outstanding. When I visited, they were just breaking in a new chef and a new menu, so don't let older reviews about the food (which I hear used to be sub-par) throw you. New California cuisine with an emphasis on the fresh and local.

Service was a little rough. We got lucky and had a bartender that kept an eye on us, but it looked like they needed more help.

Monday 13th of April 2009 03:01:09 PM

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Came in on a Saturday evening. Los Gatos is a really pretty little town, although a bit pretentious and exclusive.
The brewery is really hard to find if you're just going by the address. It's actually off Santa Cruz Avenue, in the back of the building that it's addressed for (130). Lots of parking in their lot.
The place was very crowded, with a 10-15 minute wait for tables. The bar had a few open seats though.
Definitely on the upscale side. It really more like a steakhouse, although more brightly lit, with lots of wood paneling and a bit of an awkward layout. There's actually a side door that leads right to the bar that would be better to use for access if you're just drinking.
They had five of their own beers on tap: porter, Octoberfest, pilsner, heffeweizen and pale ale, and the pilsner on cask.
The pale was my favorite of the bunch. It had a really unique flavor. Relatively low on the hops, but very fragrant and enjoyable. The Octoberfest was too weak for me, as was the pilsner. The heff was unfiltered, and also on the weak side for that type.
The porter was strong, at 8%. The problem was that the alcohol overwhelmed the flavor of it, and I ended up not really liking it, even though porters are usually some of my favorites.
I had never had a pilsner on cask, so it was really interesting to taste it. There wasn't a ton of flavor in it, and it seemed a lot more wheaty than I had expected. However, they also don't exactly have the best pilsner on the planet, so I wasn't too surprised.
The food menu made it seem like there were two people running the place: someone who wanted it to be a trendy restaurant, and the other who wanted it to be a bar. There were burgers and a catfish sandwich, but there were also pastas, steaks, duck, tiger prawns and other items you may find in more upscale places. Nothing in the entree area under $15.
The fennelli pasta sounded good from the description, so I ordered that. At $13, I expected a lot from it, but I was severely disappointed. A small bowl of rotini pasta with slivers of mostly dark meat chicken, what tasted like ham (it may have been the chicken), a few, shriveled, pathetic sun-dried tomato pieces and a dollop of what tasted like Trader Joe's goat cheese, all in a bland cream sauce. Oh well, my loss is your gain: get a burger if you come here.
The crowd was rich and white, but I think that's the norm for Los Gatos. At first, the people adjacent to me were a drunk couple having an argument. Then another guy sat down and asked about the wines (why do people get wine at a brewpub?).
The bartender was nice, but didn't seem to know a whole lot about the beers. She kept saying "a lot of people like that one" and her description of the beers didn't sell them to people coming up, so they kept ordering wine.
If you're in the area, this would be a good stop. Otherwise, I wouldn't go out of my to come down here again.

Saturday 2nd of August 2008 10:29:44 AM

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We have stopped by Los Gatos Brewing several times over the years on beach trips. The main entry is from the parking lot out back and there is a side entry on the cross street but I don’t remember an entrance from Santa Cruz Avenue. There is a long bar in front of the brewing area by the side entry plus a few booths and tall tables. The main dining area is a few steps up and includes both tables and large comfortable booths. An open brick oven rotisserie is off to the side. When we last visited, there were only 5 house brews available including one cask offering. The sixth tap was a guest cider from Two Rivers. I enjoyed the Resession Ale on cask and the Octoberfest (this seems to be a year round style here). The menu includes a range of entrees from spit roasted chicken to steak and fresh mussels plus pizza, pasta, sandwiches and burgers. Parking in the off street lot is free.

Sunday 22nd of June 2008 12:03:35 PM

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We went there after hiking in Big Basin. It is a big open space, in the ritzy down town of Los Gatos, and it fits right in. The average customer is old and rich. None the less, the 9 (!) of us got seated quickly at 6:30 on a Saturday, the waitstaff was attentive and friendly. The food was high end and trendy or past-trendy (things like Osso buco) but the burgers were reasonable at ~$10 and good.

The beer board had 5-6 beers on it, including a cask, I think. I had three of them.

I had their Dog Tale Pale, a pale ale that was quite bitter, but did not have the body to back that up, so came off as unbalanced.

The Oktoberfest was better than average, malty without being too sweet. I had feared that it would be old- this was in June- but it was not, it was fresh and good.

The Maibock (possibly the beer and the board named Nabockov?) was also good, light, but rich enough to stand up to the food.

So the place was a little too ritzy for me, but I would definitely go back, when I am in the neighborhood.