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$6.50 GROWLER FILLS!?! Local Craft Beers!?! Seriously? This place is amazing! I don’t know how they do it, but I can get a growler filled for $6.50 and they have a great selection. I get Deschutes Brewery’s “Fresh Squeezed” for less than I can get it at Deschutes. I can get Boneyard Beer Company’s “RPM IPA” for less than I can get it at the Boneyard brewery! The staff is friendly and efficient. I’ve always been able to walk right up and place my order. A line is unheard of. The inside is nice and clean, and always quiet. I guess this place is using the low-priced growlers to bring in more customers for their lottery and video poker machines. I’ve never used them, but they seem to always be in use! I mentioned the $6.50 growler fills, (the cheapest in town as far as I can find), but what if you are NEW TO TOWN (like I was) or just visiting and don’t have a growler? Oh, no problem, these guys will sell you one AND fill it with your choice of suds for just $8.50! Where else can you buy a growler for $2.00 and have it filled for another $6.50? No where, that’s where. Go in and check these guys out. I’ve talked to the owners a time or two (mom and son team, I think) and they have just taken over ownership earlier this year. I’d love to see the place stick around (for obvious reasons), so the next time you need to get your growler filled, give them a shot! (There weren’t any reviews yet, so I thought I’d help them out with some pics too.)

• High Cotton Brewing Company – Menu with Prices – 598 Monroe Ave, Memphis
• 5 Points Growlers Menu with Prices 3687 Atlanta Hwy, Athens
• Trubble Brewing – Menu with Prices – 2725 Broadway, Fort Wayne
• Happy Gut Sanctuary – Menu with Prices – 113 Park Ave, Rochester
• Valentino’s – Menu with Prices – 4451 N 26th St, Lincoln
• Encore Glass – Menu with Prices – 2800 Pringle Rd SE, Salem
• At Ease Brewing Company – Menu with Prices – 1825 I St, Sacramento
• Keg & Brew Craft House – Menu with Prices – 2114 N Zaragoza Rd Suite B-1, El Paso
• Scandals Saloon – Menu with Prices – 3073 NE 6th Ave, Fort Lauderdale
• Momentum Coffee – Menu with Prices – 3555 Rayford Rd #10, Spring
• Ayala?s Mexican Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 3122 Baldwin Blvd, Corpus Christi
• The Casual Pint – Menu with Prices – 8718 Countryside Plaza, Omaha

High Cotton Brewing Company – Menu with Prices – 598 Monroe Ave, Memphis

July 17, 2019 at 1818 hours: First and foremost, I think the blonde “bartender”working behind the counter needs to find a new occupation. I use the term “bartender” loosely due to the fact that it’s not very difficult to tend a bar when all you do is drop tap handles. As soon as I walked into the tap room, I could smell her resting *blank* face. Since she decided to ignore me, I was assisted by the shorter brunette bartender. I asked her if she had white growler lids so I could get my growler filled. She advised that they did not have the white lids, but she would attempt to jury-rig the ones that they had onto my growler. Now the fun part! So, I walked out to my car, and retrieved my growler. Now, I will note, most breweries will fill growlers from other breweries as long as you’re buying their product. I mean, come on, it’s money in the establishments pocket, right? Well, I was apparently wrong with this assumption of High Cotton, because when I walked in, they told me that they couldn’t fill another breweries growler- pffff, like it’s some kind of mortal sin! I then make a joke saying that the brewery is currently 0-2. Well, apparently that didn’t fly well with Miss Blondie Locks because she felt the need to send affirmations back towards High Cotton and tell me that I was indeed 0-2. So much for the customer being right… I will say High Cotton was my favorite brewery but, unfortunately, I will not be going back there again. P.S.

5 Points Growlers Menu with Prices 3687 Atlanta Hwy, Athens

Decent selection of beer but that should be a given when walking into a growler shop. This review will simply be about the things that led to this place only getting two stars. 1. Fewer options than most growler places I’ve been 2. The employee who was working was unfriendly and seemed stand offish 3. 50 cent for each sample and only 4 samples max (how is this even a thing at a growler spot??) 4. If you have your own growler that isn’t from them and it isn’t clean there is a 50 cent charge to clean it While 50 cent is obviously a drop in the bucket it’s the fact that they charge anything for those things in the first place. Been to better but at least they had some beers that we often don’t have where I’m from.

Trubble Brewing – Menu with Prices – 2725 Broadway, Fort Wayne

There is FAR too much competition out there to take on an attitude like I got. Everyone makes mistakes. Own it and move on. I enjoyed my brunch. If I was rating the food it would be five stars. I had the breakfast bowl. It had biscuits and gravy, bacon, and a fried egg. I enjoyed every bit of this part of my visit. The bacon was thick and smokey, the gravy was creamy and seasoned well, and the egg was perfect. I ordered the Mexican lager with my meal. I was happy with it enough to order a growler fill for a family gathering I was heading to. This is where my experience with Trubble goes south. It took a minimum of 15 minutes to get my growler back. The waitress apologized several times. I wasn’t in a hurry so I told her no worries. She came out and said the keg blew and they were changing it. Again, no worries. The growler went straight in to a cooler of ice and I got to my family gathering 15 minutes later. I poured my first beer out of the growler and the first thing I noticed was how “muddy” it was. The second thing I noticed was it was nearly flat. I dumped it and poured another. Muddy and flat. I was disappointed but I know how things like this happen. I thought I would message the brewery and let them know about my experience. See the attached photo. SOMEHOW, it was all my fault. You can tell they were 100% confident in that because they didnt even lead with anything close to an apology or even any empathy whatsoever. I got the Tommy Boy “What did you do????” I gave them two stars because I have had much better and been treated much better by many other breweries. Like I said, there is too much competition out there to be treating customers poorly. #FAIL

Happy Gut Sanctuary – Menu with Prices – 113 Park Ave, Rochester

What a cute little shop! Kombucha seems to be an upcoming endeavor here in Rochester, and I was happy to stumble-upon this new shop during Park Ave Fest this summer. Tucked away down at the quieter end of Park Ave, the shop is long and narrow with one mirrored wall, a couple seats with a high-top table, and a kombucha fridge. Flavor listings and prices are clear – you can get bottled, a 12 Oz cup on tap, or a 32 Oz growler! The growler is $5 and then the fills are marked on the sign according to flavor (the more ounces you buy, the more you save). Also, bring back the bottles and get .25¢ off your purchase! When I went in tonight, the employees were eager to tell me about the different buchas and give me a recommendation based on my likes/dislikes. Not all flavors on tap are in bottles and vice versa, so I got a 12 Oz bottle of Laxmi (for $6, made from an African rooibos tea) and a 12 Oz to-go cup of Rocboocha ($4, a seasonal pumpkin clove treat). I realized walking out of the store with the cup (I didn’t take a lid or straw to save on plastic) that it looked like I was drinking beer, but oh well! So yummy! Local kombucha has come to Rochester, and I am HERE FOR IT!

Valentino’s – Menu with Prices – 4451 N 26th St, Lincoln

Dont think I’ll ever order at this location again. Was told 45 minutes ordered at 7:58PM and called at 9:14PM to check on order guy told me any second it should show up at any second. Got the pizza at 9:40PM. Asked the delivery guy what took so long and he said there was 4 other deliveries. Okay I get that he had 4 other pizzas to deliver but no one can pick up a phone and tell us they are going to be late. On top of that pizza was cold. Called and talked to manager and he gave me 25% off and wouldn’t own up to mistakes that were made. Also never did get a sincere apology or I hope you will still order with us. I normally dont write reviews but just so people know their food might be late and cold.

Encore Glass – Menu with Prices – 2800 Pringle Rd SE, Salem

Called Encore to install glass shower walls and door. My tile guy talked to them not once but twice during the project and brought pictures in and talked to them etc. They told him what needed to be done and he did it. This was a custom shower with tile and river rock. I talked to them twice before coming out to let them know what I wanted for glass and hardware. Two guys came to measure and before my tile guy left they marked on the rock and said it needs ground out here for the glass to sit flush. He told them what to use and they said no, they don’t have that equipment. He used their marks and tape and ground the channels. One of the two guys came back later to finish measurements and pictures etc. One week later I am told sorry we can’t proceed. No explanation. THIS after they had the my tile guy grind channels. I am now committed to finding someone that can make this work. Talked to the owner who said he had been doing this stuff for years and it was just a matter of what needs to be done and how much it would cost to do it so he would call me back the next day (Friday). No call back. Called back Tuesday to give some grace to investigate etc. Was told the owner was on a call and would have to call me back. No call back that week at all so called their competitor (SOUTH TOWN GLASS) on Friday. The next week I get a call from a sales guy to tell me he was calling on behalf of the owner who was out of town on had gone on vacation. I asked what the deal was and he seemed surprised that I didn’t know why they refused to proceed with the job. He gave me excuses of the shower being out of square, not plumb and the walls were not level etc. Asked for a call back from the owner because their guys had my tile guy grind out channels in this beautiful custom rock. If the job can’t be done what am I going to do with these ugly channels. You can’t just pull out those rocks and put new ones in…not with what I had done. I have to find some way to make this shower work and wanted to know what the owner was going to do about this The rock was defaced at the marks and say so of his company representatives. I was told the owner would call to talk to me. Have not heard a word. NOT good customer service. in the meantime, their competitor, SOUTH TOWN GLASS came and measured, gave me a quote and though indicated it might be a challenge using the channels the way they were located but they came and installed yesterday. Go to my review of them and you will see pictures of the project and South Town’s work!

At Ease Brewing Company – Menu with Prices – 1825 I St, Sacramento

“At Ease Brewing” Is A Fantastic Brewery In Midtown! SITREP Or as my colleague and fellow Yelper Tammy P. likes to say, “A Tease Brewing” (It’s all in how you space your letters *cough*) ? Talk about a total win for me: there’s a new brewery only two blocks away from my front door that just went *online* over the 2019 Memorial Day Weekend. THE SETUP “At Ease Brewing” brings a lot of refreshing taste variety to enjoy – from the current menu since Memorial Day: * Buck Sergeant Brown – a Brown Porter (6.1% ABV); https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=YFvzhYoKHN7scvPkn5NTpQ&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w * Black Hawk – a Black Saison (6.8% ABV); * Top of the Line – a Lemon Coriander Wheat (6.1% ABV); * Full Battle Rattle – a Pale Ale (5.9% ABV) * Army Brat – a Brut IPA (7.5% ABV); * Fog of War – a Hazy IPA (6.4% ABV) Each is refershing in their own way, and I enjoyed a flight with all of them. You can pretty much set up a flight in any ounceage configuration that you like: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=PXMcL5G6XsFARpDv8yUnXw&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w In general, the pricing is pretty consistent for all of them: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=hReOMr96oCFjTBfh3Sa1iw&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w A. A Pint is $6 (Hazy IPA is $7) B. 8 Ounces is $4 (Hazy IPA is $5) C. 5 Ounces is $3 (Hazy IPA is $4) D. 32-Ounce growler is $10 (Hazy IPA is $12) E. 64-Ounce growler is $16 (Hazy IPA is $18) MY FAVES & GROWLERS Like I said, I enjoyed all of them. But you really put your money where your mouth is when you decide which one you want to put in a growler. “At Ease” has a wonderful contemporary 32-ounce for $30 ($40 incluidng a fill up of your fave brew). https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=Hoomes50SC7jsYAt9gn64g&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w But I was also able to recycle a couple other growlers I had sitting on top of the fridge which i used: = For a fill up of the Buck Sergeant ($10); and, https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=rnYl1AEQGFf4fnQSFOGURg&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w = For a fill up of the Army Brat ($10). https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=AFHGWYz6rKg8pgfQnuuqdg&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w I’m set for some wonderful brew tasting the rest of the week now. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=F3aG0_DnsRqERktRPlsdQw&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w COOLEST TAKEAWAY: Your growlers get their own dog tags. ? https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/at-ease-brewing-sacramento?select=AFHGWYz6rKg8pgfQnuuqdg&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w And speaking of dogs, this brewery is pooch-friendly and has watering stations for them on the back patio. THE LOWDOWN A enjoyable and refreshing Midtown brewery you need to check out!

Keg & Brew Craft House – Menu with Prices – 2114 N Zaragoza Rd Suite B-1, El Paso

We stumbled across this gem in the far east of El Paso the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I’m so glad we did. It has great lighting, music, and awesome beer selections of from Texas, New Mexico, and California. The $6 Food Truck has a great menu for snacks and full meals. The lounge area in the back with a projector screen is great also. We didn’t go out to the enclosed patio, but it also looked great and later, when a DJ came, the volume was a bit louder bit we could still hold a convo or dance around in your chair. This is my favorite kind of place. They’ve only been open 10 weeks, and if it’s this good early on, one can only see it getting better. Definitely check it out for a beer or a growler fill

Scandals Saloon – Menu with Prices – 3073 NE 6th Ave, Fort Lauderdale

I lived in Wilton Manors 10 years ago, and now have recently returned once again. 10 years ago, Scandals was my favorite bar. Looks like they have undergone a major cosmetic overhaul, and I understand new owners (since I was here last) have bought it. Most (but definitely not all) of the bartenders are friendly and affable. A couple of them are very cute to boot. What I do find disappointing is the overwhelming amount of seniors (we’re talking REALLY OLD MEN) that predominate the bar at any given time. I wish there were more handsome sexy men in my age bracket (50s) to choose from when going there to meet potential dates. (There never are any). Sometimes I go there, and as I look around, it feels like it’s one step away from an assisted living facility. I saw one old guy fall on the patio (poor guy) and I was thinking this bar needs more nurses on staff then bartenders. Scandals has a keraoke night, which consists of a primarily octogenarian audience and participants. It’s like watching entertainment at an old folks home. On Sundays, when they have their beer bust, at least there are more that come in who are not geriatric, but that’s about the only time from what I’ve seen. Never a very attractive crowd, overall. I guess the good ones are all taken, this place seems to be a bunch of rejects. I’m commenting on this bar, as it used to be my “go to” bar, back in the day.. Now it’s just disappointing. It was never like this, to such an extreme. I dont know what has happened to this town in the last 10 yrs. These geriatrics were always around, now they have taken over everything. Most of Wilton Manors (at least the guys who go out) appear to be in their 70s, 80s and up. The only other option in this town with guys who are younger than 70, is the stuck up muscle bears, who are arrogant pieces of shit to begin with. (They don’t go to Scandals, except maybe a very small amount,which is a blessing). Where to go out to find that handsome guy under 75 without the attitude who is just right? Not sure it exists here. It really sucks. Sigh.

Momentum Coffee – Menu with Prices – 3555 Rayford Rd #10, Spring

This place is a must EVERY time I come home to visit. The coffee is great and the food is great. Except today….hence the 3 star review. Customer service. I walk in and they have ONE person running the counter, drive thru and producing drinks. I get it’s a Tuesday and business can be slow during midweek and one person running the whole show can slide. I know how it gets, Ive been a barista. So, I’m patient. But, when the poor girl has a line of 5 deep, 2 cars in drive thru, and still has to make drinks for patrons who previously ordered….shes going to need help. What got me heated was while all of this was happening, there are 3 Owners(I sure hope it wasnt), managers or employees sitting in the corner chatting(or having a mtg….frankly, as a customer, dont know, dont care) and seeing their girl starting to drown, do absolutely nothing. Yet, one of the guys in a tie dye shirt just keeps glancing over at the line as it builds, still do…..wait for it…. nothing. He finally decides to make moves and help the poor girl after I was giving him a stare down. Then the dude finally walks up, asks if I’m waiting for drinks or food, I needed to step to the side counter. I told him that I was actually waiting to be helped and he rudely replied, “Well….I’m right here” DONT ever talk to a customer in that manner or tone. Customer Service is what keeps what makes a business thrive. There are plenty of coffee shops around here but Great customer service is what makes customers return for your coffee. That’s why I kept coming back. I hope the next time I’m in town the customer service is better.

Ayala?s Mexican Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 3122 Baldwin Blvd, Corpus Christi

Ok, Solis “moved” down street to new location and new owners came in and gave it a much needed face lift. Good new is the kitchen remained and the new owners know what they are doing. Menu is usual fair but the cheese enchiladas ; well IMHO best in Corpus. I am not sure why but the combo of creamy goodness and gravy just makes them a must with every meal. The meat one are good but the cheeee is heaven and I go at least once a month for my fix when we are in town from Port A. Best combo; two cheese and a crunchy beef taco. Still like Solis but think these guys do better job and little less $.

The Casual Pint – Menu with Prices – 8718 Countryside Plaza, Omaha

To some, this place will seem to be just another Blatt or Old Chicago make-over but don’t be deceived. This franchise place is serious about craft and microbrew beers. The line of taps is very good but you will want to browse their selections of individual bottled and canned beers which you can drink on-site. In some ways, it is like being at BeerUtopia but here you can actually drink the beer! They have packaged beer and may break it open for you to try a bottle or can. They also have a selection of food to eat as well, including chili and pretzels. They sell “growlers” but these are actually 32 ounce rounders. This is because the place is not a brewery establishment (an odd feature of Nebraska law). They have these rounders half priced on Fridays. They also have crawlers which are 32 ounce cans. Very convenient if you do not want to commit to buying an expensive growler, but their Club has an answer for that. They have a good selection on tap but the prices by the glass tend to be on the high end, $5 or more. You can get 5 once glasses of beer too. Buying bottled or canned beer is less expensive so I highly recommend you check out those offerings which are very diverse. In addition, the atmosphere is calm and homey. Since they don’t sell liquor, you don’t run in to the shot-glass party types so much. This is a good place to hit on your day off or after work. Also, come summer, they do have the ability to open up the side of the place to the great outdoors. Lots of good things here. If you visit this place on a monthly basis, you will want to download their app to earn points for free credit! If you visit weekly, you will want to consider their Brewmasters Club, a subscription service which comes with a free growler and fill. Ask servers for details.