Bristol Brewing Company Review

By far, my favorite brewery in Colorado Springs. The atmosphere is unmatched and the beer is phenomenal. If there is one place that you visit for beer or just food in general, I would highly suggest Bristol Brewing.

When we first moved out here we were very excited about this place. It has a cool look and the food is decent. Unfortunately, we have not been able to have a good experience here. Rude service and long wait times aside, the real issue is the anti kids/family vibe they put out. Coming from Virginia where breweries and restaurants are friendly and inviting, this is jarring. We have mellow, well behaved kids who chill and eat quietly and still get dirty looks from servers. Not other customers. Servers. We have tried to look past it, but today was the final straw. Yesterday we were told no kids allowed. Not even in the outside area with lawn chairs and a food truck. Ironic that the building is an old elementary school. You don t want families supporting your business, fine. We won t. There are plenty of family friendly breweries and restaurants with better beer and food.

Extremely charming and unique concept of brewery/sandwich shop/cafe in old elementary school. Good beer.

We used to love coming to Ivywild and eating at Bristol, but the service has gotten so bad that we've stopped coming. There was one visit in particular where it took us over an hour to get served our food and drinks - they're either understaffed or just not prepared. The food is decent - nothing to write home about though. Maybe we'll return if we hear things start to improve - as of now it's not worth the wait or the parking trouble.

As anticipated for a Friday night, it was packed and despite our servers (jenn) best efforts service was a bit slow, esp for food Beer is great. Food was good not great. The jalapeno poppers were tasty. The old school house is a great place

Beer was great. I had the Red Rocket Ale. Food, meh...

We should have turned around and walked out when we saw one of the female wait staff changing a baby on a dining room table. It got worse from that point on. Popper Sauce came out in 1/2 filled container and when we asked for more, we were told it would cost extra. Asked for a medium burger and it came out rare but our wait person disappeared and didn't return till he brought the bill. He sat down at a nearby table with what was I guess his family. Yes, including the baby who had the diaper change. I guess this is just another tourist joint. We were not appreciated, nor was the service up to any sort of standard. What a shame and a missed opportunity.

Great atmosphere and the service was excellent! The beer was great of course. The food menu was pretty small, but what they did have was very tasty. our server was very friendly and always on the spot. Our food was brought out as soon as it was ready by another server. Great experience, definitely be back

Great beer, food, atmosphere and service. Wonderful repurposing of a former school building.

Food is Ok... Service is slow so you drink more beer....

Ordered the sweet potato fries that came in a pile, so filling and delicious. The beer quenched our thirst and went beautifully with our meals. Broccoli Cheddar Soup was also surprisingly vegetarian and very filling! Our waitress, host, and food runners were very friendly and delivered everything in a timely manner. Def visit Bristol Brewing Company!

Sunday fried chicken with brussel sprouts was great!

The Bristol Experience has always been a GREAT ONE! I ve enjoyed their beers
since 1995 a Colorado Springs staple!

Had the Tropical IPA and truly enjoyed it. The Cobb salad is excellent, and was able to share with my Wife.

Great beer and food. The repurpose of the old school adds to the feel.

Kids burger served was really pink. Sweet potatoe waffle fries were cold. The atmosphere and table shuffle board are cool. Service was really slow. Took 20 minutes to get the check.

Love this place. Staff is great along with the food and beer

Good beer, good variety and decent food. Very unique atmosphere and I highly recommend this place to anyone. Great atmosphere.

everything they have on tap is pure magic in my mouth

Good burger and beer. Monarch Ski area themed burger- was cooked perfectly. Salad was tasty. Mass Transit ale to boot, excellent lunch.

The Compass IPA on Nitro was outstanding. Also had the fried pickles - substantial, served length-wise not in the usual chip-style slices - went great with the beers.

Great beer, decent atmosphere. Lost points for the dry burger & stale fries, & no TVs for sports. Service was moderate, slow, and unfriendly.

If you want to eat and drink when at Ivywild, I'd highly suggest eating at the Bristol Brewing Company side of the building, because that's where all of the food and beer is. Sure, the Principle's Office has food and beer as well, but their selection is extremely limited in variety when compared to the BBC.

I highly recommend giving the Mass Transit Burger a try.

Great beer and great food go do the incline then reward your self here

The best beer in town. Been here for 20 years. Laughing Lab is my favorite. Guaranteed, the first time you have ever drank at an elementary school...legally.

Ordered food that never came, waiter kept asking if we got? After 45 minutes for appetizer gave up.

Bristol Brewing Company is located in what used to be an elementary school that has since been repurposed into a brewery/restaurant. The unique setting gives it a communal hippy kind of feel. You will expect to find basic brewpub fare, with the only difference being that everything is a bit overpriced: $14 burgers, $12 deli sandwiches and lots of fried appetizers and, of course, all the microbrews you can handle. Our visit started out badly as there are no signs pointing would-be patrons in the direction of the restaurant which, unless you're a local and know the entire building's layout, it is a bit difficult to find. Once we found the restaurant we were met with a lackluster greeting from the hostess and shown to our table along with a complimentary carafe of room temperature water that no doubt quenched the thirst brought on by a 98 degree day. We meet our waitress who introduces herself by throwing menus on our table. The moment we picked the menus up she asked what we would like to drink and in the same breath asked if we were ready to order; we hadn't even cracked the menu open yet. Fifteen whole minutes pass without sight nor sound of our waitress when she finally shows up to deliver our drinks and take our order. After placing our order, we notice a table of three sit down next to us, among other tables arriving after we've placed our order. Our waitress immediately takes their's, and every other table's order, and within twenty minutes the table of three has their food and drinks. Meanwhile, we're staring at half empty glasses of tea and empty spaces on our table where our food should be and wondering why we are the only table without food being that our's was the first order placed in a dining room full of latecomers. Our waitress made a stop at every single table TWICE before she brought us our food. Midway through the meal I had to walk my own glass to the bartender and ask her for a refill as our waitress stood a few feet down having a conversation with another waitress about weekend plans. We finished our meals and waited for another twenty minutes for a ticket that never came even though our highly perceptive waitress saw me twirling my debit card in my hand. My wife had walk to the bar to ask a bartender for our bill and pay for it at the bar. As we're leaving, our waitress, with a startled look on her face, tries to shove a ticket in our face and tell us we need to pay. I kindly told her we already took care of the bill as we headed out of a mediocre restaurant that we most likely will never return to. If you have the opportunity to eat here, DON'T!! You'll find better food and a more hospitable environment at one of the many breweries Colorado Springs has to offer (Colorado Mountain Brewery).

Exceptional staff! Everyone was incredibly helpful and friendly throughout the whole building. The school has been turned into a brewery and also hosts site to a whiskey distillery, bakery and coffee shops. It has a wonderful atmosphere. The food at the brewery is just as great as the beer! I recommend trying the beer battered avocados. Service was a bit slow though.

Great food, excellent brews, and exceptional service!

Staff were so friendly! Food good, beer great! Highly reccomend

Great concept of using the Ivywild School as a brewery. Love the sustainable efforts. However, where are the bike racks. This is a huge biking community, yet no racks. This would be a very good plus if there was parking for 100 bikes right up front.

I am a springs native and have never been to the brewery. (I have been on lots of brew tours) but first, I Have bought & tried all you see in stores & liquor stores over time but, WOW! I Reserved a brew tour for multiple friends unfortunately it was just me & a buddy but still they were amazingly accommodating, & gave us the tour! Terry was our tour guide and was super knowledgeable and led us through every step in the brew process that Bristol does themselves. Smelling the fresh hops and hearing the grinders for the barley and wheat was awesome just knowing. . . Beer was being made as we were right there!!! The names were funny for the building (look at map) as it was a school and how they transformed it into a brewery simply so smart and hilarious. Relate to the food menu (at the end of the tour) which is covered as a black & White composition book. Granted they keep a lot of the schools original art from the children, which may not be towards beer but it relates to the building itself and what they built up to be and where they came from. I m proud to see a Colorado, family owned brewery come so far. They do rent certain sections out & it sounds worth it if you have the change or I guess a special occasion. It will not be my last visit or tour as I hope they grow

I went from waiting in a line for Hours just to get on a list to Buy the Venetucci pumpkin ale too literally dumping out the beer. Can not believe the constant drop in quality not to mention the service at the facility. I went from a life long customer to someone who wouldn t recommend there beer!

Great location, fun that it was a school, excellent service nice variety of beers.

I thought that the location was much better than the beer, which was simply ok. The dunkelweizen really wasn't great, but there was a white IPA that was tasty. Really though, Ivywild is awesome, and it's absolutely worth going

Fantastic beers and atmosphere! Would drink here again :)

Iconic place, pretty good beer, but slow service. None of the beers really "jump out" at you, but they're all drinkable except for the Compass IPA. Compass is among the worst IPAs I've ever had, although I'd be happy to return to this brewery pretty much anytime.

We were really excited to eat here, not to mention starving after a full day of hiking up pike's peak, but we were extremely disappointed by the quality of the beer, food, and service. The atmosphere was the only positive part of our experience.

A great spot to have some delicious food and good beers. A very unique location in an old school building.

What a great place! Elementary school turned bar is always a win!

Large selection of beer to choose from, all of which were pretty good. Food was ok and service was average. Location is very nice with both indoor and outdoor options to choose from. I would return here again in the future.

Visiting and like to try out new beers. Cool place. Staff was nice, friendly & helpful.

Great place! Great beer and awesome food. Everyone here staff and patrons are kicked back and relaxed. Going to have to visit again even if it is 500 miles from home.

Very cool place. An old school that had the brewery and a bunch of other shops and restaurants.

The new location is awesome!! Now you can get food.

Food was good. I had the brisket tacos. Beer was great. Staff was great even giving helpful tips on other breweries to try in town.

Honestly didnt think the beer was great. Felt like it didnt have any flavor. Mango sour and red rocket were the most watered down and the other 2 werent any better. Im from California and i know CO beer is up there but not this brewery.

Good service and great beer in a really cool setting. The food, however, was not great. I had a salad and my boyfriend had a burger and neither were something I d eat again.

Beer was okay and service was slow. Nice place to hangout inside or out.

Met up with my cousin here and had a great time! The service was awesome and the beer was delicious. I was just a little sad that the cheese curds we ordered were not fried. Other than that everything was awesome!!

If you're looking for a busy place to hit up on Friday's, Bristols is your place! We had a Laughing Lab and a Beehive. The patio seating was fabulous and kept us nice and cool on an otherwise hot COS day! We also had the fries and Beer Battered fried pickles, wasn't so crazy about the pickles.... other than that, it was a wonderful evening on the patio.

Great beer; decent comfort food. The old school building is pretty neat. Busy place.

This place is home to my favorite beer, but also home to the worst service. Plan to spend at least an hour for just drinks and an appetizer.

Great spot to relax among friends for conversation. Wouldnt call it a date spot, but could fit into a date night as a first spot before a movie and meal out at a more private setting. Great ambience for a beer and Bristol has great beers.

3 for the experience and service. But let's be real I'm not a native nor is my husband we thought the place sucked, food and all... oh the fries were good.

Food was good. The outdoor seating was comfortable and spacious. Service was incredibly slow. The place charges a 20% gratuity for larger parties. Seeing that gratuity doesn't always go to the servers, I felt this was far too high a percentage, even though I had planned to tip greater than 20%.

Cool vibe in the old school. Food and beer is awesome!

Delicious brews and food. I had the asian chicken sausage that reminded me of a bowl of pho. We sat at the bar and the tender seemed almost annoyed with us- but I wasn't there to recruit him to my gang of girlfriends so I won't let it affect my review.

Love this place. Have fun every time I go. Has a childish feel to the bathrooms since it s still painted as it would be as it would be in elementary school. It was actually an elementary school I m sure this is already in the reviews. But yeah, gooooood food and even better drinks. You can find the liquor in the principals office. There is also a bakery. The outside patio is awesome in the summertime.

I mean its Bristol, what can I say? Easily Colorado Spring's most well known brewery. Currently located in the Ivywild School. Decent food, but great beer and friendly service. Awesome patio as well. Would recommend to anyone looking for casual lunch/dinner!

Great brewery in a cool location. Food is good, beer is good. All around great place to eat and drink casually with friends. They hold a super cool, super secret 1930s prohibition party every year as well which is super fun.

Awesome, historical, tasty place in Colorado Springs. An absolute must for the beer connoisseur.

Decent beer, would avoid getting food here.

Ordered the Axe and the Oak burger and the adult chicken tenders.

Burger was a small patty cooked well even though it was ordered medium rare. Side of fries were soft and chewy. For $15 it was a bit of a disappointment.

The breading on the adult chicken tenders looked cooked through but tasted like uncooked flower. Service was hit or miss.

Overall left feeling like there were better options of brewpubs in the Colorado springs area.

Cool building though.

Great beer, great place and great people. Ivywild is a Great place to go anytime!

Delicious beers in a unique setting with some equally awesome finger food.

Love, love, love the location! Beers and food are great as well.

Bristol is always one of the best. The brew selection is great from in house choices. The staff is awesome.

There are not enough good things I can say about Bristol. Great beer, great atmosphere, and a major contributor to the community. The work they have done at the school is fantastic, and they are constantly giving back to the area.

Best brewery and oldest in town for a reason. First to support local anything. Big music supporter and now cans plus located in a 100+ year old school.

The customer service here is TERRIBLE. They make you feel like they don't want you there??? And the last time I was there a couple of servers were having a heated argument in front of customers. So unprofessional. And the beer isn't great either. Much better options in town.

First time visit coming from out of state. Beer was great! Everything i tried i wanted to have 2 more. Food was on point.

Its LITERALLY a school that got turned into a brewery. We almost kept driving past because we thought it was an actual school. The exterior and the main hallway still resemble a functioning school more-or-less. This creates one of the most unique aspects of a bar I've ever seen, as no other bar can simply turn themselves into a school.

The food was very good. I had a southwest burger and even though it had a ton of toppings they all came together perfectly.

I must mention their bottled ketchup is the best I've ever had honestly. I would give 4 stars but the ketchup pushed it to 5 its that serious. I don't know why but I just loved it, it was thick and saucy not just goop. I can see myself going there for just a beer and some fries with ketchup.

Amazing.
Great people, awesome atmosphere, incredible food and spectacular beer.
Love, love, LOVE.

I've had nothing bud good experiences here. Excellent food and beers, plus great bakery items and more.

The beer is good, no doubt, but the service and food were bad. We had a waitress that pretty much ignored us for the hour and a half we were there which is too bad because we are great tippers. This waitress even pretended as if one member in our party was not there. She pretty much never addressed him and didn't even ask him what he would like to order (sadly enough it was his birthday too). The $10 bratwurst was just a plain old brat and it was a little too salty. The turkey sandwich was just okay as well. The bread was dry and the sandwich was plain. The "cheese curds" app. was an abomination. When they said not fried, I did not think I would get a mini-bowl of cheese that looks like velvetta in a cup and tasted equal bad as it was unappealing. Next time, we will go for beer, leave for food.

Now that I am reading the reviews, I feel like a fool. We too had the blonde with the caked on make-up and the reviewer Summit bellow also stated she sucked. Avoid her at all costs.

Old school (literally) turned into brewery. Awesome decor and staff. Food was delicious. I had a flight and it was very good. Will recommend.

We had a the best waitress. The beers, like all beers, were great.
What a neat re-purpose of an old school.