City Steam Reviews

I am a Brewer and I was very impressed by the line up, presentation and service. If you want solid craft beer, come here.

Came here for dinner and drinks. The location was much bigger than I anticipated. Beer was great, the food was only ok (my chicken was dry and a bit cold, the burger was nothing to write home about either) and the service was friendly but not very well organized. I would go back for beer and appetizers though, the sausage platter was good.

Good food, goood beer too. Good atmosphere and vitange location

We drive from NC to Maine to visit family and stay at the Residence Inn in Hartford. This was our 2nd time for dinner. Beers are great...I normally don't like craft beers. The food is good with good sized portions. Service has been great both times.

Awesome all the way around...we didn't go on a comedy night, but we could hear trivia night going on and it must have been fun because a lot of people seemed to migrate there when it started. The food was AMAZING...one of the best french onion soups I've ever had AND the waitress got their recipe for me. The lettuce wraps were great...the meat perfectly cooked and delicious. The service was beyond excellent, the waitstaff observant, friendly, and helpful (to us and each other)...I can't wait to go back!

Food is always great here! The beer is even better!

We were in town from August 19 to August 21 for the RIVERFRONT DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL. We had an Great Experience in 2010 at City Steam Brewery Cafe. For 2011 We knew where to go for Fantastic Ambience, Outstanding Beer, Superb Food, and a Friendly Professional Staff. Friday night was the Haddock Stuffed with Crab(Big Portion, A taste to remember), Saturday was the Bangers Over Mustard Mashed Potato's, Pot Roast, and A Clam Pizza. Thumb's Up! The Coconut Ice Cream Pie with Oreo cookie crust was HUGE, Carrot Cake just out of the oven taste. Ambience Ale(IPA), Naughty Nurse, and Blonde and Blonde were clean and Very Tasty! We Called for Reservations and We were pleased when We were IMMEDIATELY Seated. I really like it when Management comes by the table to Check on our service. Last but not least Best Homemade Potato Chips! Great Job Anchor Steam Brewery Cafe

One of my preferred places to eat. great location, well organised, and awesome customer service. I recommend this place!

We went to the Brew Ha Ha Comedy Club and had a great time. Packed full on a Friday night and understaffed I thought. Good comics - drinks not the greatest. Walked around upstairs and it had a great bar area and neat tiered seating with a unique atmosphere.

Yup, slavery is still alive. As a black patron for the last 6 months, I did my thing, I came in and ordered a beer while listening to my headphones. And today, a white patron was annoyed by my air and bar drumming. Subsequently, I was told that there was some sort of "bar etiquette", as if the BAR has some sort of etiquette amongst drunk folks, come one. How many times have I been there with white folks pushing me out of the way or hanging on to the stool that I was sitting on, or inescapably pushing me into the bar when they wanted to order a drink - bar etiquette, yeah, rite. And then they have some black bouncer push me out of the bar when the white general manager is offended because I say "what rights do I have as a black patron"......Come on, dude. My man is still a slave to the system as many of us are. Steam City will still do its thing regardless of what I say, but I'm just calling them out as a fraud!

Great beers. Good food, but won't blow you away. Great vibe and love the architecture. Great service. Great atmosphere.

I came here for a workplace happy hour and was excited to see all the different floors and places to hang out. There is a comedy club downstairs and multiple levels with bars and wait staff. The food was delicious and the drinks came out quickly. This was definitely a good place for a holiday party.
The only downside is that they don't have a parking lot, so you either have to do street parking or use the lot across the street. The lot is nice and close, but its $5 an hour so could be a little pricey.

Food is pretty good, good beer selection. City Steam is pretty typical bar food. Noting spectacular, but not bad either for a quick bite. They do have a great beer selection though.

Went their with some office colleagues for happy hour. Nice place to spending evening.

This brewery has pretty decent food and a nice selection as well. The product that really shines here is the beer. Especially the Naughty Nurse, which is my personal favorite.

If there was a half star I would give it. This is the second management change in two years and each time we have tried to give them another shot. Our experience this time was as follows: Upon entering the restaurant, we were not greeted by anyone so we took it upon ourselves to, naturally, make our way to the hostess stand. Not only were we still not greeted but it seemed as though we were an annoyance to this employee because we were looking to sit at a table as opposed to at the bar. After being seated we received a round of water for the table and discovered that two of our three water glasses were dirty; one had 2 small winged-bugs in it and the other had some sort of residue on the inside of the glass. The new menu was very small compared to the old one and had some discrepancies when compared to the drinks menu which appeared to not have been updated at all. There were also some typos that made some of the descriptions confusing. We ended up ordering an appetizer and our entrees at the same time but it took about half an hour for us to receive our starter. On top of it being late, the quality of the appetizer was sub-par and had little to no flavor other than the overpowering amount of BBQ sauce that was poured over it. One member of our party also went to the restroom at one point and noticed that it looked as though renovations were in the process because there was crumbled drywall behind the toilet and exposed blocks of wood holding up the appliances. In conclusion: 1 star (wish it could be half a star).

[NOTE: Hand dryers are louder when you are a hostess Face-Timing their friend while inside the bathroom. How do I know? Death glares.]

Used to eat here when I worked in downtown. Very delicious food with friendly staff.

Awful, tried going at 5:30 before a Wolfpack game and the hostess didn't even offer a wait time, just replied with we are full and not accepting anymore people. We would have been happy to at least hear the wait time there was only 2 of us... even if it was 30-45min

We came here because the reviews were good. I hate to say we were greatly disappointed. I understand we were a big party on a busy day, I've been in this industry for 18yrs+. However, the service we received was beyond bad. I literally had to bus our own table. The food was not good at all. The kids meals were barely edible, our pizza was hard as a rock, everything was barely even warm. It was obvious that our food died in the window long before coming to the table. The staff I did feel bad for because they were seriously short handed, but that was the scheduling managers serious error!!! It's St Patty's day weekend, don't short your staff!!! We definitely left extremely disappointed and unhappy.

This place is really good if you want a great burger and some good beer. There is a ton of seating but sometimes it is a hike to get to your spot. The wait staff is really nice but not always on top of things.

I travel extensively with work and search for micro-brewpubs when in cities that have them. City Steam would definitely be in my top5... great place! Sat at the bar. Friendly bartenders and very good food; and, very good brewskies, too. Had the butternut squash soup and the crispy goat cheese salad.

I've been coming to city steam for many years (at least 6 years or so). Every year has been a tradition to eat there with a group of friends. Never had an issue before, the staff is always great and the food has been delicious. However this year it was off, and the food wasn't great. Granted we did have a group of 10 people, i expected food to take longer, but they served 3 meals then had to wait anothet 15 mins for the rest. The waitress then ignored us most of the time, then gave us the bill. Which isn't an issue. The issue is she didn't ask if we wanted to split it, assumed it was all one check and when we asked her to split it she gave us an attitude, said we should have asked her and it was too late. Normally we are asked how we want the bill. Then we paid it, she came back and made snide remarks about the gratuity (tip). I shouldn't have to feel forced into tipping it should be my choice. I did leave a tip, i was going to even before she said that. It was really rude and I don't think I'll be going there again.

Thursday night trivia is fun here. The prizes range from free beers and other giveaways to junk for the losers.

Great beer, great food, great service and music....loved it all together.

I had a good meal here with a great selection of beers. The Ahi Tuna was tasty even though it was over cooked a little. The wasabi greens were a perfect balance and the fresh vegetables were yummy.

There is restaurant seating as well as the bar.

The football game on the TV was a little loud.

Best pizza I've had in years, and when I mentioned that to folks at work, they seemed surprised due to enjoying other things and not having tried it yet. Highly worthwhile if you enjoy thin crust and brick oven pizza.

The brownie sundae... You ought to split between 2 it more people. Ought to. I didn't, and I have no regrets. It was fantastic too.

I was staying at the Residence Inn by Marriott and City Stream provides room service - the only gotcha I experienced was simply that City Stream couldn't bring a beer to my room... However, no issues work me picking up my meal and including beer. Per the pictures, I had no issue doing so.

There's more food I'll need to try here, so I'm looking forward to my next trip even more

Summer steam is a great brew and our server, Summer, was awesome as well! We will definitely be back! A "must do" in Hartford

Hospitality is great
Food was exquisite
Service the way I like it
I recommend you should come as well

waited 30 minutes for food, found a hair in food, and manager "apologized" by saying they didn't put it there and it "must've slipped there in production" basically saying it wasn't their fault

calamari also made my nibbas sick

We were in town for a show and decided to get a meal here since they have gluten free options. The service was great and everything came out pretty quickly, but the food experience was pretty bad from the start. They didn't have any of the beers I wanted, so I got a rum and coke instead. It was flat and syrupy, we were told that was a common problem of theirs because (however it works) the carbonation has to come up from the bottom level - you would think there would have been a solution to that by now. Boyfriend ordered a California burger but got a classic burger instead, we were crunched for time so he ate it anyway. Fries were a cool shape, but they were chewy, so I'm not sure it's worth it. Fingerling potatoes were pretty dry. Coconut shrimp was pretty good though. It's a really cool place/atmosphere so I would love to see it improve and succeed.

For many years this was only brew pub in town and it was solid. The beers are good but with the new acts in town, they'll constantly need to step up their game. Food is good but it isn't too die for. (And they seem to keep getting rid of the stuff I love!) Been coming here for the last fifteen years, love the history and architecture of this building. It's a solid staple of the Hartford scene!

Great chowda and calamari. The C'est Freak was tasty. Service was awesome !

Food and service was average. Slightly pricey for what you get. Lots of home brewed beer options available.

Waitress was patient with me and didn't forget about me. The beer is great and the prices aren't bad, decent music at a pleasant volume. The food is great too.

Been here a few times now and the service is always great and the prices are always reasonable. The service staff are always polite and food is great too.

2 of the 3 beers we got were remarkably bad (White Wedding & Blonde on Blonde). The Jungle Crush was at least drinkable but still an unacceptable brew. I hope the kegs just went bad for some reason but I'm not gonna bother taking another chance here to find out. Really disappointing.

Only place open when I got in town. I'm not a beer guy so no points for their various concoctions of swill. Food was pretty good. Noisy place.

Great space. Lots of private areas for group functions.

The staff is friendly and does a great job in their quirky environment, a one-time department store building with lots of dark wood and cast iron rails.

Good beer = good talk = good food
What do YOU think?

Had lunch in the afternoon out on their side deck. Server was friendly and pleasant, the beer was tasty, and the burgers were awesome. Wish we lived in this town to hang out here more often. Would return.

Staff was rude, 46 oz of beer was spilled on us. Two of us had soaked clothes and there was no apology from management or any sort of consideration. When our server tried to move us to a different table, the worst hostess in Hartford, gave us the biggest attitude for moving, stating the table was "reserved", it was not. Despite the spilt beer we stayed drinking and eating for 2 hours after and the table was never used. My party spent 15 minutes standing in the middle of this place because our original table was covered in beer and the staff couldn't figure out how to
1.) Clean the table sufficiently and
2.) Move us to a different table in a place that didn't even have a packed house.

I tried to talk to a manger about our experience and rudeness we encountered after 2 large beers were spilled on us. He could have cared less and was carrying on conversations with other people as they left this bar. Honestly, I'm not even sure if he was the manager. When I asked to speak to a manager the first time, they found someone behind the bar who apparently delegated to someone else, and eventually I was met by someone who just stated they were the manager , he looked and dressed worse than the servers, so who knows what he was. Maybe that s just regular dress code for management?

Honestly this place is not worth your money and shouldn't even be a place to support in Hartford many other places worth your hard-earned money.

They had such a great staff that treated us well and made the first date very enjoyable. The only thing is they take rather long to deliver the food but it turned out positively giving me more conversation time with my date.

Tried to have a beer and dinner before show at Xfinity center . Waited 25 min and hand to ask to place order. Which was taken and never delivered. Asked again. Reorder got drinks and waited another 30 min , no food. Lots of apologies but no food. Finally left , so disappointed ,worst service and there were more servers there than customers. We would never go back

Was there 3 weeks ago and would have rated it a 5. Today was an entirely different experience! Desk couldn't keep track of who needed to be seated next. Today the food was terrible. Couldn't eat French onion soup. Omelet with bacon was greasy. Bill was incorrect. Had to leave table to get our own silverware after food was delivered, as did the table next to us. Another man was complaining about how long it was taking to get served. Will not go back there again. Obviously food and service are not consistent!!!!!

Would give zero stars if I could. Today my friend was there with his mother who is diabetic. They asked for a grilled cheese as her blood sugar was dropping. All of a sudden she starts having a seizure in the booth so my friend goes to ask about to food to see if it could be faster. The manager then gets in his face and starts saying how the food can t go faster and that this is McDonalds. My friend tells the manager to get out of his face and says he is worried his mother is going to pass out. The manager then threatens to kick him out of the resturant. If this isn t a show of poor management I don t know what is.
PS my friends mother is fine now as the employees actually tried to be helpful and got her the food she needed

Had a great burger the naughty nurse was great and the comics were funny.

I think they didn't know what type of ambiance they wanted, so there are separate areas for the sports-oriented bar, tables, and couches in the large space. And they're all a bit aged. The TVs contribute to the loud atmosphere. Service gets backed up at the bar, so if you'd like to eat, sit at a table rather than dine at the bar. If you'd like a good meal though, then go elsewhere. Rather, City Steam is good for meeting friends for a beer in a dive-bar type setting.

A place that's open on Sunday! Awesome interior! Decent food!

I miss the old menu. I'm a mug club member and come here often. Beer is great but this new smaller menu leaves a lot to be desired. Sadly I may need to find a new hang out with a better menu.

Stopped here for lunch on Christmas eve. That being said, we didnt set our expectations too high. I am happy that we didn't! When our food was delivered, part of our order was missing and my wife overheard the servers discussing that they had forgotten to put the order in. Yet, when they came over to our table, we were told that they had dropped it and had to resubmit. Our pasta came out with no sauce. When we asked for the marinara, we were told that they no longer serve red sauce. Yet 5 minutes later they brought some out. Giving 2 stars simply because it is the holiday season.

Cool place to come and hang out with friends. Beer is good, happy hour rules are a bit confusing. Food is tasty but the service is slow.

One of the most unique bars in Hartford, and the only place in the city where you can get a table no matter what size party you have.
Food is good, staff is friendly, and the Naughty Nurse is a great beer.

City Steam has been around long enough to get it right. Their food is always very good and served hot or cold, as appropriate. Beverage variety is tantalizing and enjoyable.

Amazing atmosphere and good beers. Food was solid too. I'd definitely go again. Cannot stress how well they aced the atmosphere.

Ask for Angelic best waitress in Hartford! Great food and atmosphere!

Glad City Steam is Back! We enjoy the BEERs, Food and staff is always friendly!

Stopped here on a whim for a quick dinner while driving back from NYC a few days ago. There was a lot of traffic on the road so my significant other pulled out her smartphone and found this place after a few searches on Yelp. We got off the highway and easily found the place and parked.

We walked over and were escorted to a table on the very top floor of this restaurant/comedy club/cafe/brewery. I'm not sure where they got the cafe part of their name as I found it to be a restaurant. I didn't explore it fully though, the place is pretty big.

Their main shtick is that they brew their own beers and have over a dozen available for the enjoyment of their patrons alongside some food. From pizzas and salads to burgers and staples like chicken piccata, most dishes are under $17. Our waitress, Virginia was absolutely outstanding and very friendly. She was also very attentive and was able to make some great recommendations.

I personally went for the French onion soup ($6) which was okay but far from great. However they definitely redeemed themselves with their (cobb $10 for a small) salad which I got as well and which was platted with some gorgonzola vinaigrette. It was tasty, pretty decently sized for a small-sized salad and best of all, the dressing wasn't fatty and thick but instead was light and refreshing. A great twist for a classic dish.

The beers themselves were hit or miss but mostly better than average although they were out of the one that I really wanted to try. Their desserts looked appetizing but we decided to forego that option as we were quite full. My significant other enjoyed her Sriracha chicken sandwich and beers as well.

All in all this was a pretty good stop. The place while big and busy wasn't chaotic and they've done a good job at spreading out everyone and keeping the noise and disturbances to a minimum with their quirky setup. They have tons of events going on and their comedy show seems to be a hit as well. Not bad if you want affordable food and some decent beers.

Very good beer, nice atmosphere, good food. I always go when I am in Hartford.

Terrible. Literally every order they brought to our table was burnt to the point where it was difficult to chew. I've never experienced anything like this at a restaurant before.

We drive from NC to Maine to visit family and stay at the Residence Inn in Hartford. This was our 2nd time for dinner. Beers are great...I normally don't like craft beers. The food is good with good sized portions. Service has been great both times.

Absolutely Awesome.
My Server Summer She Is The Best In Hartford!!

This place was great ... great food and drink .. prices just a little to high that's why I gave a 3 but other then that 5 stars for the food and drinks

So I give the building a 5 stars . We read some back history about it in the 1870s pretty interesting. Was able to walk around on all floors beautiful place. The amber ale naughty nurse was amazing 8$ for a big glass of beerAnd the food is not able to be scored it's in the negatives . Steak tacos were red and freezing cold comdry was horrific the nachos were cold and had a couple tiny pieces of chicken . There were no table cloths on the tables it was freezing cold and there was only 11 people for the 10pm show.

Been coming here off and on for the last 7 years. Decent food, decent beer. Would like to see more food specials as the menu has gotten smaller. As a vegetarian I miss the pizza specials, and other veggie options. I know there are some good veggie options on the menu, but they get old if you come here often. When you are used to constantly rotating new beers, the menu seems a bit flat and static in comparison. The food is usually great though.

Poor menu selection and I would never recommend this place to ANYONE. Food is Disgusting.

Got seated, waited over 20 minutes before we reapproached the podium to let them know we hadn't been seen by a server yet. One server took our order and served us, another showed up as we were finishing never giving any explanation for the change or apology for the wait. Mac n Cheese Burger was good but the bun was very dry. California chicken BLT came with enough L to choke a horse and very little chicken, tasted okay. The one redeeming factor was the excellent on site brewed beer, and the after dinner coffee drinks which were real drinks, not just coffee with a splash of liquor.

I have been to City Steam countless times over the years but this review is specifically for my experience having a private event there.



They let me into the room an hour early to set up decorations. We were in the pool room in the back and everything was set up really nicely with candles in centerpieces on the tables and a partition for privacy from the rest of the restaurant. We could hook up an MP3 player for music. James was our on site contact for the night and he was extremely helpful and fun. He checked in with me often on when we wanted food out, etc.

The food was great, everyone said so. The mozzarella sticks were demolished right off the bat, a real crowd pleaser. I thought the mac and cheese fritters were a little dry, but loved everything else, especially the little pulled pork sliders. FYI, if you order the sliders you may need less of other things as they were a significant size! I ended up having too much food and we weren't allowed to take the leftovers so that felt like an unfortunate waste.

When it came time for the cake, James dressed it up very nicely and the other workers handled the candles and cutting, plating and serving. Guests had a great time during the night eating, drinking and playing games. There are a number of arcade type games and pool/air-hockey tables. City Steam can't unlock them for free play since they are contracted out, but I just brought in a few cups of quarters for my guests.

I briefly considered making the review 4 stars but I realized the only thing that was making me think that was that it was a little pricey. To be fair though, everything was excellent so it was likely just the sticker shock for me buying dinner for 50 people at once! Guests had a great time and so did I. I would absolutely recommend City Steam for your own private event.

The original hartford brew pub. Great atmosphere for a beer.

Very nice atmosphere with good service. Seating at different levels was cool, and there was always a TV screen you could see if you were interested. Great falafel burger, though it was quite a bit more than I could eat. They were out of non-alcoholic beer, but the manager had an employee make a run to a store and get me one (on their own initiative - I wasn't complaining and didn't ask them to do that). It was a fabulous NA from another local craft brewery, Athletic Brewing Co.'s Run Wild NA. Best NA I've ever had, and they didn't even charge me for it because of the delay. I'll definitely eat here again when I'm in town.

Too spicy. Lots of dishes to pick from. Appetizers are very generous servings

They arent open for lunch during the week, havent changed the hrs on the website tho

A very cozy place to go for lunch which has a good selection of there own beers as well as 5 to 6 ciders from other places.

So glad to have stumbled upon this place! I went on a date here and we were seated in a lovely secluded spot on the landing on the stairs. It felt very special! Our waiter was very attentive to our needs and served us quickly

Decent brewery with some good food options. Beautiful bar.

This was my first time back in Hartford in about 5 years, and having been to City Steam the last time, I wanted to try it out again. I was not disappointed. It was a weeknight, so seating was not an issue for a part of three.

Their beer list, which is brewed on site, is great with plenty of traditional style ales, lagers and stouts, as well as the more modern style bourbon barrel aged, and NEIPA s.

The pub grub menu, while not too lengthy, had good options for all diners. I had to try the sausage sandwich, which featured locally produced meats and breads, which was great. The homemade fries are also outstanding.

The atmosphere is very cool, as the building is from the late 19th century. They have several levels for seating, pool tables in the back, several bar areas, and a comedy club down in the basement.

Service was friendly and responsive.

Definitely check this place out if you re downtown in Hartford.

Bad service. Waited too long for my food which was overcooked. The server never checked if our food was ok. In addition to this, the server dropped part of my food on the table and didn't say a thing. I'm not coming back.

My entire meal was top notch. they serve their own beers exclusively, all top shelf. But now for the kicker. For the last six years I have been on a quest to find fried pickles better then the packsaddle bar in Oklahoma, well I can't say that City Steam Brewery has better fried pickles but they do stand toe to toe. From this point forward they are one half of the bar to beat.

Normally don't have an issue with their food or service but it's been a couple times consecutively now that I've had worse than just a bad experience. This last time was bad service. A group of us came in for brunch. They sat us at the bar lounge and it took someone half an hour just to ask us for drinks and food. Then after about waiting for 40 minutes, I asked a server how much longer and she left to inquire but never came back. There was also another table that walked out before us. We literally left a bill and walked out. It was also the day after my wedding.

Great Food and beverages! If you are a tourist and you skip this, you skipped out a MT Rushmore of Breweries. It would be a mistake for you to NOT go here. Solid food, big portions, busy, loud, HISTORIC, Awesome environment. Yes I've had a few bad wait staff, however this place still gets 5 stars.

Good service.
Good wings.
Great Beer.
Perfect place to watch any football game sure the season.

Great service, great food. The beer was really good I tried a flight of.many different types. I recommend checking this place out. The interior has an awesome feel to it.