Church Brew Works... Not very good. (Pittsburgh, Erie: restaurant, price, move)

[quaymorris]

Originally Posted by Lobick

I've found professional bartenders to be a pretty good judge of character. That he blew you off as not worth his time seems to say more about you than him...to me at least.

LOL at this ridiculous comment. Regardless of if you think the person walking up to your bar is going to be a prick or not, that doesn't excuse poor customer service. When you work in the service industry, you know you're going to deal with people that are great and people that suck. It's part of the job. I'd reverse your last statement: I've never been to CBW, have no real inclination to visit, but if that bartender blew someone off because of some preconceived notions, that says a lot about said bartender, not the patron. Though I kind of get the vibe that you don't like h_curtis.

[Mr. Mon]

CBW has some decent beers and is worth at least one visit if only for the experience. I've found the pub menu to be pretty good, and if anyone can recall there was a time when CBW was the only wood fired pizza oven in the area. They were pioneers in both brewing and raising the bar for pub food in Pittsburgh. That said, their dinner menu has always been underwhelming and in my opinion never worth the price.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by quaymorris

LOL at this ridiculous comment. Regardless of if you think the person walking up to your bar is going to be a prick or not, that doesn't excuse poor customer service. When you work in the service industry, you know you're going to deal with people that are great and people that suck. It's part of the job. I'd reverse your last statement: I've never been to CBW, have no real inclination to visit, but if that bartender blew someone off because of some preconceived notions, that says a lot about said bartender, not the patron. Though I kind of get the vibe that you don't like h_curtis.

See...you can get a feel for vibes, even through the keyboard.

If you don't think certain types of customers deservedly get treated differently by a bartender, we live in different worlds. Of course dealing with different types of patrons is part of the job but so is a cost-benefit analysis. Certain types of parties get more attention and better service...it's the nature of the industry.

That Curtis' reaction was to huff and puff, walk out and then run to his computer to badmouth the entire establishment in my mind bolsters my theory that the bartender knew exactly the kind of guy that he was. (this, of course, assumes that we take his recollection of the encouter as a fair an accurate representation of actual events which, given his history, I'm loath to do.)

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by Lobick

See...you can get a feel for vibes, even through the keyboard.

If you don't think certain types of customers deservedly get treated differently by a bartender, we live in different worlds. Of course dealing with different types of patrons is part of the job but so is a cost-benefit analysis. Certain types of parties get more attention and better service...it's the nature of the industry.

That Curtis' reaction was to huff and puff, walk out and then run to his computer to badmouth the entire establishment in my mind bolsters my theory that the bartender knew exactly the kind of guy that he was. (this, of course, assumes that we take his recollection of the encouter as a fair an accurate representation of actual events which, given his history, I'm loath to do.)

It was probably more likely the fact that the bartender had more on his plate at that moment than curtis realizes, but I get where you're coming from here.

As I said before (having worked at the church) the place requires a lot of sandbagging prior to service (even the evening before for when they open the next day) and efficiency of movement by employees. The servers are often overwhelmed just because the capacity of the place is too much, and that is usually why the service suffers. The bartenders have a host of responsibilities, and shooting the breeze with the customers isn't a big part of it at this particular establishment.

If curtis didn't specifically ask the guy to talk about the different beers that they had on tap, this isn't the kind of place where they can afford to take the time to do that out of habit. Whining about it on here after not even bothering to try anything at the place is really silly.

[robrobrob]

This whole thread it is a little strange. Curtis drove to look at a railing and left because he didn't like the bartender. And now we have 4 pages of comments, half of which are bashing Curtis the other half are bashing the ChurchBrewWorks because it is too expensive.

The poster who said this earlier is right. It is a destination joint. People go there for the experience and not the food or the beer. Although, both are fine.

[pman]

how can a brewpub be a destination if it has bad beer? (most of my experiences at church say they have good beer though)

[Stijl Council]

Originally Posted by pman

looks like an interesting place, the western pa beer market is growing I think so maybe that accounts for the popularity, the region is somewhat deficient in brewpubs (which spells opportunity).

We tried this stuff at the Cider & Mead festival a few months ago and it was one of the real standouts. Looks like North Country carries it...

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by pman

how can a brewpub be a destination if it has bad beer? (most of my experiences at church say they have good beer though)

Because it isn't your typical brewpub. This is essentially what the owner told me some time ago.

[pman]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Because it isn't your typical brewpub. This is essentially what the owner told me some time ago.

so long as he's comfortable leaving money on the table, but unless he is tired of winning awards, they were making good beer

The awards capped off a monumental year for the Brew Works and Sloan, who re-joined the 16-year-old brewery last November after spending a couple years working with a friend at a California brewery.

Since returning, Sloan says, "We've made a lot of improvements." Indeed, this is the first time since 2005 that the festival has recognized the brewery.

Church Brew Works earns national recognition | On The Rocks | Pittsburgh City Paper
looks like this guy returned in 2011 and in my experience turned what was exactly what you describe (mediocre brewpub with decent pizza) into one with decent pizza and very good beer but in restaurants, things can change quickly. my visit was during beer week so perhaps mr. sloan was busy. they've also expanded sales I believe.

That would be head brewer Steve Sloan, formerly of John Harvard's in Wilkins, who after it closed started helping out at the Church in 2009. After a stint in California, where he brewed at Firestone Walker and was quality manager for Lost Coast, he was hired less than a year ago at the Church, said president Sean Casey, in great part to improve quality and consistency...Assistant brewer Matt Moninger picked up the medals and high-fives in Denver, because Mr. Sloan had decided to stay here. He was shopping in the Strip District with his wife, Diane, Saturday as the calls and texts came in from the festival. After hearing about the third medal, they headed to the Church to watch the ceremonies online and have a beer.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...#ixzz2W6sb1ZRP

[gg]

Originally Posted by Q-tip motha

It was probably more likely the fact that the bartender had more on his plate at that moment than curtis realizes, but I get where you're coming from here.

As I said before (having worked at the church) the place requires a lot of sandbagging prior to service (even the evening before for when they open the next day) and efficiency of movement by employees. The servers are often overwhelmed just because the capacity of the place is too much, and that is usually why the service suffers. The bartenders have a host of responsibilities, and shooting the breeze with the customers isn't a big part of it at this particular establishment.

If curtis didn't specifically ask the guy to talk about the different beers that they had on tap, this isn't the kind of place where they can afford to take the time to do that out of habit. Whining about it on here after not even bothering to try anything at the place is really silly.

The place was pretty dead on a Wednesday night. I have had most all their beers already. I guess it was tough to go there after where I have been. I have been known to tip 50% of the service was outstanding, but 20% or so is my norm. Been a bartender before, so ex-bartenders are usually great people to have sitting at your bar.

Last place I was a bartender one of the jobs was taking togo orders on the phone and preparing them. That was a horrible situation because I would be on the phone looking at some empty glasses on the bar. That move saved the bar/restaurant money, but at what expense? Not just my tip, but people being upset because they had to wait.

Anyway, I can't believe this thread took off. The Church is okay for what it is, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Probably shouldn't have posted anything about it. Ah well, maybe it could be closed or removed. Who knows? Obviously Lobick's posts should be removed since they are just more personal attacks, which is what he is all about 100% of the time. Gets old.