City Steam Brewery Cafe

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

Wow! What a joke this resturant was. I had made reservations for six people at 3pm when City Steam opened. Over the telephone I was told I was the last reservation for this particular day as they were booked. I am waiting to check in with my party and I was shocked when the hostess took a party of six with NO reservations. Anyways, it took 30 minutes to order our beverages, this is after I complained to the hostess, mind you who was rude! Then about 45 minutes later received our beverages. The waiter was trying his best but you could tell he was brand new, which poor choice to have a new person working on a afternoon where you know a huge event was going on. We ordered appetizers which took about an hour to arrive at our table. The worst part was the manager was making up some story how they did not know how busy it was going to be...are you kidding me. I bought tickets to the Jeff Dunham show in November and the show was sold out 10,500 people. I would never ever recommend this establishment to anyone, very disappointed. I dont blame the waiter it was not his fault but the service was just horrendus. Word of advice if you are going to an event in Hartford, do not go to this place. Our show was not till 5pm, so I figured two hours was plenty of time. Well we ate so fast we could not even enjoy the food, which I rate maybe a 2, nothing great. The staff all were so unprofessional, noone was smiling..I am just so disappointed. This place needs a wake up call and new staff of managment if they are unaware that their staff is saying we are not taking anymore reservations then taking a party of six in....who mind you got waited on WAY before our party who made reservations. I am all about reviews as if this place was great, trust me I would be giving them a 5 and giving them a great review. I could not wait to write this review as it does not even deserve a 1 rating. I hope the owner of City Steam reads this review. You had a show sold out of 10,500 people and there was not an adequate number of staff, staff was unprofessional, especially the hostess, our waiter was nice but very stressed, he did the best he could with the pressure he had, the manager lied which was so unprofessional, the service was soooo slooooooow. I will never visit this resturant again, sorry I just do not understand how this place was so unorganized. I would have felt better if the manager said we had staff call out and we are way behind. Her excuse was unaccepatable. Word of advice to the owner, hire someone who can keep a track on what is going on in Hartford and put on enough staff for that night. Overstaffing is better than understaffing. Good Luck!

ST

Stephanie Moreland

I have been to City Steam countless times over the years but this review is specifically for my experience having a private event there. I wanted a space to have a birthday party for about 50+ friends and family. I worked with Andrew, the events coordinator, and he gave me some advice about how much food to order and the different options I had. I wanted to get all the food for my guests and free soda for them too, but have them buy their own drinks. The planning all went very smoothly. I unfortunately realized too late that I had not ordered ANYTHING gluten free and I was having a couple gluten free guests. When I called to change things it was too late but they were extremely accommodating and agreed to let my gluten free guests order whatever entrée they wanted from their gluten free menu at no extra charge. 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 werent 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 cant 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.

JE

Jeremy Krantz

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. Im not sure where they got the cafe part of their name as I found it to be a restaurant. I didnt 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 wasnt 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 wasnt chaotic and theyve 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.