you ever go to a place and see the signs from the beginning that you are going to have a bad time? well, that is what it is like if you go to Allentown Brew Works.

four of us visited this establishment on January 19. We arrived at 6:45 pm. My cousin enquired about the advertised entertainment in the High Gravity lounge. We were informed there was none. This was sign number one.

The waitress took our drink orders as soon as we arrived. The first round arrived in a decent amount of time. As the drinks arived, my cousin said she would like to order an appetizer. we ordered the spinich artichoke dip. when it arrived, we were unhappy to find that the portion was small with huge chunks of artichoke. It was very disappointing. This was sign number two.

By the time we finished our appetizer, it was approx 7:30. At this time, NO ONE had come to take our dinner order. Neither had anyone arrived to clear our table of the obvious empty plates and glasses. When my husband asked her to get the busser, she informed us in a very snotty manner that she was the busser. This was sign number three.

When the waitress arrived to take our order for dinner, my husband and i specifically ordered a new drink along with our entrees. This should have
ensured our new drinks should have arrived promptly. At 7:45, we had not received our drinks. when we enquired about them, our waitress stammered about not putting them in and left to get them. 5 minutes later we receieved them. This was sign number four.

At 8:00 pm, we still had not recieved our dinners. We asked a passing manager about them, He went to check and he told us that they would be out shortly. Cut to 15 minutes later, we still had no entrees. At this point, we were disgusted--this is INEXCUSABLE behavior for a resturant. We threw cash on the table to cover our drinks and left. This was sign number five. When a manager says the food will be out and then it isn't?

MY husband and i walked out of the establishment. My cousins remained behind. The waitress walked up to them sans any food and demanded we stay for the bill. She had the gall to tell us that the food had only been taking 20 minutes and that we had no right to leave. She then explanined how hard her job was since she had THREE tables to take care of. This was sign number six.

My husband and i have spent YEARS in the resturant industry, both at private and corporate establishments. This is without a doubt, the WORST time i have ever had at any kind of eating establishment. If you go there you are setting yourself up for a terrible evening--one with poor service, bad food, a lack of beers and entertainment and an all around bad time.

Great, sophisticated atmosphere. It's too bad that the kitchen closes at 10 PM ... no chance of having a latenight snack there.

A little loud but the food was beerdelicious

We went to the Allentown Brew Works for lunch Friday at 11:30 am. It had been open for about a week, so we weren't sure what to expect.

Parking seems to be a little tricky. There are some public lots nearby and limited meter parking out front. Lots of one way streets to navigate around.

The place has a great atmosphere. The building is huge. We were seated inside the front window, but when I went to the restroom, I was surprised at how far back the restaurant went. Also, there are multiple floors and even some outside seating. The place is very clean and modern.

For lunch, we both got the french dip fondue, which is a beef sandwich with cheese soup for dipping. This is a great sandwich. For beer, I got the belgian triple, which had amazing flavor. My friend got the Hops Explosion and he was satisfied with the heavy hop flavor.

There were not that many patrons, but an overwhelmingly large staff. We were the only ones seated inside the front window, but had at least three different waitors/waitresses circling us the whole time. We must have counted 20 employees within eyesight. Despite this, service wasn't fantastic or overly friendly.

Overall, the experience was on the border of average and above average, but since service will improve within the first few months, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.