Best Craft Breweries (That Serve Food) Near Lakeville, MN
Craft breweries are a fun destination when travelling and a great way to get out of the house a little closer to home.
Minnesota has a ton of craft breweries scattered all over the state.
I have been to a lot of them because I've tried to make it to all of the Minnesota breweries in the Minnesota Hop Passport.
The Hop Passport is a small book which is filled with 100 craft breweries all throughout the state. Each brewery will stamp their page in the book when you go there and that will get you one free beer with your first beer purchase (a Buy One, Get One Free deal, but just on your first round).
If you are in the Lakeville, Minnesota area and seeking a great brewery nearby, then this article is just what you are looking for.
The below list is a collection of the best breweries in the area. And below that is a second list of breweries and bars that serve food.
Lakeville Brewing Company
Lakeville Brewing Company is my favorite craft brewery in Lakeville and the surrounding area.
It is located just off of Lakeville's main street, called Holyoke Ave. The building Lakeville Brewery is in used to be the local VFW Post (Post 210). The brewery has a light American lager called "210 American Lager" which is named after that VFW Post.
This brewery has very easy parking. They have their own parking lot, and they are across the street from a city parking lot, and across the street on the other side of the block is another large parking lot. Plus all of the available street parking. You will have no trouble finding a spot to park your car here.
They have a big space for guests. Their taproom is split into two halves. There is a tradition bar with high tables around it, and on the other side is a more standard restaurant area with booths and tables.
They also have a large backyard patio area. About half of the patio is filled with picnic tables, and the other half has a children's play set and bean bag toss boards. And the whole backyard area is dog-friendly.
The brewery usually has about 10 beers available on tap. You can also buy crowlers on-site, but unfortunately the beer is not available in any liquor stores.
Lakeville Brewing Company is also a family-friendly restaurant, making it a "brewpub".
The beer selection is varied enough to offer something for everyone. Some of their more popular beers are their IPA, Cream Ale, Light Lager, and Hazy IPA.
And if you don't care for beer, they also offer wine and cocktails.
Angry Inch BrewingAngry Inch Brewing is the only other craft brewery in Lakeville. It is also excellent.
It is on the same block as Lakeville Brewing Company and they share a parking lot.
Angry Inch is a smaller place, but it isn't tiny. They have an indoor seating area, and also a patio on the side for those who would rather sit outside. Dogs are welcome on the patio, and the staff sometimes even bring the dogs water and treats.
They also tend to have around 10 beers, but it seems like more of them change than stick around as flagships.
I think the best beers I've ever had at Angry Inch were a beer that was a lot like Corona Extra (I believe they called it Cerveza Del Lagos) and a black IPA I can't remember the name of.
This brewery doesn't serve food, but they do have a popcorn machine (and sometimes a food truck outside).
Angry Inch is definitely worth a visit, and since it is so close to Lakeville Brewing, you could visit both in the same day.
Bald Man BrewingBald Man Brewing is far enough away that I almost didn't include it in this list. It is in Eagan, which is 2 towns away from Lakeville.
I chose to include it because there are not that many actual breweries in the area, so this will help fill out the list and give readers some options. I also included it because I really enjoy the brewery.
Bald Man is in an industrial park-type of building and is across the highway from a large outlet mall.
There is decent parking available there, so it isn't like trying to find a spot for breweries in Minneapolis.
They have a large indoor taproom and a patio in the back.
The brewing equipment is all very easy to see from the taproom. You are basically in the brewing area right next to the fermenting barrels, but the taproom is separated by a small railing. I think that is pretty cool. I enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes brewing stuff.
They have lots of beers to try, and they are all delicious.
They also have a popcorn machine, and a pile of board games to use stored right next to a couple of pinball machines.
Breweries and Bars That Serve Food
Lakeville Brewing CompanyAs I mentioned above, Lakeville Brewing Company is also a restaurant. It is a brewpub.
They have a full menu. Appetizers. Salads. Burgers and sandwiches. Pasta. Fish. Brisket. Tacos. They also have a few vegetarian options.
It is not a menu of fancy food, but it is really good food!
Some of my favorite items are the Bob Dip, the pretzel with cheese, the regular bacon cheese burger, pulled turkey BLT, and Bacon Patty Melt.
You can order and eat inside or outside, and you can even order food for takeout. Depending on the time of year or day of the week, there can sometimes be a wait to get a table, so you might need to make a reservation for a table.
I don't usually mind when there is a wait at Lakeville Brewing because I am able to put my name in and walk over to Angry Inch to drink a beer over there while I wait.
B-52 Burgers and BrewB-52s is not a brewery, but their bar does offer a lot of craft beers. It is a fun place with a sports bar atmosphere.
They have TVs all over that are usually playing sports.
Their indoor seating area is pretty large, and they also have a small patio at the back of the building, and an outdoor seating area at the front of the restaurant right on the sidewalk by the street.
They have a full kitchen and menu. I've had their burgers and they are really good. They even brand (like branding cows) their buns with their logo! That's pretty unique!
If you go to B-52s, I highly recommend you try the garlic fries. They are the best.
Babe's Music BarBabe's is not a craft brewery, but they also have a good selection of craft beers. They have a full bar and kitchen. It is mostly bar food, but very good bar food!
They have an area with kids games, like a claw machine, Guitar Hero, and Big Buck Hunter. On the other side of the bar they have pool tables and dart boards.
You can definitely eat inside, and they have plenty of booths and tables for that, but you can also sit out front in their fenced off patio.
The name of the place calls it a "music bar", so it seems like they must have live music there occasionally, but I have never been there when they had a band.
Related: List of Restaurants in the Lakeville and Apple Valley MN Area
Barley + Vine is a fun full service bar and restaurant. It has a really unique looking building (the door handles remind me of the sculpture art from Beetlejuice).
They have wine slushies, which are excellent! They also have beer, wine, and cocktails.
They have a large indoor seating area, a bar to sit at, and a patio out back for outdoor seating.
I think the food is really good at Barley & Vine. I usually get a burger if it is supper time (they have a burger with brie cheese on it which is great).
They also serve brunch on the weekends. For brunch I often get the Breakfast Poutine. Yum!
They used to have a brunch special that included bottomless mimosas with any brunch entrée purchase. That was downgraded to 3 free mimosas with breakfast, and then 1 free, and now they don't include any free mimosas.
I can completely understand why they discontinued that deal, but man was it sweet while it lasted! It was definitely a reason to choose brunch there over any other restaurants.
I think they have live music most Fridays out on the patio.
Angry Inch Brewing
Angry Inch Brewing does not have a kitchen and does not serve food. As I mentioned above, they have a popcorn machine. They also sell some small bar snacks, like pretzels.
I included them in this second list of breweries that serve food because they very often have a food truck on the street just outside of the brewery. So you can go there and get food during normal meal times (most of the time).
I have seen a mini school bus that serves pizzas there, and recently I've been seeing a Greek food and Gyros truck. I'm sure they have more variety in food trucks than that, but those are the ones I can remember at the moment.
Hopefully you found this list of breweries helpful. I recommend all of the places above, and you should try them all if you have the time.
Have you been to any of the places I mentioned above? What did you think? Are there any other breweries or bars you think I missed and should be included above? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!
Pretty cool review! I go to Minneapolis frequently, and this gives me a lot of ideas for things to do!
ReplyDelete