I enjoyed my brief visit here. The beer (and a few ciders) choices were varied and interesting. A few of the choices had fruit like mango and pineapple in them. I went with an Iowa IPA that was very earthy and strong. They had a few other types of IPAs but I liked this one best. They place was relatively quiet, only a few other patrons. The outside patio is big, but too windy to sit outside. I didn't see any shade either. Maybe it was inside because of the wind? Anyway, the whole place, including the bathroom was spotless which I appreciate. It makes me feel like they care about their customers. My only minor issue was while trying to close up it was pretty hard to get a bartender's attention. They were quick to get us beers but slow to let us close our tab. I still enjoyed my brief time here. read more

I am truly sad to give it 4 stars.. this is all due to my first impression... I stood by the "wait here to be seated" sign for 10 minutes ... Which is not that bad..But I made direct eye contact several times with several staff members without even being acknowledged .. it felt very disrespectful almost insulting. The food was great. Beer was even better.. I had two pints of Raygun and a 10 beer flight. Pork belly bites, tomato and cheese toast and the works pizza. Everything was AMAZING. My bill was $54. Gladly would go again and again hopefully the staff won't be as distracted and "that's not my job" minded. P.S. my server was legit. read more

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I feel like I should just copy & paste this from other reviews in the area who can not make craft cocktails.... but here's my experience. I don't mind paying the price for an old fashioned but this was not a $10-12 drink. My wife peach mule that was below average quality. You have the setting and outdoor area going for you but for non beer drinkers, why even offer drinks if it's such low quality ? You also don't have standard silver rum like Bacardi to fall back on for a common rum & coke. I won't be back. I donated $27 and feel ripped off. read more

Their beer cheese appetizers and pizzas keep me coming back for more. As for beer, I usually fall back on Gold Coin if there isn't anything new I am looking to try. It is a solid beer that goes with pretty much anything you would eat there. I love the fact that they have "das boot" options available, too. I have only participated in ordering one to share once, but it was fun. It's also pretty cool that they give a free "64oz das boot" to people celebrating their birthdays at Backpocket. All you need to do is sign up for their e-newsletters. By far, I enjoy sitting outside near the fire pit much more than inside. It is SO LOUD in the building between the sound of people, blasting music (particularly around events/trivia), and general brewery sounds all ricocheting of walls and floors that don't absorb an ounce of sound. I have to be in the right mood to take that on. read more

Backpocket Brewing - 64oz das boot of Slingshot (Dunkel) - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

The pizza....amazing..and I know you wouldn't expect the food to be spot-on at a brewery (per se), but the cheese and "the works" pizzas were both super tasty. The sour cherry coder and multiple IPAs were read more

I came to Backpocket Brewing with my dad on a Sunday afternoon and we sat ourselves. It wasn't slow, but it wasn't packed either. Parking was a joke, and I can't imagine how people manage it on the weekends. All on street, or there's a distant parking garage. Even on a Sunday it was rough. Service was great. Our server was nice and offered good advice when asked. There was a fantastic 90's mix playing and I'm sure my dad loved me singing Matchbox 20, Everclear, and more at him throughout the course of our meal. Food came out about 20 minutes after we ordered and was terrific. We got a Three Mushroom pizza and a Flambe pizza. The Three Mushroom was really good, whatever white sauce they used went well with the cheese and toppings, as did the fresh fennel that dotting the pizza's surface. The Flambe was another white sauce pizza with caramelized onions and pork belly. It was delicious; I loved the onions but would have liked it if the cook had been slightly more generous with the pork belly. The best part about both pizzas was their simplicity - each featured thoughtful flavor combinations and the crust was chewy and delicious. I tried three beers - Slingshot, Gold Coin, and Iowa Ciders' Workshop. Everything was enjoyable, particularly the cider. I love the look and atmosphere of Backpocket Brewing. This is definitely a restaurant bar I'll come back to and recommend to others. read more

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I love Backpocket. Great pizza and beer. Luckily this place is within walking distance of any hotel in the area because I definitely wouldn't want to drive after leaving here. Keep up the great work with the beer and food. read more

Came in on my trek from Chicago to Des Moines. I had the specialty beer flight which came with 5 beers. The first 3 were good but my dislike for hops led me to prefer the last 2, which were a coffee stout and an imperial stout. Both were very good. Ordered the Mushroom and Blue Cheese pizza, which was very good as well with a chewy crust and mildly crisp. This is conveniently located off of I-80, so it's good stop when travelling. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Specialty Beer Flights - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

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Backpocket Brewery's beer garden is absolutely perfect! A large fire pit encircled by patio chairs, several tables with umbrellas, and a grassy lawn which would be perfect for the beer garden movie nights (I have yet to make it to one). Backpocket plays host to some great gatherings (Border Hop, anyone?) and makes some crazy delicious fire-baked pizza! That mushroom and blue cheese flatbread? oh. my. word. The beer is good but nothing has topped my favorites list yet. They seem to specialize in bright summer brews so I was a little disappointed in the offerings through this past winter. They also make their own sodas and so far have always had root beer, plus an additional rotating option. I've tried the ginger ale and it wasn't quite ginger-y enough but otherwise delicious (not ridiculously sugary or over-carbonated). The biggest thing I've been disappointed with is the customer service. If you sit at the bar or outside, you're golden. But sit in the booths lining the awesome wall of windows and you'll likely be forgotten. I'm a regular here and even though I'm hardly ever around during busy times, I've had to walk up to the bar on multiple occasions to either get a refill on my beer, place a pizza order, or to get my bill. read more

Backpocket Brewing - The mushroom and blue cheese flatbread with a mug club tankard! - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Superb root beer floats! This was a while back, but better late than never! I'm honestly not super into beer (..yet) so the little sized flights were awesome in introduction to different beers. My friends and I were able to have a good night of catching up over some interesting beers and tasty root beer floats! read more

Backpocket Brewing - Flight of different beers! - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

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Great beers, check. Great pizza, check. Can't decide on what beer to get? No worries, get a flight and enjoy 5 of their delicious beers. If you are an IPA fan, I highly recommend the Raygun. If only I had a way to take it back home with me. You lucky people up here can fill up a growler and take home their brews, those of us that live 1000 miles away aren't so lucky. So take advantage of your location and give these guys a try. read more

One of the very few, if not the only, craft brewpub in the IC/coralville area (I havent lived here in years so i may be wrong) but the beers I got were good,-the raygun and jackknife, we got a chips guac app which was fine, the food menu is pretty limited, just pizzas for entrees, so maybe not a good dinner place, but the beer is well priced, if you like craft beer id recommend going read more

Backpocket Brewing - Chips and salsa and guac - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Pros: 1. Excellent atmosphere inside and out. 2. The food has been great, particularly the pizza and nachos. 3. Has great events that commonly feature other craft breweries from other states. Cons: 1. Service is usually a bit too casual - have not sat at the bar though. 2. For my palate, the beer tends to be a bit too bland - hope this improves over time with their specialty brews. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Nachos with no sour cream, awesome! - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Excellent brewery. We stopped in for drinks. Beautiful place with really good selection of beer. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

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As a microbrewery, pretty solid. As a restaurant, it can be hit or miss. The beer selection is decent. I'm not a huge fan of the standard offerings but the seasonal and guest need can be a treat. The menu is limited but the food is good. The brick oven pizzas go especially well with a few beverages. For what it is, I would give the place 4 stars, except for how they perform on busy nights. If it is packed, expect VERY slow service, possibly burnt pizza, overworked waiters, and a generally less than ideal experience. The beer is still okay. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Beer at the brewery. - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Excellent wood fired pizza, brews, & atmosphere. They feature revolving visiting brews along with their own beers. I really enjoy the Slingshot dunkel. The service has been ok on our visits-we go for the beer. Note that their food selection includes appetizers and pizza, it's not a full menu. The beer is the feature at Backpocket. They also have a large patio with a fire pit which is nice to sit by while enjoying a beverage. Check out the brewery tours there too. We haven't been on one but look forward to it on a visit soon. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Slingshot dunkel. Yum. - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Came here for an early dinner and to try some of the beers. We got the specialty flight per the recommendation of other Yelpers. The specialty flight was good. Nothing really great, but still tasty. We came with a small group and got 4 individual pizzas. Each of them were quite good. My personal favorite was the Yo Adrian. Nice and spicy, but not too bad. The good, of course, is the brick oven pizza. The not as good is that other than appetizers and pizza, there's not much else on the menu. So if you know that going in, you'll be in good shape. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Brick oven pizza! - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Tasty beers, yummy pizzas, and a sprawling outdoor space. . . We had a lovely time here and found a few beers that we had to being home in 6-packs. read more

This past week I stopped in the brewery around 3:30 in the afternoon. There were a few customers there, and menus (food and drink) were set out on the tables, along with a note that orders should be placed at the bar. One employee also stopped by my table to let me know that right away. I ordered a flight of beer and enjoyed that while watching the Olympics and doing some work at the table. There is free WiFi and the network and password information are printed right on the menus. During the afternoon hours, if you order food, they have a pick-up counter/station where you can get your food, silverware, napkins, and water. It was pretty handy. The bartender did stop by to check on me and took my order for both food and another beer. That was more than he needed to do, but I appreciated it. I ordered the spinach and artichoke dip. The service size would be perfect for 2 people - it was my early dinner, essentially. The dip was good and tasty as well. I've had one of the personal pizzas on a previous stop, and recommend those too. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Spinach and artichoke dip - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

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Elite Mediocrity - pay premium for so-so order at bar service *Service - order at bar, friendly Bartender - Helpful *Beer - Mediocre choice, slim range between brews flavor. Think to yourself after tasting separate brews, "Did they pull thfrom the same tap?" *Food - Mediocre, skimpy If you're looking for a remarkable experience - 30 Hop, Reds ale house or Big Grove brewery will deliver a better experience. Update: 8/8/19 Actually forgot left the prior review. Nothing new, basically COME FOR the beer (couple of good ones - Murderhorn) NOT FOR THE FOOD. Kitchen staff isn't there for a culinary experience, more of a cafeteria experience. Service: wasn't concern about delivering a better experience. read more

Backpocket is a truly unique brewery. They have such a wide range of beers to fit any need. They are constantly rotating, so everytime I go I feel like I'm trying something new. The peanut butter oreo and Raygun Ipa were some of my favorites. I'd say come for the beer and stay for the pizza. Nothing is better than a buffalo chicken pizza with a cold beer and Backpocket has nailed it down. read more

This place was pretty neat. I was staying at the Marriott next-door for a conference and our weekend started here. The local alumni group had reserved their production area with tables and appetizers for any of us to enjoy. At times there wasn't much space [there were a lot of us] but it wasn't a huge concern for me. I was able to try a few slices of pizza, their cheese bread, nachos, and a few other goodies. I had low expectations for a brewery to serve good food, but man it was great! Service was phenomenal - the operations manager and a brewery worker kept on our drink orders as well as keeping the food coming out. I was advised to try a couple of beers before ordering a pint, so I went ahead and ordered the massive Supa' Fly't. Unfortunately it was 50/50 like/dislike on their beers. I was disappointed that there was no Hefe to try [temporarily out of stock I believe]. The few that stood out were the Bock, APA, IPA, and the cider. Everything else was not that great or just meh. I really enjoy darker-color/darker-flavor beers [stouts, dunkels, etc] but I couldn't finish my tasters after a small sip. One of the coolest things was drinking out of Das Boot! Roughly 7-8 glasses in total of one beer, and you cannot set the thing down, otherwise you pay for the entire beverage. My partner and I were helped out with a few other convention-goers. What a nice way to network with people by helping a friend out with their beer! read more

Wonderful atmosphere and great service...wasn't sure what to get and the nice young lady suggested the Chopped Brisket....well she stopped by to see what I thought and I told her, she should always recommend that sandwich one of the best I've ever had...the spinach artichoke was a great starter and the beer was fine....I'm a standard Miller Lite drinker and she suggested the Gold Coin...the beer was good and they never let my glass get too low.....I'd guess if you try it you'll like it read more

A local favorite! We have been coming to Backpocket Brewing for years, and it has always been one of our favorite spots in town. Not only do we enjoy their unique selection of beers, but their food has always been very good too. Their selections and quality have only gotten better as the years have gone by and they have grown. I highly recommend stopping in. You will feel right at home with their welcoming environment and friendly staff. Whether you chose to sit at the bar, at a table, or outside around the fire pit your visit is sure to be a great time! read more

They used to be a decent place with decent beer but the staff is not very friendly anymore and you may wait a long time for service, even if there are few patrons read more

I wish I could like it just a little better. The pizzas are excellent. The brews are hit or miss -- many of them taste quite a bit like a home brewer's extract-based brew, giving them a cloyingly sweet quality that I find not all that drinkable. For that reason, you're pretty safe with the IPAs, especially stronger ones, as the hops tend to counterbalance that extract sweetness. The service is also a bit hit or miss. My funniest memory of the place is from one day last summer when I stopped by after a long bike ride. I went inside to the bar and told them I'd like to sit outside and could I grab my beer now and a glass of water, please? I'd also like a food menu to take with me. No problem, the bar staffer told me. After sitting outside with my beer and water for about 10 minutes, a waitress came by (the place was not busy) and almost didn't stop by table as she quickly inquired, "So you're just going to drink, you don't want any food, right?" I almost spit out my water, I was so taken aback. What was this new approach to customer service? When did this "you don't really want to spend your money here, do you?" approach to serving customers come into vogue? The location is pretty sweet, almost in spite of its rather corporate locale. It's right off a bicycle trail, and it makes for an excellent place to stop. Great outdoor seating, too, with plenty of tables with umbrellas, a fire pit on cool evenings, and free movies in the summer. Like I said, it's one of those places I want to like more than I do. It could be much better than it is. It's just, you know, the beer... and, well, yeah... the service. "You don't really want service, do you?" read more

I come from Indiana to work in Coralville about once a month. There are quite a few really fun places nearby to have dinner and drinks and this is one of them! I had the Blood on the Blade RPA - great flavor without being overwhelmingly bitter. And as for food, if you're in the mood for pizza, the BBQ Chicken with cilantro is great! Accompanied with live outdoor entertainment on a Wednesday night, this place has got it all. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

This review is for the pizza only since we didn't order any beer (sacrilege, I know). We arrived 15 minutes before the kitchen closed on a Friday night. It was our first visit so we asked our server for her recommendations, which we ordered. I had the bacon, spinach with Parmesan sauce which was excellent, complete with just crispy-enough crust. My husband got the Meatza that had fresh sausage, pepperoni, ground beef, Canadian bacon and bacon. Delicious! Our server was courteous and super efficient. Didn't hover but checked in a few times to make sure we liked our food. We grabbed a mix & match six pack to go but they didn't have the coffee stout. We were told they'd probably start bottling it again when the weather cooled. The outdoor patio/beer garden had a cozy looking fire pit. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Bacon, spinach & Parmesan and the Meatza. - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Great beer, for the big pretzel and pork sliders, and love the beer & cupcake pairing.

Backpocket has a really nice taproom and some pretty good craft beers. The atmosphere/decor here is new/modern and eye appeasing. The craft beers here can satisfy most people who have a variety of tastes, really like the Blood on the Blade. The food here makes this one of the better options for a brewery taproom. The brick oven pizzas are great(we got the Meatza) and we also liked the beer cheese dip(very tasty pita crackers with it). The service here is decent, the gift shop for their gear was kind of lacking in my opinion. They also have a large size patio to enjoy on a nice warm day, didn't get to enjoy that part when we went. Overall it's a great place to stop if you want some good craft beer with some tasty food options. read more

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I came for the beer. The triple berry sour beer was good. The Cuban sandwich was not. It had too much pepper in it and not enough cheese and was a bit cold. They got our order of pizza wrong. A cheese pizza was ordered, but we got a meat lover pizza. They let us have it for free and made a separate cheese pizza. The meat lover pizza was better than my Cuban. I should have ordered the pizza to begin with. Will need to come back to try some of their other beers. read more

Took my folks to Backpocket to take the tour and try a few beers. The tour starts at 5, so we made sure to arrive a few minutes early. We approached the hostess and informed her we would like to take the tour. She went over to a guy drinking at the bar and spoke briefly to him. He smirked and said something to her. She came back and told us that the tour had already left. See, the thing about it is that there was no tour. You could clearly see into the brewing area, and no people. If you don't want to do it, fine. Just don't lie. It has a tendency to piss people off. We were then seated, and same girl was our server. We were trying to decide between flights, and asked her about the different brews. Her response was that it was her first day and she didn't know anything about the beers except their names. Now, call me crazy but if one is working at a brewery, one would most likely expect at least a rudimentary knowledge of the offerings. Sigh. There was no offer to get a knowledgeable person (how about the dude at the bar? Maybe he could help with all the time he saved by not doing our tour!), so we just got 2 flights of each and ordered some pizza. Our flights were delivered backwards but named in order, further underscoring the fact that our server was in over her head. You can't tell me that the Pennywhistle is the one on the end that is as black as the heart of the dude at the bar who refused our tour. So here's the thing. I took my folks there because we all love beer. My brother brews, my hubs brews, WE. LOVE. BEER. Overall, disappointing in the experience/product knowledge/employee engagement areas. Beer was good, pizza was decent. I think I'll buy sixers at hyvee and pick up some Wig and Pen next time so I can not have a tour in the comfort of my own home. read more

Most of our friends told us Backpocket is, "Good for beers, terrible for food, but the pizza is decent". Last night we got together with friends and secured a 6:15pm reservation for 12 (i.e. read: they knew we were coming with a large party) for the patio. We arrived at 6:15pm, were seated right away, and our entire party was there by 6:25pm. NOT A SINGLE SERVER APPROACHED OUR TABLE UNTIL 6:45pm (half an hour after the first of us arrived). This was only after I got up and flagged down a server. We placed our entire order right away. We were annoyed but tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. We watched the smaller parties around us steadily had their orders taken, served their drinks, appetizers and food. By 7:10pm (FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES, 55!) only HALF of our table was given water glasses. By that point, I went in to speak to the manager. He sheepishly explained they were short servers and offered to compensate our first round of drinks. WHAT ROUND OF DRINKS?! WE ALL HADN'T EVEN RECEIVED WATER? If we could have walked out, we would have, though we were celebrating a friend's engagement. It took not only myself, but another member of our party to complain to the manager, did the service finally improve. I pointed out that we watched several tables around us be served. We finally received our drinks and food. Our server was apologetic, as it was clear it was not her fault. She had to man too many tables, and this was the err of the POOR management staffing. I'm giving them 2 stars, instead of 1, as they did compensate our first round of drinks. While it's near hotel(s), it's good for them that out of town visitors will sustain this restaurant. As local residents, we will not be back. 55 minutes just waiting for water, people.... read more

Well, I gave it a try and now know that I never need to go back. I stopped in for lunch and was immediately underwhelmed by the food options on the menu. I ultimately ended up settling for a pizza since nothing else seemed all that appealing. My disappointment continued when I took my first bite of the BBQ Chicken pizza I ordered. It really wasn't very good. I assume people head here for the beer and not the food. However, my beer was fine but not phenomenal. With craft beers being so big these days I'm sure there are plenty of other places in the area that can deliver on quality brews AND good food. Next time I will head elsewhere. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Great knowing that each day the restaurant is open until they close. Thanks, your signage is as helpful as your food is tasty. - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Beer was good as the root beer the chip salsa and guacamole were disappointing as was the soup that was runny. The pizzas were alright but definitely not a place you go to for the food. Drink the beers and and root beer, enjoy the casualness of the place, and the open air patio was excellent. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

Ah Backpocket, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I should start that I'm biased towards this place because I love their beers so much. In my opinion Ray Gun is the second best IPA I've ever had (next to Bell's Hop Slam). This place is first and foremost a brewery with a restaurant attached to it. As such you might find their cuisine a little lacking. This is more than made up for by the quality of their drinks, the ambiance of the brewery and the patio space outside. If you are looking for a place to relax, have a few beers and maybe eat some upscale bar food look no further. If you need a great meal then consider eating at Vesta across the street and either starting or ending your night at back pocket. One thing I personally appreciated was meeting one of their brew-masters who invented the Ray Gun IPA. The guy was really cool and I appreciated him taking time out of his schedule to talk brewing with me while I sat at the bar. read more

I was surprisingly into the place. Cool setup and friendly staff. I had a few sample before i decided on a blonde and a calzone. The beer was great and the calzone was good relative to iowa. The prices are what impressed me the most. read more

Backpocket Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Coralville, Iowa

For the only well known brewery in Iowa City, it's surprisingly good! I had both the classic and special beer flights and liked just about all of them. Favourites were their dunkel (basically a German style amber) and bock, which is dark and flavorful, both on the classic flight. The coffee stout was also on point. I also really liked the Jack Knife IPA, which is saying a lot since I don't normally go for IPAs. It had a lot of crisp floral flavor and wasn't overpowered by hops. Their personal pizzas are also awesome! The best way to go is build your own. Only $.50 to add toppings, even meat! It was worth it even for a lactard like me. Just pop those pills and cram that pizza down your throat. read more

A great place to hang out on a summer evening. For me, they don't have a lot of options since I don't like beer, but the outdoor atmosphere is still nice. The food is so-so; not a large selection and nothing I crave, but I have never had anything I didn't like either. read more

Good beer selection with reasonable prices in a nice part of town. The "tour" is really just a little space where you can peek at the big tanks and whatnot, not really a tour. I tried the Copper Coin (coffee + vanilla lager), and though I didn't catch any vanilla taste, I loved it! They had plenty of seating and because we stopped by at 3PM on a Saturday, we had our server's full attention, which was great. Others ordered pizzas, which looked amazing, so we fully intend to make a return trip for a full meal! I'd come back just for their 2 for 1 Happy Hour weekday specials! read more