Food was great but service was beyond lacking. My Diet Coke and my son's water arrived after the food and after I asked twice. I think they're just really understaffed but waiting nearly 15 minutes before someone acknowledged us at our table was unacceptable. read more

Found the staff cold and unwelcoming. I understand it can be tough dealing with the world coming off Covid, so I'm sure we will try again. This time around we didn't feel like our patronage was wanted so we went to The Spirit. read more

I live in North East Mass and had never heard of Batson River Brewing before 2 weeks ago. I am a fan of craft beer and have certainly enjoyed many beers from the wide selection across New England. I was heading up to Sunday River to do some skiing and saw on their snow report that Batson was doing a "Tap take over" at the Foggy Goggle. Since the weather was brutal (5 degrees with a stiff wind), I decided to call it quits early and head for a beer. Batson River had 3 beers on draft that day. I figured I would give them a try. A few sips in and I started chatting with a few guys with Batson River sweatshirts on. It turns out they were the owners as well as the head brewer and a few other operations guys. These guys were awesome. They could not have been more warm and friendly. I got the story behind the Brewery, their vision for the future and tons of other information. I spoke to the head brewer for some time. I was supper impressed. He had experience brewing beer all over the country as well as in Europe. He really knew his stuff. Now for the most important part. How was the beer? Incredible. I only had the IPA and the Pale Ale (I am not a Wheat beer fan). Both had a lot of complexity and depth. Both were crisp, refreshing and very drinkable. Nothing you would get sick of after only 1-2. I think they have really nailed these beers. I heard one other customer mention that he liked it better than "X" (Very well known local Brewery). I would agree. Now I cannot speak to there Tap room in Kennebunk and they are not widely distributed yet. However, if you are on the coast of Maine (or at Sunday River) I would definitely go out of my way to pay them a visit. I would keep an eye out for them. I feel they have a very bright future. read more

We reserved a Fishing shack. This was awesome! Great ambiance, super cute decor and very covid friendly! The drinks were delicious but the food and service were incredible!!! Do yourself a favor and get the cornbread. It's amazing. I feel badly I didn't get our servers name, but he was the BEST!!! Attentive, friendly but let us have our time together! I highly recommend this place. It was the best meal. Think NYC restaurant scene quality! read more

Yes, Batson River has a great location in Kennebunkport and the food and drinks are fantastic. What makes the place terrific is the staff - the warm welcome and exceptional service. Way to go! Thx Chelsea, you're a terrific GM!! read more

My husband and I ate at this location on June 28 for an early dinner. I had the Carolina BBQ Pork Sandwich. It was not good at all. The french fries were not crisp or fresh tasting. and seemed like that they had been sitting too long and then served. My husband had the fish and chips. The fish was fine but his fries were also not fresh and crisp. Our cocktails came after our food. We ordered the cocktail prior to putting the food order in. The vibe is really cool and we were so disappointed in the food and cocktail. I hope that this was just a bad day for the kitchen but I will never go back. read more

My husband and I spent our anniversary weekend in Kennebunkport. We had planned to go there for dinner as we kept driving by and it looks so cool. We showed up at 820 pm Saturday and were told we could only get drinks, kitchen was closed even though it said 9. We decided to go in and have a drink. Sat on the third floor porch and great view for people watching. Took a very long time for a server to notice us but finally ordered two drinks. When she came back I asked what time the kitchen closed because we saw food still coming out but nobody was ordering. She said 9. I told her what host had said and she said yes they stop taking order before that. Lots of people walked away after being told no more food. We were disappointed. Also they were playing this weird Vegas pool lounge music that made it hard to talk over. It also did not fit the restaurant at all. read more

We really enjoyed our experience here. I really enjoyed their IPA's and Stouts. We also had the charcuterie board and the duck fat corn bread which was absolutely amazing. read more

Food was delicious, but we were a little old for the place. Music a little techno and too loud. My husband had a burger and I had the pork tenderloin and black eyed peas, and it was very tasty! read more

Food was great props to the kitchen but cannot say the same for customer service. My waitress said she had worked there for awhile but didn't seem like she knew what she was doing. This made sense after meeting her manager. Horrible attitude to employees and customers. Her employee had a simple question and was treated with unnecessary attitude and rudeness right in front of customers. She ruined the whole experience and was clearly too caught up in her own world to do her job. Would not recommend solely due to poor service and I can't bring myself to spend money in an establishment that doesn't respect their employees. read more

Great location, great food, nice drinks. Love going there to watch the tourists. Will go there any time.

I have dietary restrictions and I chose the pulled pork sandwich which came with French fries. I can't eat fries so I asked the waitress if I could substitute and she said I could have carrots and celery which I agreed on. She came back moments later and said the chef can't do a substitute. Really? Is it that difficult to throw a few carrots and celery on the plate? I'll reconsider going there in the future. read more

If the experience we encountered is the norm here then I would highly recommend going somewhere else. It started out by there being no hostess at the hostess stand and we walked in and got told to go back down despite not knowing they had the hostess stand. The staff overall was just not very friendly for the most part. A party came in after us (with 4 dogs) and easily took all their attention as their table had staff stopping 30+ times while we had maybe 6 our entire time there. I understand the excitement of the dogs but we didn't receive the expected how is everything and such you'd expect to server to do. It often seemed as though we were being ignored or we were forgotten. Another party came in after and were told about drinks not the menu, despite us not being told about said drinks. The only reason they get a second star is because the beers were decent and the poutine and burger were also decent. The steak frites my girlfriend got were okay at the best and way too overpriced for the quality. Do not waste the $35 price tag on it. You'd be better off going to Texas Roadhouse for anything steak related. I had high hopes but it was super disappointing. Avoid this place unless you plan to stop for some brews and apps. Overpriced and staff needs to be more welcoming and friendly. read more

Great food and atmosphere..great views .Best seating is upper deck. Friendly staff service with a smile.

Long wait for outdoor dining during a Sunday lunch time. Obviously a popular place! It was a beauty Fall day to stroll around town. Their outdoor deck was spacious. The spicy fries were top notch as was their Oktoberfest beer. read more

Great place central to Kennebunkport to grab a drink. Love the black rustic tones throughout the place. Excellent roof deck with view of channel. Great fire pit out front to sit at in rockers. Slightly on the pricier side but not too bad. Worth a nice drink during your vi read more

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I wanted to really like this place-but- since it was our first visit and our waiter did not attempt to strike up a conversation like asking us if we had been there before or telling us anything about the restaurant? What a missed opportunity. It was a Friday night and it was not overly busy. My wife and I did enjoy the food. I don't think we will go running back though, lacked personality and flare. My advice would be to treat your guests like you are glad they are there and share some history about the place. read more

The service was good, her name was Abbey I. We only came for drinks and snack. The pretzel was good, and included honey mustard and pimento cheese. The location was spot on allowing the ladies to shop and men to stop and hang out. read more

Batson River Brewing & Distilling - Kennebunk - pretzel - Breweries Near Me - Kennebunk, Maine

Really love this place! The staff is great, food is amazing, the duck fat cornbread is beyond amazing and the cocktail menu is the best! Generally my first choice for dining in KBPT! You must book the fish shacks in the winter! read more

The staff is the nicest and the fish shacks and were so cool I hope they keep them. G&T was my fav and the potatoes with duck confit !!

Great experience! Food was delicious, staff was friendly & great beer selection. Loved the decor & vibe. read more

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I love Batson River! I've worked here for two summers and it's so nice to be able to serve food and beverages that you're proud of. The kitchen works SO hard to maintain an excellent product while keeping up with the super high demand that the huge patio, deck, dining room, upper porch, and game room command during busy lunch and dinner pushes. I also love the clientele here, especially our regulars from the neighborhood and beyond. You know who you are Thank you all for another gorgeous summer! read more

We really wanted to like this place; we always pass by it and it looks great from the outside and quite charming. According to Yelp it says it's good for kids so we went there on a Thursday evening around 5pm to grab dinner there with our 2 children. First thing we noticed, the music was quite blaring and it was some clubby type music which in my opinion didn't match the ambience, but ok, if that's the type of vibe they are going for. We asked the server, who was very sweet, if she could ask to turn down the music and she was able to do that; it was still loud but a bit better than when we got there. But then the music progressed to having foul language, words such as f**k and pu**y and that's when We had enough. The server was so apologetic and tried to see if she could get them to change the music all together but the host (I guess he was the one in charge) refused to change it. We just picked up and left. We had only ordered drinks at that point which that was very good, as was our server, but the rest of our experience sucked. The server was understandably disappointed because she was losing out on money; we felt bad about that but that music was too obscene for us to sit through. Another table near us who also had 2 young children with them weren't too happy either. Lesson learned, if you have children, this is not the place to bring them. We ended up going to Via Sophia and spending our time and money there. read more

Amazing cocktails and great food. Servers are great as well! Great decor reminds me of a 1920s mens smoking room. Has famed upstairs.

loved the ambiance, fire pit, fast and kind service. great gin and tonic! didn't love the raw lobster roll. kept eating it due to hunger and time constraints but I still have regrets. read more

Awesome spot for dinner and drinks! Every dish our group had was spot on. Love that they have a smaller menu. You know it is going to be a great place when the menu is small. read more

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We sat outside on the drink rail on the first floor deck and had a great view of the water. The beers were excellent. Our favorite was the Benji's double IPA. We had the pretzels, steak frites, and lobster roll. The food was delicious! It was a very cool space with an outdoor fireplace. It is dog friendly. We would highly recommend! read more

Batson River Brewing & Distilling - Kennebunk - Breweries Near Me - Kennebunk, Maine

Excellent food with a tasty menu. Great atmosphere with wonderful decorations for Halloween. Friendly and helpful wait staff.

Amazing vibes, awesome food and drinks and a great playlist! Hannah was our server and she was FANTASTIC! We left, came back and requested her SPECIFICALLY! Definitely recommend. read more

This place has great atmosphere and is very warm And festive for the Christmas season. The food is fabulous and the drinks and amazing as well. We did all the appetizers to share without table. Def suggest this place to come and have a couple of drinks and food well enjoying your time in this quaint place read more

We were disappointed in the 3 different types of pizza that we ordered. The crust on each was doughy and under cooked and the toppings were almost non existent, esp the chicken pizza which only had a few tiny pieces of chicken (and not fried chicken). Since the toppings were so skimpy the pizzas had very little flavor. Would not recommend ordering pizza. read more

Adorable modern bar type place with a unique menu. While we didn't eat here (just got drinks) the food coming out of the kitchen looked amazing. Loved the atmosphere read more

What is up with this town? Why say you are open until 9pm if you turn folks away at 8 pm. We walked a mile in the rain...

Update - Batson went out of their way to contact me and apologize for the experience, which meant a lot! They noted that open table does mention the fee but hopefully they can work on making it more clear somehow. There was also a miscommunication about last call while we were there. As far as heating goes it's tough on really cold days to keep the shack warm from an electrical stand point and they air out the shacks after each use for Covid purposes so I get it. Still wish things had gone differently while we were there, but really appreciated the call and the effort they made to make things better! read more

I have never received such poor customer service at the door of an establishment. That's as far as I even got. As a past restaurant owner, if I ever heard my hostess speak to customers the way I was spoken to tonight they would be fired on the spot. read more

This review is solely on the beer and environment. The nitro stout was velvety smooth and delicious. The IPA was okay, but was not liquid gold. The upstairs was awesome and had a life size scrabble board on the wall, darts and shuffleboard. Great place to hangout and have a beer. read more

We waited at the host stand for 10 minutes before anyone showed up to seat us. Once we were seated, our waiter seemed annoyed that we were there-- he gave us a carafe of water, but no glasses for 10 more minutes. I asked about the cocktail of the day, and he told me the name and waited for me to read the description on the menu, rather than just telling me what was in the drink. I could go on, but they seemed very annoyed that we were there during normal business hours on a holiday weekend. Two stars because my cocktail was yummy, and also because the service was the worst I've had in 13 summers in Maine. read more

Just wanted to grab a drink but apparently you can't sit at the bar without ordering food. Shame.

Love this location and the fact that they have a fire pit outside. Their beer selections were very good and, being an IPA man, I was super impressed with their guava IPA! The service was sub par.... we watched our waitress pass us three times before I had to ask for a menu and put an order in for the beer flight. Toward the end of our service she disappeared and I had to ask another waitress to bring me my bill. I then had to bring it to her, as that waitress also disappeared. We ordered the calamari, which I believe is frozen. It was very rubbery but the sauce to dip was amazing. I would have enjoyed it alone. I will return for a beer but may wait to order food again or even wait outside for a waitress. read more

One of my favorite things about our trip to Kennebunkport was visiting this place! It was a rainy day so we couldn't get to enjoy the beach or pool. My dad asked someone who worked in our hotel where he recommends we go to kill some time during the day. He told us to try Batson River as it's a fun brewery close by. We drove into town, so my only advice is to follow the signs for the parking. It's a little down the road, but worth it because you're most likely not going to find parking elsewhere. This bar is pretty huge. There's two floors and an outdoor patio (which couldn't be utilized that day as it was pouring lol). We were a rather large party (9 people), but there was a lot of casual seating we were able to find a spot to fit all of us. The best part of this place was all the really fun games they offer you to play. My sisters and I had a heated game of giant scrabble on the wall, while everyone else used a fun party-card game they picked out. They also had fun games like darts and cards against humanity. The atmosphere was just laid back and fun. The drinks were good, a lot of people in my party tried the beer flights. I tried a rhubarb drink and a blueberry mule, neither were very strong but they tasted good. The service wasn't fantastic and I felt the prices were a bit high especially for the food because the portions were really small. Overall, though, we had a wonderful time and I would definitely return! read more