Good beer. Nice decor for a brewery. I wish the 2nd seating area had a view of the bar or brewing area. I like the fact that they have little taster sizes! Though- they should serve peanuts or something better on the menu. Growler worthy spot though. read more

I have been coming here off and on since they opened in the late 90's. I can't remember the last time I saw any employee here smile. The obese women behind the bar is always sweaty because it is always hot as hell there. The owner has no email and seems to care nothing about what anyone thinks (I am sure that any employee would be fired for voicing an opinion). Each time I visit, I am bored and wonder why I bothered. Bands used to play there but I guess the owner can't make that effort anymore. Beer is ok but has barely changed in 20 years. read more

Came here for dinner with my family and stayed for drinks with friends. The food was disappointing. Most of us had the brat, which was gray and not crisp. I think it was probably boiled? Maybe it's because I'm German and living in Wisconsin, but it was just really not good. Also not enough sauerkraut. The bun was delicious though. But the beers were a different story. I tried five different beers (no judgement please) and all of them were excellent. I especially liked the Irish Red. The vanilla ale was also delicious and really interesting. I would definitely go back again, but probably only for drinks. read more

The beer was good, not heavy. Sat out in the beer garden in back. The pretzels were great. read more

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I cannot believe that more people have not heard of this place- gem of Rockford. Their beer is great, and you can get small sample sizes for less than $2 a piece to try the dozen+ brews. My brother and I sampled every single beer they had, and all were great. I highly recommend trying their freshly brewed Root Beer as well- what a treat! I would have given this establishment five stars if their food was better- we simply had the pretzal with cheese, but it seriously tasted like a pretzel one would get at a movie theatre. Once their food is as good as their beer this will be the best spot in town. Prices are GREAT-staff is friendly and the environment is very welcoming. Plus there is a public (free) parking lot right across the street (before the bridge on State). read more

Solid brewpub in downtown Rockford, I tried 3 of the beers and liked them all, plus an order of the chips and salsa which is pretty standard. Wasn't too packed for an early Friday evening. Would be willing to go again and try their entrees read more

If you think that Cousins or Oscars are great bars, then please ignore my rating that I gave Caryle. This bar completely sucks and you can stop reading this review and head on over to Abercrombie & Fitch to buy your next fly outfit to wear out to some hip East Side bar tonight. There, now that the D* bags are gone this bar is the best in Rockford hands down. Are you looking for DJ night or want to see some second rate wanna be trendy band? Not going to find it here. Are you looking for a bar to watch the Cubs and Sox play? Well then you better get your ass on over to JD's because you won't find a single TV in this joint. But what you will find is one of the best micro brew pubs I've ever been to and it's a Rockford original. I love every beer they serve and the thin crust pizza is the best. If you are looking for a old school Chicago style bar with beer that you can't buy anywhere else, this is the place for you. read more

I don't really know where to start... Saturday night and not packed, maybe 5 Tops at the most. 4 orders of brats and chips, 2 lukewarm, 1 hot, mine ice cold... Cheese and meat tray sliced prepackaged cheese along w/aldies crackers and cube meat... Like 1/2" x 1/2" $7.50! But beer was good and service was nice. Probably won't go back! read more

Craft beer was great and a must try if you are in the downtown Rockford area. This is a great little spot for a brewery. It adds some flavor to the growing downtown area. We enjoyed the english pub style seating. Open conversations, no tvs in this place was refreshing to see. They had 15 different fresh brewed beers. The Vanilla Cream Ale was one of my favorites that I remember. Another one I liked was a holiday spice. The pizza was just ok. Not much more than a frozen pizza. It was still good but you must offer a more creative food menu to pair with that amazing beer line-up. The food menu was maybe a 2 star if that. Lack lusterious and not very much effort put into it. On another positive note you can take home a growler of any of thier beers. Then bring the growler back for a refill at a discounted price. read more

Great beer, decently priced, and amazing pizza. No TVs to watch the game, but that's alright, because they're the only place we have found so far with shuffleboard. Unfortunately, you have to pay per 15 minutes to play, but we enjoy it. Great beer, awesome pizza, good times. read more

[ Visited in August, 2010 ] Not bad, for beer. The prices are reasonable and there's a sampler portion (1.5 oz) which allows you to try some excellent beers. However, please get some better food. Your menu looks like the day-old portions from the Italian joint a block east. read more

This is a really nice place. I tried the Vanilla Cream Ale and it was amazing. My brother (who was under 21 at the time) had the homemade root beer, which I tried and was really good. The pizza is delicious, although it's fairly thin (which I like) so between three of us, we ate almost 2 whole pizzas. Either way, they were awesome. The only thing I didn't like was the seating arrangement. There is no hostess so you have to seat yourself. We went on a Friday night around 5:30 and it was packed, so we wandered around waiting for a table to free up so we could grab it before someone else did. I understand it's how they want to do things, but it was a little off-putting and kind of strange, especially since we had to wait 15-20 minutes for a table. But if you can get over that, the beer and food is worth waiting for, and it's at a reasonable price. read more

Maybe 2.5 stars. Had the porter on tap..decent but nothing extraordinary. I also had a turkey sandwich, the size was child appropriate, which pissed me off. My wife and son split a thin crust pizza. Reading the reviews, locals will have you believe this pizza is heaven sent. It isn't..these folks just dont know a good pie. I have nothing against the joint, but I wont be back either. read more

My favorite bar in Rockford. I love the atmosphere and the servers are fantastic. I would recommend the Stanilla.. combo of the stout & vanilla ale. Best beer I've had there. The black walnut is also fantastic. I would recommend getting the beer flight - small samples of 6-7 beers - if you have never been. As for food - the pizza is delicious but the menu is limited. Only con- no separate checks can be really inconvenient. read more

Gimmicky, but cute. Seating was a problem, but then again it was St. Patty's day, so I'm sure they were a bit more crowded than usual. We stopped in to try their Vanilla flavored beer. It wasn't too bad. Good for chilling out and having a nice relaxing drink with friends. read more

Carlyle Brewing Co. is a great local brewpub located in the heart of the River District. The beer is the epitome of American craft-brew, with a fairly regular selection of many styles, and a healthy rotation of seasonal brews ranging from light to dark ales and the occasional lager. I recommend that anyone visiting Carlyle for the first time orders a full beer flight, a tray containing 5 oz. samples of each of Carlyle's delicious beers--or just order samples of the beers that sound enticing. Carlyle has a very strong local following, and its patrons are always up for good conversation. A pint is generally $3.75, and 5 oz. samples are usually $1.25 each. Extra-specialty brews are more expensive, topping out at $6.00 for a 10 oz. goblet--these are generally quite potent, however. Red and white wines are available, as well as Bacardi malt-beverages, for the non-beer drinker. The food offerings are limited to pizza, sandwiches, and pretzels, which compliment the beer quite well enough. I always bring visitors to Carlyle to show them what Rockford really has to offer! read more

Nice small home time atmosphere. Really nice beers at a good price. Especially for a brewery. Only good I've had has been the pizza. It's a good size pizza. Really thin crispy crust. Great place to hang after work for a 2 or 3 pints!! Can't wait for my next beer!! Cheers read more

My Favorite Shop. Great beer brewed by a fantastic brew master. The menu is always changing, but there are a few certainties. The IPA. Carlyle's IPA is outstanding. Perfectly hopped has delicious aroma, beautiful color, and magnificent flavor. The Stout and The Scottish Ale are two of my favorites not ever out of rotation. Carlyle also has some great smoked ales from time to time which I'd highly recommend. Fantastic Atmosphere. Beautiful bar, quite, no TV's. They do have darts, billiards, and shuffleboard in teh new expanded room. read more

This place is a gem of Rockford. Their own beer selection is better than any other local breweries in my opinion. Atmosphere is great with a very cool rustic vibe. The back patio is also very nice and underutilized. The servers and bartenders are always very friendly and helpful even after several visits. All of these factors would be enough for me but to top it off their pizza is actually great! The location is fantastic being a block from the river in the middle of downtown. Can't say enough good things about this place... read more

Why is the service SO bad at Carlyle? Would it kill the employees to smile? Do they hate working there so much that they are miserable or something? The servers act like they are doing you a favor by taking your order, etc. One piece of advice to the servers: Try SMILING once in a while. read more

I hate to have to do this but I'm updating my review to better align with my feelings on Carlyle. Carlyle is still a favorite among my friend group however I'm not thrilled. I go here because I like spending time with my friends and this is where they like to go. Don't get me wrong, the beer is still excellent. But the pizza is gone. The pretzels are microwavable and you could get them pretty much anywhere. Their "chips and cheese sauce" is the same as you get at the movie theater (and priced similarly). The sandwiches and brats are at least decent. It isn't what it used to be. Their tavern style pizza was wonderful and I know I'm not the only one who misses it. Sure, you can order pizza from Capri just down the street... But then someone has to go get it, which kind of interrupts the whole experience, at least in my opinion. The service is so-so most nights. And honestly if I wanted Capri, I would just GO to Capri. The final straw for me was when my father brought this really cool looking growler by to see if they would fill it (even if they charged more than they would to fill one of their own take home growlers) he was rudely told that they ONLY refilled Carlyle growlers, not competitors growlers. This would be understandable however the growler was from a brewery in NORTH CAROLINA. Which my dad even explained this! Some competition eh? Here's a paying customer who is asking for your product but you refuse to sell it because he doesn't have one of your growlers? Why buy another when you already have one? That's ridiculous. Thankfully he has since found three other breweries that wanted his business. I honestly think Carlyle, while they remain popular, needs to step up their game. Other competing breweries are opening and if they see an opportunity to be better than their competition I'm certain they'll take it and sadly it won't take much. At least they serve cupcakes now. read more

They have some 5 star brews, that's for sure. Start w/ beer samplers mix & match of your choosing. Eat somewhere else. Definitely munch on a stuffed pretzel. But don't stay for dinner. I heard from others that the pizza is worth a try, so do that too. Small food menu. Some MUST try beers: Humulus (regular IPA), their double IPA and Saison. We tried about 8 beers and liked all 8. The atmosphere is nice, good service, reasonably priced. I'm aware of the contradictions above... but that's how I feel! read more

We have always called Our order in, and it's always right and delicious. I'm not a huge pizza fan but this place has by far the best thin crust pizza and it's only $13 . Will definitely be back in the future to sit down and it here. Highly recommend it. read more

This review is based more off service than food and quality. First, I would just like to say I am a big fan of Carlyle. I love their thin, crispy pizzas and their own brewed drinks. Prior to this visit, I had only been there once and had a great experience! I was very excited to return there, but after my experience tonight, each visit can be very spaced out. I was very disappointed with the server that my boyfriend and I had. Felt like we were treated like outsiders or some kind of animals or something. Our waitress, Sonia (was on receipt), seemed very negatively biased toward us from the get go which is pathetic to say the very least. The entire time, she failed to provide even sub par service for us. She did not bring our app out to us, did not bring our drink refills but charged us for them (which caused an issue later on) and waited 4 other tables with such grace and stress free demeanor. She brought everyone their food and their checks while my date and I had to wait 10 minutes to get A DIFFERENT server to bring our check. Pathetic because I made eye contact with her multiple times and every time I opened my mouth and said something she just kept walking and never came back. We had to bring our check upfront and spoke to the manager Kelly, who handled the situation just fine. She was very understanding and even comped our drinks; apologizing for any trouble/inconvenience Otherwise, food was delicious. Pizza had hot peppers, garlic and pepperoni which was perfect together. I would recommend Carlyle to anyone in search of a great thin and crispy pizza, but recommend they ask for a server other than that Sonia person. read more

Cool place, neat vibe. Their Vanilla Cream ale is one of my all time favorite beers.

Stopped in after cruising City Market, knew food menu was limited. Food and drinks were what we expected, service and attention to detail we're subpar. Sat at an odd barrel table for two off to the side of the back dining room. Uncomfortably high seats, was quite certain I'd dump my food and drink down my front but managed not to embarrass myself. Ordered beers and asked about the pizza we saw others eating. Rather than saying, as they do at a few other spots, "we don't make pizza here but here's the list of places nearby" the server simply suggested we could order it on our own. Ugh. So we ordered a soft pretzel, sandwiches and 2 cupcakes. Drinks came reasonably fast. Pretzel took forever and was delivered with a single napkin for my husband and I to share. It was immediately followed by our sandwiches. Nothing impressive, but about what we expected. While we were eating we noticed a number of patrons look in and leave because no tables were available. If they replaced the six-top picnic style seating they could off more convenient seating for all. When server checked in we asked for our cupcakes and the check. He brought both pretty quickly, but again ONE NAPKIN FOR US TO SHARE. The cupcakes were by far the best part of our stop and one of the messiest. Love coming downtown and buying local but Carlyle is likely off our list for a while. read more

Best brewery in Rockford. But that goes without saying. Great place to hang and talk with good friends over some good brews. Good prices for fresh brewed lagers - $4 for a pint. And you wont need more than 4-5 to feel like a rock-star at alcohol percentages like these. They stop serving food at 10pm, so you may have to stop at Uncle Nicks before you get here. Vanilla beer is amazing... perfect beer for the ladies or underdeveloped men. If your like me and too manly to order vanilla beer then try mixing it with stout. (called the Stanilla for you amateurs). You'll look like a man that owns power tools and feel like a lightning-bolt- wielding god. read more

Great beer w fair price. Our favorites are Vanilla cream ale and Triple!!! We would come back to refill our growler!!

This used to be one of my favorite places to go but every time I've been recently the service is poor. If you sit in the second room (which you probably will because it's always quite busy) you will almost never be waited on. If you are lucky enough to be waited on, they will almost never come back. Most of the wait staff seems irritated about every single request. I still love their beers but miss how it used to be. read more

Good beer and good atmosphere. I go usually later in the day to avoid the busy crowds and I like the beers here. Beer prices are great too and offers a good deal for a pint or two. read more

Lots of beers here, each with an inexplicable lack of body but otherwise pretty tasty. The sample sizes are nice as I was able to try 4 beers during my trip. I would say the cask beers were the best and worth the extra cash to enjoy, and the vanilla beer smells great but is lacking a little in flavor. The interior of the place was nice, it felt like drinking in some sort of old fashioned fancy spacious saloon or something. The service was equally as nice, and they had some crazy delicious potato chips that were comparably low in sodium and tasted like french fries to me. I'd definitely go to this place again - being an alcoholic in training with a bit of an adventurous spirit its hard to find a bar that has new beer to try, and it seems that they update their styles all the time. Oh and there is shuffleboard too, a fantastic combo with cheap craft beer. read more

Something about a business that doesn't abandon a failing neighborhood strikes a chord with me. Good looking place, nice selection of craft beers which happened to be just what the doctor ordered when I discovered this place. If you find yourself in downtown Rockford for some reason, this is worth a stop-in. My vote is for the vanilla or black walnut. Apparently there's some other combinations worth trying I found out afterwards (half one pint, half another). Great idea in hind sight, wish the staff mentioned that. read more

I love their Beers here. My best friends introduced me to this place since they have been coming here with their family for quite some time. what other best thing to pair a nice cold beer with than a jalapeño cheese stuffed pretzel? Best combo ever! Service is pretty good here. read more

Great beer. They know what they are doing when it comes to brewing. The only way to start is with a flight and I am sure you will find more than one favorite. The atmosphere is laid back and kinda quiet. Skip the food. read more

I love this place. They are always introducing something new. I love the Honey Ale, Vanilla, Stanilla (ask for it - they combine Vanilla and Stout), and the Scottish Ale. They also make some delicious sandwiches and a fantastic thin crust pizza. They have no tvs, djs, nor live music - just some satellite radio station playing. You will find families on Saturday afternoon (they make a root beer), middle agers until 9ish, and then 20-30 somethings later. They have some board games behind the bar and shuffleboard. I love it enough that I can overlook the occasional slow service when it's super busy (like a late Saturday night). read more

Good Beer - Friendly Patrons - Poor Food AND A VERY UNFRIENDLY Bar Tender: They have a good selection of beers and a very nice ambience in this micro brewery. I have been there many times before and had a great experience. Waiters were very nice and all patrons are very friendly as well. But the visit there on April 25th was a disappointment! They used to serve Pizza which went very well with the beers but for whatever reason they don't serve it any more. The bar tender (at least the one that was there when we were there - guys with long side locks) was very unfriendly and rude. Interacting with him spoilt the mood for the rest of the evening. We were there with three other families and kids (not unusual since I have seen many other families bring in their kids for a Pizza). We rented pucks to play shuffle board. The bar allowed this only for ages 21 and above. The bar tender constantly was checking on us making us nervous. Lastly, there is a law in IL about no kids after 10 pm. We were asked to make sure we leave before 10 pm (which by the way was fine - its the law) but the bar tender was pretty rude when he told us to leave! I doubt if I would visit them again.. may be if this guy is no longer there! read more

i'm convinced that the only reason carlyle gets high marks from locals is due to the fact that microbreweries are nonexistent in the rockford area. honestly, their beer is awful. virtually all of their offerings seem watered down, and the ones that are flavored (the vanilla ale, for instance) taste like they've used cheap, imitation ingredients. the atmostphere is nice enough, but their impressive brewing set-up is akin to a person who doesn't cook having wolf and sub-zero appliances in their kitchen. the owners/brewmaster need to take a trip up north for inspiration and tips from people who really know how to brew beer... new glarus or ale asylum would be a good start. read more

This place used to be great. Good pizza and decent beer... however they recently decided to stop making pizzas. . Without the pizza, they have a half-assed food menu and just average beer. I will not be going there again, as pizza and beer was the attraction. read more

If I were to open my own bar, it would be almost exactly like Carlyle. The decor is urban with exposed brick and a modern look. Although it is still very warm and inviting. The beer is awesome! The entire selection is microbrews so if miller light is your "fav", this is not the place. This is for beer lovers (which I am). I've never not liked a beer there. The taste is amazingly fresh and unique. When I have friends visit, I like to take them here because you can chat and enjoy a great drink. The music is pretty awesome too. A lot of early 90s rock and obscure indie music, which is my favorite. Overall, I love this place. read more

Great beer selection and flavors! Hands down very unique brewery. Unfortunately, I get the whole mellowed out, vintage atmosphere but they need to pump it up a notch. Maybe play some Phoenix if they still want to keep that "calm cool" environment. It was just a church in there. Could barely here any music playing except everyone's conversations going on. Also, bartender wasn't approachable. The guy didn't even crack a smile. I say go grab a quick beer and go or a place to engage in some serious talking cause it's just super super chilled. read more