This was my first visit to the Ice House. I'm going to call it a brew pub. We were here to try…read moretheir speciality hamburger for the downtown Burger Brawl. They have 8 to 10 different beers on tap, and however many in cans. They have appetizers, burgers, and sandwiches on the menu. I think a couple of salads too. The burger we tried was called the Peanut Butter Smash. A bacon cheeseburger with peanut butter and house made strawberry jam. It was very good! And the French fries were some of the best I've ever had! The best burger we have tried in the Burger Brawl so far! Whether you need a drink or something to eat, give Ice House a try!

Gave them another try! Service was a bit slow initially, which I think is due to the seat yourself…read moreatmosphere. Live music! Kitchen closes by 9, so if you're there for food like I am then make sure you make it in time! Tried their burger and fried pickles this time. Their sourdough bun was great, fresh toppings, the pepper jack cheese was perfectly melted on the burger! I'd honestly happily come back and order this! They are a part of a local burger contest, and I can understand why. Loved the Cajun seasoning on the fried pickles. The fried macaroni I tried last time gave a bad impression, but the food here is enjoyable!

I drive the Vegas - Austin commute at least once a year, and I've always dreaded the distance…read morebetween Albuquerque and Austin... a long boring stretch with no interesting stops in between to give my weary body a break. I usually avoid going through Abilene but when I saw Grain Theory pop up on an online search, I was sufficiently hungry and needing a rest so I decided to take a different route and headed to downtown Abilene. I was pleasantly surprised at the cute downtown, even more excited to find a fashionable brewery with good food and chill vibes after a long day of driving. I had dinner in the outdoor area as the sun set, and this was a lovely way wrap my day.

I will forever be amazed by cool places, especially when they appear in unexpected cities like…read moreAbilene. Located on the second story of a beautiful building in downtown Abilene sits Grain Theory, a brewpub and coffee shop towering over the city. It is a mixed indoor-outdoor space with plenty of shaded outdoor and cooled indoor seating. Looking at their tap list, my girlfriend and I were impressed by their unique beers to try. I started with the Strawberry Peach Tonic (Fruited Hard Seltzer) and she had a Bella Rose (Rosé IPA). Both were served in cool glasses, with mine being tall and skinny and hers being almost like a wine glass. Shocking to nobody, mine was quite fruity while her Rosé IPA was hoppy with an underlying rosé flavor. Next, I ordered their Oktoberfest (German Märzen) and she had their Season's End (Belgian Dubbel). She described her drink as tasting like a Biscoff cookie. My Oktoberfest was quite malty, and I was a big fan. To close, we both ordered their Luscent (Belgian Table Beer) because small beers are back in fashion and I wanted to try it. It was obviously very light but still had a good flavor that was very bready. Nice and easy to close out our drinks with. They also have food and coffee that we didn't try, but the food looked sensational from what we saw others eating. They also have plenty of board games and card games to play while you're at the brewery and many beers available to take to-go. My only minor complaint is the lack of TVs in the brewery. Maybe it's a purposeful decision, but Texas Tech was playing football, and it would be a great place to watch the game. The bartenders are very friendly and willing to let you try and sample as many beers as you need to make your decision. Grain Theory feels like the kind of place every small Texas city wishes it had. I am very excited to come back here and try more beers, especially with how excellent the space is. RIYL: Cool-shaped beer glasses or a rooftop bar

Pretty good - easy atmosphere - didn't really like the food options and beer wasn't as cold as we…read moreremembered from our first time. But we would go back.

I saw a special the BCBG was running. Every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at lunch, sandwiches…read moreare BOGO free. Off we go! The dining room and full bar are very nice. A large covered patio and outdoor stage are great for live music. Some Sunday nights are blues jam, which I intend to go to! Anyway, the food was great. We tried the club, chicken sandwich, and the Bahn Mi. Excellent! We will definitely be back!

Great bartender!! Good drinks! We were large group & we had so much fun. Thank you & we will be…read moreback.

What a find here. Drinks were wonderful with a great selection to choose from off the happy hour…read moremenu. Service was outstanding. Our bar tender, Michael was very attentive and personable. This place has an upscale feel without the price. Whiskey sour with egg whites, Old fashion, New York Sour were all excellent. Had to have two of everything minimum to make sure they were that good and they were.

We went to Abilene for a night and stopped at The Taylor County Taphouse since this place was…read morerecommended by locals on various social media. Ambiance: Bar/pub vibes - heavy wood decor. Casual. We sat at the bar and our bartender was amazing! He was funny and attentive despite being very busy! Service: The restaurant was so busy with diners even at 8:30 PM on a Saturday evening. I did not expect it to be this busy in my head. My husband and I sat at the bar since that was open seating and there were no sit down tables available inside or on the patio. The restaurant will add you to the waitlist if you'd like! Food: My husband and I shared the deviled eggs appetizer, and "the burger" with grilled jalapeños and pepper jack cheese. The deviled wggs (satan's huevos) were good, and spicy because we chose the "hellfire" option. The burger was huge! I'm glad my husband I split it because there was no way I'd finish that burger on my own! We both left content and not stuffed.

My wife and I came here on a Saturday early afternoon. We were sat and handed brunch menus which…read moredidn't have the Philly cheese steak on it. We looked at the menu online prior to coming and knew that we both wanted to try the cheese steak, so this was a bit of a bummer. They waitress who was very attentive told us that we can't order from the full menu for another 30 minutes so we decided to wait rather than leave. Listen, I get it the idea of having a different menu for brunch, but why not post it on your website and state the specific times for each menu? Also, what difference does 30 minutes make? They couldn't fire up the grill 30 minutes early? It wasn't very busy. Anyways, now for the good part: When we were finally allowed to order our sandwiches they were absolutely amazing. The steak was high quality and the gooey cheese had a ton of flavor. What wasn't amazing however was the bill. $20 for a sandwich and a small portion of fries in Abilene is absolute insanity. What's even crazier is we were charged extra for a side of ranch! I understand you get what you pay for, and there's no arguing the quality of the sandwich was top notch, but at the end of the day it's still just a sandwich. If you're good with dropping nearly $60 (including tip) on lunch, then this is your spot. For me, I'll take my business elsewhere.

Ryley is an amazing mixologist!…read more Don't know what you want? Ask Ryley ! He will ask you a few questions as to what you like - and then will serve you the most amazing drink that you never even knew about. I'm not kidding this is a great place to go hang out and chill with friends & family.

This place is just great. Dipped in for happy hour on a Wednesday. Nice size crowd, a group in…read morethe lounge and a birthday party set up on the high tops. I found my way to the bar and pulled up a seat. Immediately created by Amber, the bartender. I don't know how she feels about being called a mixologist( is that cool anymore?) but she knew her way around some spirits! For my first drink she mixed me up a classic old fashioned. Nice balanced drink. I ventured through some of their other specialty cocktails. I just couldn't get enough! A few hours in and it was time for dinner. The hot honey pepperoni pizza hit the spot ! This is a great addition to the soda district. Come with friends or make some new ones when you get there ! Can't recommend this enough, Abilene

The cashier took my beer to my car bc it was heavy for me to carry 2 boxes. Great service, prices,n…read morekindness.

Most of my visits to Pinkies are a 4 star review, but tonight was a -5 visit and I'm going to be…read moreone of those people who had a negative experience and decide to post. I have rarely left the house during the pandemic due to having a compromised immune system but decided it was going to be a tequila night. I went to Pinkies because they have a 5 customer limit and seem to take this COVID situation seriously. I was wearing an N95 mask and took my booze to the register and was asked to pull my mask down to verify my age. What's the point of limiting your customers to 5 people if your going to ask people to remove their personal protective equipment? I'm 48 years old. There is no way in hell that I could be confused for an under 21 even with an N95 mask on. Train your employees Pinkies. There won't be an anti vaccine available for another 9 months or so. Don't put your customers in jeopardy by asking them to remove PPE unless they appear to be underage. Dumb move!

I've only been here once. But it was on Thanksgiving. All the clientel and staff were very nice and…read morepositive. They were deep frying a turkey and were having fun doing it. I'd highly recommend this place to others and i'll definitely be back for more.

Great atmosphere and the best place for bikers of all kinds. You can feel comfortable here and…read morewelcomed. The service is great and drinks are awesome. Location is perfect and the clientele are down to earth. Highly recommend coming here to just hang out and relax. You will make friends here.

Wow, this place really impressed us. Trendy design and great food -- I spent 10 years in Abilene…read moreback in the 80s, and a spot like the Cork & Pig was not what I expected to find here. My wife had the asian salad, and she says it was the best she'd ever had. I had the fish tacos with mac and cheese, and both were unusually flavorful and had a great texture (I rarely eat much mac and cheese, but I finished all of this). Service was good, friendly and helpful. I appreciated the decor and general vibe of the place, inside and out, including the music. My only quibble might be that parking was a bit tighter than expected, but not a problem. Great place overall, and we were discussing how we might find an excuse to return, plus wishing a branch would open closer to Houston.

Slow wait staff. Limited brunch menu and no substitutions. Example flour tortillas instead of…read morecorn. Same goes for the sandwich bread. Our food was cold. Eggs must have been sitting for awhile and were cold as could be. Bacon was not cooked and looked like it barely saw the grill.. There are better options for brunch. Won't be back!

They no longer serve food just a FYI. The service was slow and they were not busy when I went. Sat…read morethere with an empty glass until I could catch the waitresses attention. To top it all off, when I went to pay the bill, the auto tip options started with 30% and up to 45%, no thank you, custom tip please. There are much better spots downtown, avoid this one.

They no longer serve food...any food. It wasn't horrible just hoped for some food and ambiance.read more