Westbound & Down Brewing Company

Unfiltered Czech Pils on tap? Yes please. I like this place. A lot. Strong tap list. If you’re a beer geek you’ll like it too. Recommended.

Horrible service. The waiters at the bar are zombies. They have zero emotion. Food never came after waiting over an hour. We told them we were just leaving because food never came and they didn’t even apologize. So weird…
Update: owner or manager came and gave us everything for free plus a $ 25 gift card. He apologized and said they were having some production problems. The waiters at the bar are still zombies. I hope the owner realizes this and and gets rid of all the white walkers he has working for him.

Great place to stop for a burger and beer after being in the mountains. We came pretty late on a saturday night (9ish?) and it took about 40minutes for the food to come out but it was a solidly tasty meal. I got one of the burgers and my friends got the fried chicken. Both were very tasty.
As for décor, the space is huge and has a open feel to it. One side is more modern and the other is brick and has more dated décor.
Overall a good experience.

Great beer and good food. The pretzel was awesome and the beer was pretty good. The atmosphere is very bright and roomy, I love the décor of grains in jars. I ordered the veggie burger, I think the patty was a little too soft for me, I would go with the meat next time. The fries were pretty good though.
A great stop over before getting back to Denver.

Beers were pretty decent. The brewery is crisp and clean. Very nice setup. But I am doing this 2 star rating on the service. There were 3 bartenders working and they were never behind the bar. We got our beers and really never saw them again. We saw people sit down at the bar and wait 5 – 10 minutes to be served. Numerous times we saw the bartenders on their phones in front of us or they were elsewhere. Probably won’t go back.

Great new brewery in Idaho springs, clean nice interior modern contemporary. Beer is great, with a solid section. Lot of seating inside, will be back for sure. I’d come here over Tommy knockers if you debating.

It looks like it’s out of NYC and the prices feel like you’re in NYC, too, but it’s beautiful! Go here if you need a dose of the city in the Rockies.

Great interior, Burgers, and Crowlers… perfect stop on the way back to Denver from a day of Skiing/​Hiking.

Stopped for dinner on our way back from the slopes. The buffalo burger and tripel were thumbs up. Service was good. Garage doors open to patios in the front and back. This is a nice alternative to other brewery restaurants in the Summit area.

I really really really wanted to LOVE this place.
Such a great place to stop, a lot of parking, and the seating in here is phenominal…
But the prices… wowza… a 4% wheat beer in a 16 or 20 ounce glass was $ 7. The appetizers were also pretty pricey…
Chili cheese fries — 11, baby reuben sliders 10…
All in all an expensive stop on the way back… it would have been cheaper to apre on the mountain.
The beer was ok, but i can’t say i’ll return…

We stopped at a couple breweries on the way back from Moab. This beer hall is a modern and beautiful facility, modern, clean, space age. There is also a restaurant, with local game burgers, such as lamb, and the only Wagu beef in the USA. The last restaurant I worked for had Wagu– American Kobe. According to the bartender the rancher brought back real Kobe cattle from Japan, next time, I will save room to eat here. Service was fantastic, it was a slow night but we really enjoyed ourselves, beers tasted, — double IPA, Quad, and Scottish Ale. This was my first time to Idaho springs, and it is a quintessential old west historic town, and a great place to bring guests from out of town, and in.

This is a cute little town great for a stroll. We ran into this brewery… Clean sleek look. With a very friendly staff that picked up we were out of towners quickly and offered to take our pictures and gave us great recommendations. We had the sampler of beer and the chicken wings which were amazing!!!

Really great spot in Idaho Springs. Recommend the Fried Chicken and the Miner Salad — chicken, heirloom tomatoes, avocados, roasted corn, brioche croutons and house buttermilk ranch dressing. Lots of great options for kids too.

I’ve gone to this place a few times now and it keeps getting better. Any new place is going to have its growing pains, but for as new as these guys are, I’m blown away. The beer is awesome. My favorite is the IPA, but all are good. I’ve taken crowlers home of almost all their beers now. Being a beer lover, this place knocks the doors off Tommy Knockers.
The food is great too. Pretzel is amazing. The burgers are delicious and i can’t believe i’m saying this, but the veggie burger they do is one of my favorites. It’s the black bean an beet burger. I didn’t order it (because i’m a man and men don’t eat that…) but my girlfriend did and i tried it. I was delightfully impressed by how good it is and find myself craving it.
You can tell they’ve worked the kinks out service-​wise and they stole the GM from Union Station’s Cooper Lounge, which makes sense why the service is so much better than anywhere else.
Overall, I’m super impressed.

Nothing bad about this place at all! We were sitting up the street at their neighbor brewery and Ye Olde Trusty Unilocal App told us this place existed. Coming into this brewery from Tommyknocker was night and day. It’s brightly lit, very trendy looking, and very sleek, trendy even. The beertenders were very smartly dressed, a leap away from the norm for a brewery.
We sampled a few of the offers, the Angry Brown, Seven Sisters Stout, Westbound Double, and the General Macarthur’s Scotch Ale. The latter had an amazing taste of its namesake without having touched any, the brown was phenomenal and the stout was much smoother than most I’ve tried. Muy bueno!
They had a very attractive looking menu, we ordered a pretzel which was massive and the beer cheese sauce that came with it was beyond the best. I wish we had been hungry enough to have more of the fare, so we’ll be back.
It’s a great bar, the restaurant is huge, and the service was superb. I will be back here soon and often.
Cheers!

Great environment and a perfect place to meet a group of friends for a drink and some great appetizers. You can even enjoy their happy hour during the week!

This is a really great new brewery space attached to The Buffalo restaurant (see separate review of that). The space is HUGE. And manages to look modern and mountain rustic all at the same time. Tons of space at the bar, lots of seating all the way to the highway facing side of the space that has garage doors and will make for some awesome summer chilling out. The bar/​brewery space is open to the restaurant side with a couple doorways, which is kind of confusing for about half a second.
I did not sit on the bar/​brewery side as we were there for dinner at The Buffalo, but I did do a taste of 4 of their beers at dinner. My only real gripe was their tasters are 7 ounces! So 4 of those for $ 12 — prefer my tasters more in the 4 oz range so I can try more for the same amount of money. And to add another taster would have been $ 3.50 (if I recall correctly). The good news was that each of their beers were solid. My biggest critique of any brewery is there has to be distinct and identifiable flavors between their various beers, and they accomplished that here! I tried their stout (smooth and very good), brown (very good), scottish ale (not overly sweet) and IPA (more of a west coast, citrusy IPA than a super hoppy IPA). I stopped on the brewery side on the way out to fully appreciate the space, and ended up with a crowler (can growler they pop the top on for you right there, 32oz) to take home, and was very happy with it!
All in all, I know this place is going to do well, even with Tommyknockers right next door. They have a great big space, the ability to serve those stopping for just a drink or a whole meal without compromising the quality of the brewery or restaurant side in the process. We will definitely make a point to stop here on our frequent trips to and from the mountains, and look forward to watching them grow!

I don’t write a lot of reviews, only if the place was poor or in this case had such a nice experience I want everyone to know.
Great service from Mike the waiter, even got to meet the GM (who is also awesome) and the head chef (just as awesome).
Food was very good and the décor was very upmarket. My wife was a bit apprehensive about going as she said this place looked a bit posh but I was like «na, this is Idaho Springs».
As soon as we walked in we was made to feel welcome.
Thanks for the lovely meal, definitely coming back.

Great food, great beer, and great atmosphere. My family used to come here every year for buffalo burgers on our way to Keystone, but it’s been a few years. The renovations to the place are really nice. James, our waiter, was very personable and funny. We left happy and full.

Walked in and the bar was dirty. Sat down and waited 10 minutes to be greeted or have someone clean the mess in front of me. Looked right at the girl who was the bar tender and she walked right past and helped a group that just walked in. The staff seemed I observant and like they do not care. The customer service was horrific and the bar was filthy. I will not return.

Great little gem in Idaho Springs! The beer is great! Very modern and friendly inside! Several TV’s to watch sporting events!

On our way up to the mountains recently, we found ourselves stuck in hellish stop-​and-​go traffic a couple miles outside of Idaho Springs. Having seen the brewery sign from the highway a few days prior, we decided to stop in here for a beer while waiting for the traffic to subside.
This brewery is connected directly to the neighboring Buffalo restaurant and has a really nice modern, open feel to it. They’ve got a couple different Colorado brews on tap, in addition to probably 5 or 6 of their own (at the time we went). I tried their tripel and IPA and REALLY liked both of them. Though I settled on the IPA, the tripel was really amazing. Not too sweet and very well balanced for a high ABV beer. I kind of regret not ordering a full pint of it after the IPA, but my boyfriend was antsy to get back on the road… He was driving, but I could’ve drank several more of those tasty beers! I also tried a bit of the hefeweizen that he ordered and liked it almost as much as I liked the two I tried. It was also not too sweet, which can be hard to find with hefes.
I read in the Westword that they are currently contracting with the head brewer at Hogshead, so I guess that explains why their beer is so good for a brand new brewery!
They serve a limited menu, or you can eat at the Buffalo and drink their beers there. The food seemed a bit pricey (ie, $ 14 burgers) but we saw some people eating and atleast it looked good. The beers are on the more expensive side as well, but not outrageously so. And one of the coolest things about the brewery is the way they offer their beer-​to-​go: crowlers. That’s right, can growlers. 32oz cans filled with a beer of your choice, right before your eyes, with this tiny canning system they’ve got. Honestly, I’m not crazy about drinking beer out of cans, but I’d never seen anything like it before and appreciate it for the novelty. They also have regular 64oz growlers.
I never look forward to traffic on I-​70, but next time I’m stuck in it, I know where I’ll be stopping!

This is a beautiful brewery, but the beers just aren’t that good. We went to see the interior and because we liked the name. It had good service, but we found our flight of beers nearly un-​drinkable. We asked for the check and left!

Everything was excellent. The beer was great, fun, clean, atmosphere. Delicious food and great service.

Amazing interior design (think modern industrial), but the beer at this point is still fairly meh. There’s a tripel in the works, so that may bring their beer quality up a notch. This brewery is still very immature at this point, so looking forward to what they can produce in the future.

Great food. Great Beer. Great addition to Idaho Springs. Anyone heading up to the mountains from Denver should give it a try!

This is one of the best brewpubs between Denver and Salt Lake City. Take a break from I70 traffic and enjoy the beer, food and atmosphere of this little addition to the Colorado beer scene.

We frequent Idaho Springs en route to and from Vail on a regular basis. We found that Westbound & Down Brewing Company was an absolutely wonderful experience! They had remodeled and recently opened (with a new and fabulous chef too). The hospitality and service is impeccable (James was our server — he’s AWESOME). The owner or manager was very attentive making certain all was to our liking… and, it certainly was! Although the menu is still being expanded, the items they serve are simply perfect! From the moment you walk into this little gem of a restaurant/​micro-​brewery until the moment you leave — your experience will be wonderful! AND, you will return because that’s what a great restaurant does… makes you want to come back when treated so well! You guys do a great job of making every customer beyond happy with your service and our palates! BRAVO — very well done!

Great beer and great atmosphere! Great place to stop after skiing or on your way up to the mountains. Connects to the Buffalo so good food to eat. Get a Crowler on your way out.

This is the brew pub connected to The Buffalo restaurant. Casual dining with 4 beers brewed on site, soon to be 8. Also have 6 Colorado guest beers. Great place to watch the game or just hang out.

Amazing food and beer. No brainer — a definite must try! We will be back 100%.

I love this place as a pit-​stop for dinner on the way up to the mountains or, to catch some Sunday football games on the way home to Denver from skiing.
Must-​trys on the menu: Westbound chili (pulled, slow cooked beef instead of ground) and OMG the biscuits (drizzled with honey!), they’ve got a great homemade (!!) veggie burger, and the fried chicken we ordered was gone in literally 5 seconds… crispy perfection.
Of course, you have to try the beer. But if you’re more of a wine-​drinking girl like myself, then head over to the Buffalo bar to grab a glass from their more extensive wine list. They have some really delicious choices (loved the Pinot!).
Another bonus? The modern, self-​serve water station. Gotta stay hydrated in the high altitude ;-)

Great place. Amazing burger and beer. A must stop if you are on 1 – 70. I had the buffalo burger and a stout beer.
We had really good service and the food was really good. Next time I’m in the fried chicken looked amazing

Ok so they just recently open the décor is awesome, a very relaxing atmosphere! Great background music! They have a very limited opening menu but everything we had to include Mac n cheese, chili, buffalo burger, and of course the cheesecake finish! All were excellent! We can’t wait for them to expand their menu even further! Compliments to the chef! The beers were great we had the 7 sister stout ok maybe wish it had an alcohol content of more than 4.7 but it was great! Awesome service our server James was attentive and perfect! The manager checked in on us twice! We live here and will be back– if you are westbound got to give this place a try!!!

Westbound and Down is two thumbs up! Four great local brews were ready to go on opening day… love the Belgian Pale Ale and Seven Sisters Stout. A generous bowl of Texas style chili with a biscuit was a perfect compliment to the brews. Service was excellent! Atmosphere was warm, clean, easy lighting on the eyes, modern yet «reclaimed» feel with hues of blue in the beetle kill pine accents radiating off the counter tops, TVs in the bar are not too loud and beautifully framed on the wall so they blend in and are ready to catch some sports… LOVE the serve yourself water station with fresh, clean glasses on the wall for guests to keep up on the hydration factor while enjoying brews at altitude. The Crowler machine is an interesting concept to bring to town too. Everything was crystal clean and it’s crystal clear to me that this will be a place to enjoy for years to come… It’s attached to the newly renovated Buffalo Restaurant for full service dining in the historic area of Idaho Springs. The Buff somehow feels so much roomier yet they kept the original feel and look of the historic restaurant. Caught a glimpse of the fantastic new kitchen where all the action takes place. Ample parking and close to shopping makes a perfect day or weekend getaway from some fresh new Colorado brews! See you again soon Westbound and Down!

We stopped by Idaho springs on our way back from snowboarding. Stopped at tommyknockers first for appetizers and a brew, then headed down to westbound & down. Entering you can tell they spared no expense when building this place. Nicely lit, clean and busy (we were the 2^nd day the were open). They have 4 brews of their own (my favorite was the Denver day trip IPA). I felt underdressed because the bartenders were dressed in black and white. There beers, while very tasty, were priced a little high ($ 6 for a pint). They have 10 oz drinks for $ 4.50, so that is always a good way to go so you can try all of their beers! Also, The Colorado pale ale is not a pale ale at all. More like a crisp IPA.
The reason for 4 out of 5 rather than 5 out of 5 is due to the fact of the overdressed bartenders and the pricy brews ($ 5 would have been more acceptable). Overall. Go here… Not tommyknockers!

On a trip up to Winterpark we stopped in to Idaho Springs, CO to snag a microbrew and some food. While pulling up to park in the big visitor parking area, we looked up and saw the bright lit sign for Westbound & Down Brewery. Upon walking in to this place it is a brewery on one side and the Buffalo Restaurant on the other. The bar is interesting, looks like you should be sipping martinis not micros. Brightly white lit marble type setting. They had 4 house beers on tap and a half dozen guest taps. The beers were quite good. A Belgian pale ale was hydroflask worthy to go for me. I believe the head Brewer came from Hogshead Brewing. Cheers to him/​her! Even though the ambiance was not what was expected, the product fit the grain bill. The waitstaff were friendly. That basically sums it up. Nice to have another option on the way up to the woods.
Cheers!