OHYE: Play Ball @ Batch Gastropub

I totally agree with Paul W’s review in that, it’s always nice and appreciated when our CM Johnny invites us to events however Batch didn’t impress me much.
In their defense the service was friendly and prompt. The food however was terrible in my opinion! When I got there around 7:10, there was hardly any food left and although they did bring out some more, it was a carb fest! The pizza was ok the best part was that it was thin crust. Then they had the chicken and waffles which in my opinion isn’t really a ‘let’s eat while watching a game’ type of food as the waffles were soggy… yuck!
The drink were pretty good, had their white wine sangria which I would recommend and one of their rum house cocktails which was also tasty!
The place itself looked ok to watch games at but I wasn’t convinced enough to want to go back and visit.
This event was ran poorly IMO on their end.

Always a good time with the Unilocal but I feel that Batch didnt step up to plate. The event seemed poorly run by the few staff that were designated to our area and outsiders were just prancing in. The cocktails were nice but the food was a bit cold. I got there at 7:30 due to traffic and it seemed like it had been sitting out for a while. I’m glad others mentioned the same because I thought it was just me. The place itself is nice with big screens and great seating areas. Seems like a nice addition to Brickell.
Johnny, thanks for coordinating and the invitation Always a good time chatting it up with you, especially now that our days are numbered. wahhhh! :(

So when I saw this event posted as an OHYE, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve never been to an open house style Unilocal event. However, when I looked at the venue I was excited because gastropubs combine sports, alcohol, and good food (not just greasy bar food to soak up the alcohol, but actually good food). Those are three very important things in life.
SPORTS: So being the foodies and social butterflies we all are, I don’t think half of the group even noticed the score for the Marlins game. But I was watching the Kings vs. Rangers, so all was not lost! (GKG!!!) For future reference, the TVs are plentiful and you’ll have a good view of a screen if you are here for a sporting event.
ALCOHOL: I tried the World Cup drink, which I was told had rum, guava and peach in it. It was refreshing and not too strong or sweet. And we were later informed that the peach was added by mistake, but a wonderful mistake that was. They have an extensive draft beer and wine list and they have self pour taps at some of their tables, which is a pretty cool concept. The self pour even tracks your tab for you. We got to talking with Jason, our bartender in the back, and I got bar-​tending/​cocktail/​tincture lesson 101. Jason is so knowledgable about his craft (and it truly is a craft). We got to taste his pecan-​Jameson which was absolutely divine and probably very dangerous if I continue to let myself drink any more. When I come back I’m definitely ordering the Boondock Saint (which has the pecan-​Jamo) or the Oolong tea cocktail.
FOOD: The food service had a couple of flaws, but it’s still a pub and so the task of serving a large group of people all at one time seemed difficult for them. Plus the dishes were presented as shareable appetizers, which became a little awkward when served buffet style. I would expect (and hope… fingers crossed) that with a smaller group of people, the food service would be handled better. Everything I was able to taste was exactly the food I would want to be eating in this setting. My favorites were the French toast, the Swine pizza, and the truffle fries. The French toast I was raving about to everyone. I really wish I would’ve been able to taste the chili glazed wings.
Sherry W pointed out the bathrooms, so I had to check them out and yes, they are pretty amazing. There is something to be said about a clean and hi-​tech bathroom (it’s in the details!). They even have a mouthwash dispenser. You mean I can drink to my heart’s content and not have alcohol breath all night?!
Thank you Batch for showing us what you are about. Thanks Johnny for a great evening and introducing us to Batch. I feel very lucky I get to be a part of your events!

What a nice evening! After a long day in court, and a school happy hour I had to attend, I was looking so forward to chilling out with some Unilocalers!!!
I arrived about 5 – 10 minutes late, SO SORRY JOHNNY!!! But I was greeted at the door by the ever so gracious Rony! I got my drink tickets and rannnnnn.
Having come to Batch on numerous occasions before this, I was stoked! I love this place, the layout is kind of crappy when they get crowded, but hey you make it work. Plus, there are always some hotties!!!
I dropped by business card in the bowl for the tickets, but I don’t know what happened with that… DID ANYONE WIN!!! DID I WIN???
Anyways, I strolled back to the bar that was just for us! There was a very nice and accommodating bartender! He was very fast too! I found a table with some Unilocalers and decided to grab some food.
Unfortunately, it seemed like that 5 – 10 minutes made a huge difference, because everything was gone before I got up there. I managed to get about 5 fries and 2 pieces of pizza. I have always been a fan of their truffle fries. The pizza was decent. They have amazing things on their menu, these choices were a little off. There seemed to be some confusion with the food being out like that. You can’t have that, for the simple fact that most humans are animals and devour everything in their sights before thinking of sharing.
So that wasn’t cool.
But hey, I was happy just drinking some wine and conversing with some great people. The not so great people ate and bailed! It is always a shame when a chosen few manage to put a damper on things. It didn’t get me down though.
Thank you to Batch for hosting this fun event. While it could have been a bit smoother, the service is excellent, food is delicious, and restrooms are clean!!!
Thank you to my gracious Unilocal family for being YOU!
and a Thank you to our one and only Johnny T. You are irreplaceable!!! and thank you is never enough for what you have to deal with!!!

This was my first Unilocal event with the Miami crew. I had been to Batch before, so when I saw this posted I was excited to return and meet the Miami Unilocal Community. Check-​in was easy with the IPAD list. There was plenty of seating and it was easy to carry on a conversation with the noise level.
The bartender was very informative and I had seen him on Check Please. He is the creator of the «Batch» liquors. They are even working on making their own maple syrup.
The food was okay. I have had their duck nachos before, and feel they need much more flavor for the meat to make me want to order them again. The food provided had no WOW factor for me. The drinks had the WOW factor!!! The white sangria was amazing and so was the Black and Stormy. They are very good at mixing their drinks so you don’t taste the alcohol.
The bathrooms are amazing. I love the hand dryer attached to the sink. Also the foot slot to open the bathroom door is GENIOUS so you don’t have to use your hand to leave the bathroom.
Overall, it was a great evening and I made some new Unilocal friends who can help me find great Miami places to dine.

Like Brenda P., I must say, I didn’t watch the game. How could I when so many great Unilocalers were there to talk to?
My favorite thing about this particular event is that we had the entire back area to ourselves, but the event itself was small. That lead to us being able to have good conversations instead having to jump back and forth a million times in order to say hi to everyone. Big isn’t always better, so they say.
Batch has great food. By first glance I would have never have assumed that. The wings were out of this world. The pizzas were good. I feel like they possibly sat out for a little while before being served to us. The fries were worth fighting over… and I almost did.
Now let’s talk about the french toast. Once I tried it I loved it, like words can’t describe good, BUT, when it was brought out it was just left there without utensils. Caveman I am not. That to me was a little odd.
The bartender in the back was great. The World Cup drink (rum, guava and peach) was really tasty, and not too sugary.
The manager (?) talked to us in small groups about Batch which was great. It probably would have been easier to talk to us in one large (small) group, but it was cool that he took the time to go over it group by group.
What’s great about Johnny’s events is that he knows how to put together an event, whether it’s large or small. Johnny knows how a party should be done. You have to admire that in a person. When something may not be on point, Johnny will make sure it gets there and I have to thank him for that.
My one regret was that I left my business cards at home for the prize. Even though I can’t remember what I could have won, I wish I would have been able to enter.
Thanks Johnny for a great night.

When I saw Johnny was having an open event here I clicked the RSVP button almost immediately. I really enjoy this gastro pub.
We arrived on time and there was our wonderful Rony checking everyone in quickly with the cool IPad. He put on our wristbands and gave us two free drink tickets. We saw Johnny towards the back and he greeted everyone and as always was on top of making sure things were running smoothly.
They had an area roped off just for us towards the back. We had plenty room to walk around and mingle and tables, cozy booths to sit and grab some grub. My favorite part is they also had a bar set up in our area which was genius. No one had to wait for cocktails. You walked right up and the very friendly bartender took excellent care of us.
The food started to come out very quickly. They had a large table set up and they were putting plates of food on it. The set up with the small plates and napkins were easy to find. The biggest problem was I felt they did not know how to properly prepare the dishes coming out. They had hardly no utensils to put the food on your plate. I grabbed some pizza bites and although it was good tasting wise it was very mushy and soft. The truffle fries are always delicious. Hubby gave me a bite of the duck which was so so good. I look forward to trying it again.
They dropped the ball on cleaning up empty platters and used dishes sitting around the tables.
Why five stars? They opened their doors to us, food was very good, drinks were great, they offered us happy hour prices all night. George the manager was accommodating and he seemed nervous as to how the event was going. He was very nice even brought me over a Zombie cocktail to try which was very thoughtful. :)
We enjoyed the event very much. Did they do the best job they could have? No but I guess I’m biased since I frequent this establishment often and know truly what they are capable of. I do wish they could have show cased what they have to offer better so more people would be a fan like myself. They have great potential they just need to work on better organization and implementation.
Thank you so very much to Johnny for setting this up for us. You demand the best for us and we so appreciate all of your hard work and dedication. Thank you Batch for having us. Was there a baseball game going on ??? Oh Shitz, yeah right get a bunch of Unilocalers in a room and all we do is chat away. Best part is always seeing friends and hanging out. Xoxo

It had been way too long since I’d been able to make it to a Unilocal Event. I’d been wanting to check out Batch, and with a 7pm start time, this even was right up my alley!
Batch and its staff was more than welcoming and generous. The bartender was eager to share which drinks were available for our coupons. The «batch» — World Cup — was good, but a little too sweet for my taste. The food was plentiful and replenished regularly. I tried a couple different types of pizza, the truffle fries, and a bit of the french toast — all were quite tasty.
More importantly, I was so happy to be able to catch up with many of the Unilocal Miami crew that I’ve been missing! I hope to be able to make it to more events before our beloved Johnny departs for Nashville.
Thanks to Batch and its crew, as well as Johnny and Rony for a great evening!

I have a confession to make, I didn’t watch the game. Not even for a second. Ooooops!
I arrived early and conveniently parked across the street. Checked in with Rony, received my drink tickets and wristband. We (a VERY small group of LUCKY Unilocalers) had the entire back section for this event. I walked up to find Johnny, whip in hand, directing the show. Way to go boss!
Within minutes, the entire back table was filled with all of the featured dishes for the night: ALL.AT.THE.SAME.TIME
Chili glazed confit wings
Brick oven margherita pizza
Brick oven farm fresh pizza
Oven divine swine pizza
Duck nachos
Red pepper hummus
Vanilla french toast
The main issue I noticed immediately was the lack of proper serving utensils. I was scooping up fries and slicing pizza with a large serving SPOON. I passed on the wings because I was not about to attempt slicing that with the spoon or tongs with a line of Unilocalers waiting behind me. By 7:30pm, most of the food was gone. Only a small portion of the food was replenished after that. By 8:30 or so, however, next to nothing was out (event was to end at 10pm). NOTE: Everyone was very good at not taking too much at a time or rushing the table. It might have been better to serve everything in BATCHes, and at a slower pace perhaps explaining their food as they went along. Just a thought.
While that part was a bit of a downer, here is the good news; it was all great! (and the main reason why I think it would have been better to have them explain each dish as it came out). I really enjoyed all of it. This is not your typical sports bar food at all. I especially loved the swine pizza and hummus.
The drink portion of the event was F A B U L O U S! Not only were the drinks offered top quality, but having our own bar rocked! The bartender was wonderful, knowledgeable and extremely charismatic. I was happy to see his tip jar full by the time I left (at about 9:55pm!) Another big plus was Jorge (marketing & promotion). He was going around working his a** off making sure we were all happy and asking if there was anything we needed or if we had any questions. Jorge also offered us beer/​wine/​cocktail samples, brought me a second glass of the cabernet I was drinking, and chatted with us for a bit. Two thumbs up for him!
In the end, although there were some «logistics» misses, I am grateful to have been included in this event. I had a very nice night hanging out with my fellow Unilocalers. I met some new ones and caught up with some I had not seen in a long time. I judge a night’s success by the amount of belly laughs, and we had PLENTY of them! The complimentary food and drinks were icing on the cake and I will give them another go whenever I am in the area.
Thank you Johnny for setting this up and BATCH for hosting us!
Until next time, SYOY!

My first Unilocal event! I must say totally IMPRESSED… batch gastropub is a fairly new location in mary Brickell, the venue is amazing… now when I say amazing I mean fantastic food… u must try the truffle fries. Yummy! The customer service is exceptional which to me means a whole lot because if service sucks I’ll never return. I know where my go to watch World Cup events will be!

I’m choosing to split my review into 2 parts: Part 1 will be for Unilocal Miami, and Part 2 will be for the restaurant/​bar that hosted this event, Batch Gastropub.
For Unilocal Miami’s part, this event was flawless as always. The UYE was posted and confirmations were e-​mailed out, as were reminders about this event the day before it occurred. When I arrived at 7 the registration line moved quickly, and trusty intern Rony M. was there with an iPad (moving us into the latest technology… No more printed lists to scratch off!) to verify that we were confirmed, and to hand out wrist bands and 2 complimentary drink tickets to each of us as we entered. Johnny was circulating throughout the room and greeting everyone as well.
Now onto Batch Gastropub: Please forgive me if my comments come off as snooty or elitist, but Unilocal is about «Real People» posting «Real Reviews» of their opinions and experiences, and as part of that, most Unilocalers look at events and activities like this one with the same critical eye they give to the bars, restaurants and other businesses we review every day; it’s tough to simply switch off that critical eye.
As I’ve mentioned in past reviews, while Unilocalers appreciate every business that goes out of their way to host us, some restaurants/​bars do it better than others. IMO, while the food and drink we enjoyed were very good, Batch didn’t have the best organization and preparation.
As always, I ate before tonight’s event, but it’s always nice to try a variety of the foods that a particular hosting restaurant offers, if for no other reason than it gives us an idea of what they offer, the quality, and it allows us to determine what we might try when returning as a patron. I was maybe the 15^th person in the food line at about 7:10 (the event had just started), but as I reached the table, I noted they were already out of many of the menu items they had for us to try! The chili glazed confit wings were gone as were the fries and also the red pepper hummus with feta and warm toast. While there was some pizza left and also some duck nachos at the end of the table, the plate of nachos and the vanilla rum french toast at the front of the line were nearly picked clean. There were a few pretzel bites remaining in a bowl toward the end of the table when I first visited, but 2 of the people at our table really wanted to try those, and alas, no more pretzel bites were set out for the remainder of the evening. I returned a bit later to check if they’d replenished anything and they had set out 2 servings of chicken wings and 2 plates of hummus (those were actually the only offerings currently on the table), but there were no tongs or other serving utensils available; most everyone was picking up wings and toast with their fingers, and someone grabbed a fork to scrape humus onto our plates. To Batch Gastropub’s credit, they did set more food out as the night went on, and even as I left I think there was some pizza and fries left over, but I was really surprised that they seemed to be so ill prepared for our group at the beginning, and that once they set out the first plate or two of some dishes, once those were gone, they were never replenished.
Again, I’m sorry if my review comes off as less than appreciative. I had fun at this event and enjoyed talking with my fellow Unilocalers and even meeting some new ones and I wouldn’t be opposed to patronizing Batch Gastropub in the (perhaps near) future. The food I did get to try was very good, all their staff were nice, the bartender was great (he earned tips from me for his personality alone) and their management stopped to chat with most all the tables and groups of Unilocalers, but their preparation and organization tonight, especially compared to the dozens of businesses who’ve hosted us in the past, simply wasn’t worthy of 5 stars.

Had such a great time! Service was great as was the food we got to try. The drink special of the night, the World Cup (which was a combo of guava, peach, and rum) was delish! So much so I got it again as my second drink. The food sampling variety was really good, my favorite being the chicken wings, a little touch of sweet and spice with the perfect crunchy outside and moist inside. Pizza was also great, especially the spicy meats one! I loved the feel of the place and will definitely be back with friends soon. Great addition to the Brickell scene. As always it was a great night thanks to Johnny! Can’t wait for the next one.

Absolutely loved this place! It had been on my radar since before it opened but hadn’t made it out. This was the perfect opportunity for me to go and I must say they did much to impress!
The check in was smooth thanks to Rony and they had a section set up for us in the back. We were given two drinks each which was quite generous and they were solid! The special of the night was called World Cup and it was a combination of guava & orange juices with rum. It was perfect! They had an array of food to sample but my fave were hands down the chicken wings! They were nice and crispy and perfectly moist. They had a subtle hint of sweetness and just the right touch of heat. They had a variety of pizzas to sample and I thought they were all very tasty. My friends had the nachos and French toast and absolutely raved about both.
As to the service, they aim to please. From Jorge the manager, to Drew and Gina, the servers, everyone was cordial and ready to assist with any request. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and will definitely be back!