Hale’s Ale House

Well, this place has closed. I was very sad to hear this as any time a local business closes it is going to mean people are out of jobs. Since my original review, I have returned multiple times to enjoy the beer and ignore the food. They went through a menu refresh that REALLY improved the quality of the food and their happy hour menu was outstanding. The beer has always been great and I found the service to be on point. And as far as I know, Adam no longer works there ;)
Anyway, we closed this place down last night as they offered free food and cheap drinks. The place was packed and it had me wondering where all of these people were prior to them announcing their closure. I can admit that I wasn’t in often enough to help the situation (more a factor of my dislike for traveling into Silverdale than anything to do with Hale’s), but it is crazy how many people will turn out for free stuff. Thankfully, Hale’s will continue to offer beer in the area as the distributor will remain in Kitsap.

Oh man… bad news is that they’re closing… I’m unhappy about that, but the food wasn’t all that reliable when they opened and even after they changed the kitchen, the menu was too big. I was always happy with the beer selection and the setting was great. I think that more places need to cut back on their offerings as I really have problems with long windy menus. Several appetizers, several salads, some meat and pasta dishes and all done well
Hey Hale’s, sorry to see you leaving and it’s one less fun place in Silverdale

My husband and I came here because we are new in town (from San Diego) and wanted to check out the local beer spots. We went straight to the bar. The food was meh, but service was outstanding, Lindsey was great. She was super friendly and informative. She explained the home beers on tap and then gave her opinion of them. She was happy to let us sample the beers we were interested in. We will definitely be back and hope she is behind the bar when we do :)

I had a wonderful young server named Monika that recommended an excellent IPA which quenched my thirst for a delicious NW beer. The service was «phenomenal» and I will be back for sure. I never tried the food but I am sure with the quality of service and selection of beer the food will be excellent.

I am updating an old review with the same star rating. I was hoping now that Hale’s has gone back to the original ownership the menu would be streamlined, service would improve and food consistency would be a norm. My family went there Friday night a bit after 6. We had to wait over 30 minutes for a table (amazing for pub food). The wait staff was cordial but obviously way too busy. There was a private party with maybe 24+, a table of twelve next to us and the entire restaurant was packed. Unfortunately, I don’t think the kitchen staff was prepared. Our food took an addition 30 minutes (maybe longer) and the table of twelve next to us got two meals, 5 minutes later another meal, then 10 minutes later the other 9 meals. Glad I wasn’t part of that group. My panzanella salad was decent but the bread was barely toasted and some of the lettuce had seen better days. My husband said his pizza was mediocre and my kid’s burger/​grill cheese was fine but the fries were undercooked, unsalted and limp. I will try Hale’s again on a less busy night. I do wish the best for this place as it is a nice alterative to Silvercity. However it currently lacks the consistency of Silvercity.

If you want to enjoy a night out but don’t want to blow a healthy chunk of dough, go to Hale’s during happy hour (3:00 pm to 6:00 pm). Two cream ales, one refillable iced tea, a plate of Hale’s Nachos, a pepperoni pizza and one Hale’s Burger later, our lovely evening cost us only $ 26.63 before gratuity. And we had leftovers!
The quality and portion size of the food at Hale’s are firmly above average, in my opinion. I had never been here when Hale’s was allegedly piss-​poor so I do not have a useful basis for before-​and-​after comparisons. What I do have is a series of satisfying and pleasant dining experiences. We are here almost every Sat and we always have a great time. Our orders are taken promptly after we sit, and they are delivered hot and fresh.
The staff at Hale’s are personable, cheerful and attentive. Our favorite is Tonya, aka Amy Poehler (you”ll know what I mean when you meet her). She always has a ready smile and chats easily with all the patrons. WE LOVE YOU, TONYA! :)

Let me first say, in fairness, that the food and service were fine, as they have been in my previous visits. I had the fish and chips and they were nicely done, with a good quality fish. The accompanying fries were excellent as well.
I did, however, have an issue with the bill. In fact, it appears our whole group did. I was with a large group of about 15 people. As is often the case with large groups, we were all automatically charged a tip of 18% on our bill. What I didn’t notice, until others in the group mentioned it via email this morning, was that the credit card receipt presented for me to sign added ANOTHER 18% tip AND provided a space to add an ADDITIONAL tip. I had initially considered adding a couple extra bucks when I saw the tip amount compared to what appeared to be a bill of $ 45.61; I’m glad I didn’t. The actual detailed receipt showed $ 36.00 for the food $ 6.48 for the gratuity and $ 3.13 in tax. The credit card receipt provided for me to sign showed another $ 6.48 added on for the gratuity. So we’re talking an automatic tip of $ 12.96 on a $ 36.00 bill — not a bad haul for the staff.
Now I know this was likely an inadvertent error. What fired me up was that when I called the restaurant manager on duty this morning and pointed out the error, knowing that several others in my party had already caught the error and sought correction, was that the manager said he «couldn’t» fix the issue over the phone, even though I had all the detailed information available, including the receipt #, the «seat #» the time, etc., that I know reside in their computer system and could be called up to verify. I suspect he either just didn’t know how to call up the information or could not be bothered. In any case, I will now have to make a 25 mile round trip drive and take 45 minutes out of my day to retreive the $ 6.48 overcharge. This is not the behavior I would expect from a restaurant that seems to be struggling for business with lots of nearby competition and a slow economy. They certainly pissed off 15 customers who frequently meet at local restaurants on a regular basis.

So I came here when they first opened up several years ago. The food was decent but the service was subpar.
Last night I went with a few friends for dinner. I was very skeptical from my previous experiences but was pleasantly surprised by the changes that have been
First, the menu is extremely diverse and has something for everyone from Asian, American, to Hawaiian. I spent 30 minutes looking it over and trying to decide what I wanted because there were so many things that I wanted to try.
We had the jalapeño chilli dip and onion rings for appetizers. The chips that come with the dip were great and the onion rings fried perfectly.
for my drink I had a perfect Margarita. Great tasting and no over powering flavors.
For entrée I had the grilled mango chicken. I wanted to try something out of my norm because I am typically a beef or seafood person. Lets just say I was blown away by how good it was! The glazed chicken was cooked to perfection, extremely tender and juicy. And it sits on top of grilled pineapple slices which is on top of a bed of stir fried quinoa. Everything complimented each other well for a great tasting meal.
We had some room in our stomachs left over so we just had to get some dessert and ordered the caramel gelato and brownie Sunday. The gelato was great, the Carmel was made in such a way that it didn’t get hard/​stiff even after being in the gelato with hints of salt so if you are a salted Carmel person this is your dessert! The brownie Sundae was also well done. It is a fudge brownie and was extremely rich actually a bit too rich for my taste. But I’m sure fudge lovers could appreciate it.
The presentation of each plate was top notch and our waiter who’s name I cannot remember right now (ill add it in later) was on the ball. She was kind and courteous when I was taking forever to decide on my food. Ensuring that we always had something to drink and checking to make sure our meals were delicious.
As a side note, I asked our waiter if they played any football games as they had many TVs well spaced apart and with a crisp picture and they do! I will definitely be going here rather than The Arena come football season.
The lighting is dim but in a good way. While I was at silver city restaurant the lighting at night was extremely harsh on my eyes to the point where I couldn’t even finish my first beer because of the headache i was getting. But overall I believe Hale’s has had a 360 turn around since they first opened and people have yet to discover this change.

My dinner was subpar at Hale’s last night. My husband & I went mainly because he & his coworkers go for happy hour and supposedly, they’ve changed their menu to add vegetarian & pescatarian items.
First, while the menu does have some vegetarian & pescatarian options (3 stars), nothing is labeled gluten-​free (unlike Silver City, their competitor), the servers don’t know what menu items are GF, and many of the dishes use shoyu/​soy sauce, flour or batter, which aren’t gluten-​free (0 stars). Surprisingly, however, they carry bottled gluten-​free beer.
Second, we sat at the bar & I ordered a gluten-​free beer, a shrimp appetizer special and a salad (no croutons!) to come out together as my meal. Six shriveled shrimp (labeled «prawns») showed up 10 minutes before my salad, were puny, WAY overcooked & had turned to rubber. The sauce was ok but didn’t make up for the kitchen not knowing how to cook their featured appetizer. Had Hale’s been a nicer restaurant, I would have sent them back. Unfortunately, my feeling was they still wouldn’t have been properly cooked. As a patron, it’s not my job to educate the kitchen.
Third, my salad came out WITH croutons & while the smart bartender whisked it away to the kitchen, likely plucking them off my salad, the same salad came back. Nice thought, but that salad is now gluten-​contaminated. :(Fail.
Fourth, I have to mention the parking lot/​patio entrance feels like a back door. There is a set of double doors, with a hostess stand right next to them & a dining table opposite the stand. You have to squeeze in when employees are standing there, gathering menus, and try not to bump diners as well. It’s not only a design issue but a safety one as well since customers get bottle-​necked on both sides.
Fifth, it’s going to be a while before I come back. Hale’s has front & back house issues to address.

Friends and I met up here for dinner after arguing for half an hour on where to eat. Ate outside on my last visit, but with tonight’s weather, we decided to eat in. The interior is nice and spacious. TVs were placed in random locations showing various sports.
Their pizza was okay from my last visit, so I decided to try a burger this time. I’m glad I did. It showed up on a big, delicious pretzel bun. Also had a Caesar salad, which looked… unusual? It came out in three or four big pieces of lettuce rather than cut up. Fortunately, it still tasted fine.
However, while the quality of the food was still moderately high, Hale’s still has some service issues. Everything started out fine. I grabbed a table, and got water for everyone. But after everyone arrived, and we all decided what we wanted, we ended up waiting another 10 minutes before a different waitress showed up to assist us.
Another visit, another passable experience. Just as well.

The food is decent but the drinks are where it’s at here, especially the Gold Rush with it’s robust 10.2% alcohol. I also ordered food, the Saigon something which was eh.

We waited a very long time to try Hales because we only heard negatives about the place. After a day of shopping at the mall we decided to give it a try. The restaurant itself is very plain but tidy. I was surprised at how limited their menu was. Usually, when a restaurant has a limited menu that means they have perfected those recipes and you’re good to go on anything you choose. I don’t think that’s the case here. Overall, the food was average. I will say I got the crab cake appetizer and it was very yummy. I wasn’t won over by Hales, by no means, but they definitely aren’t as terrible as we had heard.

Hubby & I were playing tourist in our own state. Hopped the ferry to Bremerton & then pulled up Ale Houses on Unilocal.Came up with Hales. We had been to Hales in Fremont before & like their beer so off we went.
Arrived about 1pm. Not too busy. Snagged a spot on the patio outside. Took just a little too long to receive menus, water & get our first beer order in. I think it was shift change or something because 15 minutes later the patio was crawling with servers.
Being starving we ordered some Pub Fries to share right away. They were mighty tasty but could have been hotter & would have been better with some blue cheese dressing to dip them in.
Hubby ordered the mussels & a wedge salad. The salad was great. Even if I didn’t think the candied walnuts went with it. The mussels were a tad too mustard-​ey for my taste & the garlic bread would kill a vampire from 25ft away.
I had the ½ sandwich cup of soup combo. Since I had the chicken avocado melt sandwich I figured the tuscan chicken soup would be a better match than the chowder. Chicken sandwich had a huge chicken breast on it! Wow! Could have used more avocado. I can make way better tuscan chicken soup so I was a little disappointed.
Wish there was a better view than the parking lot of the mall.

Having heard a lot of bad things about Hale’s we were always a little reticent to give it a try however one day we were at the mall around lunch and decided, what the heck.
The décor is friendly and not too dark and we were greeted and seated promptly. Being a Reuben fanatic I always have the Reuben as my first meal at a place if they have one and since they had one, I had to try it. I have to say we were pleasantly surprised. The staff was friendly, the service was quick and attentive and the food was solid fare for the price and while it’s not our favorite hangout in Silverdale I recommend you don’t believe all the bad press too much and go give it a try and if you don’t know what to order, there’s always the Reuben.

Tried Hale’s after moving here recently and thought it was ok. The food service was slow comparative to the amount of customers but it arrived hot. The nachos were fine but the burger was overlooked and VERY greasy. The ahi-​poke was fine and we enjoyed the atmosphere.
We’ll give it another try before writing it off!

I give up. No more Hale’s for me after yesterday’s amazingly bad experience.
First of all, my coffee barely beat the food to the table. I understand brewing a new pot, but it took forever. I’m quite sure she had forgotten as it came immediately after I asked for her to check on it… and I never received a refill.
In our group we had two pizzas, a hamburger and an order of some sort of green bean dish. The pizzas were not cooked properly. I have never eaten a pizza so doughy. The burger was way overcooked and the beans were a little of both. Some were cooked and others were nearly raw (like they dumped them in a pan and didn’t bother to mix them up during cooking). Lazy.
The pizza debacle was obvious and they did compensate us for the terrible food. Hey, they even brought out dessert. Great! We might have returned to give them another try if…
…the waitress hadn’t come back out to inform us «they» said the beans should be cooked al dente. Wow. She came back out as we’re leaving to tell us the customer is wrong. Amazing. However they were supposed to be cooked, I’m quite sure they should have been cooked uniformally throughout the dish. Not the some hot and some cold that made it to the table. The complaint wasn’t about al dente beans. The complaint was that some were cooked and some were nearly raw.
They must have known they were having a bad day with the super long wait times and subpar food making it to the table. To jab the customer on the way out the door, after initially making it right, is inexcusable. I felt like I was in an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. That bad.

Hale’s Ales was bought out and is under new ownership. I’ve been gone for a few months, but this week I went to see what the «new» Hales Ales was like.
It was A-​OK. I’d go back there to eat again.
Service was okay. They had run out of kids menus. While the hostess tried to find some more, the waiter tried to think of what was on the kids’ menu to tell us the choices.
The regular menu IS DIFFERENT from the previous Hales Ales. I was disappointed my favorite — the Caprese Sandwich — is no longer offered. I was a little surprised that for a «new» place with a «new» menu, the physical menus were pretty beat-​up. They had stains from people setting their drinks on them and folds and tears. Maybe they’re going for the «well-​used» look on the menus, but it gave the impression of a lack of cleanliness.
We sat at a window seat, and there were three flies buzzing around and bouncing in the window. Annoying. Commented to our waiter, and he didn’t seem to care or show any interest in either (a) moving us or (b) doing something to get rid of the flies.
The food was pretty good. I had a Hales Special Burger (HSB) which was pretty darn big. Fries were pretty good, too. My son loved the ribs.
Hales is one of the few places in Kitsap you can get fountain Coke products, which is a big plus in my book.
We would probably give the «new» Hales Ales another visit.

Ok, I have already had a 5 star review on here for awhile now. I have also been the «Duchess» of check-​ins due to the fact that my family and were eating here pretty much weekly! We LOVED it! But, I felt compelled to write a new review based on my past 2 visits. It is not a 5 star restaurant anymore. As a matter if fact, I am not sure if I will return.:(The ownership has changed and so has the menu and food quality. All of my favorite things on their old menu (from previous owners) are gone! (Club sandwich, Teriyaki chicken kabobs, Quesadilla’s, and more) I have tried several things from the new menu and didn’t really enjoy any of them. My kids used to beg to go eat at Hale’s. Yet the last two times we ate there, they didn’t even eat their food. They were out of macaroni and cheese (both times) so they tried the pasta and pizza. The pizza came out burnt and the pasta wasn’t good. The service has gone down hill as well. We truly are sad about the changes. Guess we will have to find a new restaurant to dine in.

We came here when visiting the mall passing through town. The place has a nice atmosphere and they are a microbrewery. I’m a huge IPA fan and gave the Supergoose a try. It was quite tasty! It could probably be a little more dry hopped to give an even stronger hop aroma, but I still had two of them and would have had more if we hadn’t run out of the food we ordered. :)
I ordered the sirloin steak. It was good, but not exceptional. It was flavorfull, but perhaps a tad over temperature. I’d probably give it another shot if I’m in the area again. Overall a good experience, especially if you’re required to hit the mall to keep your wife and daughter happy :)

I wanted to update my one star review to a two, though I do feel like the slight improvement in food doesn’t make up for the crap service/​rude-​ish waitress, etc.
For Christmas — yet again — we were given gift cards to here. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, we went in hopes of having an enjoyable meal and tried to choose the easiest menu items that would be impossible to mess up. Mac and cheese and a french dip. The mac and cheese lacked any flavor. Its use of smooth, creamy, light-​in-​flavor cheese is way off the mark. I want something with taste, not just a pretty façade. The panko breadcrumbs that come with and a bit of pepper made it better, but still… I will say it’s the best thing I’ve had there so far, and I’ve had some pretty bad meals. The fellow’s sandwich was edible. He said he would get it again when we inevitably come back to use the rest of the gift cards. We may also opt to just buy 10 bottles of Tres Fem and call it good…
The very first time we came here, I ordered a diet Coke and it came to me flat. The waitress seemed put out to have to replace it. Any other time, I’ve ordered water or beer. This time, I ordered a diet Coke again and wouldn’t you know it? It came to me flat and the glass had a giant mauve lipstick stain on it. It took me forever to flag down the waitress — and to her credit, it was busy bar seating — and when I pointed it out to her and asked nicely if there was a way she could try to get some carbonation going, she acted disgusted that I would even think to ask. It came back, it was fine, and we ate our dinner undisturbed the rest of the night.
I want to like Hale’s, I do. But they’re not giving us much to work with here and it’s so much easier to go across the parking lot to Silver City. Much better service, better food for pretty much the same price (I’d pay a bit more for a better overall experience), better beer, and did I mention much much better food?