Dave’s Electric Brewpub

Dave’s isn’t nearly as bad as some of the reviews on here led me to believe, but it’s also definitely not worthy of the few four-​star ratings I’ve seen, either. We try to find local breweries to try when we’re on the road, especially after having such a great experience last summer at MickDuff’s in Sand Point. So after wandering around the Mill Avenue district in Tempe last month, we decided to stop here for a small, light lunch and a beer or two.
We opted for the beer sampler so we could try the six beers they had available that day. For just a few bucks, the sampler was a good way to taste everything they had to offer. Unfortunately, the beer was REALLY lacking in flavor. Other than the Old Frog Grog, which wasn’t terrible, all of the other beers tasted really similar. I couldn’t have closed my eyes and tasted them and told you which was supposed to be the lager and which was supposed to be the IPA. It’s probably not a good sign that they describe most of their beers as «lightly hopped» with a smooth finish. IPAs are supposed to be hoppy, and this one was a huge disappointment. I ended up ordering a pint of the Dave’s Electric, which was drinkable but not terribly indistinguishable from something like Bud Light. Overall, the beer leaves a lot to be desired.
The food wasn’t half bad. I had a Greek salad, which was light and crisp. Definitely the most enjoyable part of the flavor experience. Boyfriend ended up ordering the mac and cheese, and was satisfied with that, as well.
What saves this restaurant from getting two stars is the staff. Both of the bartenders were super friendly and attentive, and did a great job at explaining the beers to us when they brought out our sampler. I just wish the brews had lived up to their colorful descriptions.
Dave’s is apparently under new ownership, but the brewing is still going to be done by the same folks. With these disappointingly bland beers hovering over it’s head like the sword of Damocles, I don’t know how long Dave’s can last. It’s disappointing, because I really feel like the place has a lot of potential. It’s literally spitting distance from ASU’s stadium, and with a more pleasing brew selection, they could really make money hand-​over-​fist from thirsty game goers. I truly hope they can make it happen for themselves.

I know this place is changing owners next week but I have to write a review of this place. Where do I start?
On a positive note the wait staff are very friendly, quick and don’t leave alone too long. I like that they were very open and positive about the bar– this is the two star rating.
Now the bad.
I tried all of their micro brews and they were all disgusting. Note to the new owner– please please clean up the brews. I couldn’t finish any of them. They do not taste clean/​refreshing and have the smell of sanitizer and muck. I realize that some are made in Bisbee and others in the bar but there wasn’t one that I wanted to re-​order. Beer was also served luke warm.
The wings were the lowest quality of meat– very fatty only 1 drumstick. That and they give you 10 wings. The sauce was dumped on and not tossed. The flavor was gritty and very bland/​store bought.
This place reminds me of a dive 80s bar that is not anywhere near its potential. It’s next to the ASU stadium yet the majority of the clientele are over the age of 40 and kinda rough looking. Better food, better beer are a must.

The short: This place was so bad that at 1^st place in trivia, we didn’t want to win again so we wouldn’t feel forced to return with a $ 25 gift certificate.
The Long: I looked at this place and saw 2 $$ signs, 48 reviews and an average of 3 stars. I thought, «either this place is on the verge of falling apart, or Unilocalers have been really mean». Well, Unilocalers don’t lie– after arriving there and seeing a huge place nicely decorated and with an interesting menu, I was like «pshh no way this is a 3 star average, it looks GREAT!». By the end of the night, I was ready to run out the door.
What sucked so much? Oh, let me count the ways!
The Service: Bless your heart, Ryan the line cook. The waitress assigned to our area was so overwhelmed by a full house that it looked like her brain was going through a short circuit. Either the restaurant didn’t get enough servers to cover all tables during trivia hour or this girl was new at her job. Either way, she was so blank-​faced when I asked her for extra chairs that I knew she might not be the best to serve us. Eventually the line cook came to let us know that he would be helping to serve our table because the other lady had lost her last brain cell. He asked us to repeat our orders about 3 times because he kept forgetting to write them down. But that’s ok, Ryan the line cook, your job isn’t to serve, so you did the best you could.
The Food: (1) The pretzel bites were not made out of pretzel dough but pizza dough instead. Its side order of beer cheese was pretty tasty but a little side of mustard would’ve been needed for actual pretzels. (2) The nachos were a disappointing plate of cold flaccid tortillas with congealed cheese and a cold topping of olives, tomatoes and jalapeño slices. It had basically been made hours in advance and left to cool off and then topped with veggies in the last minute, very un-​nacho worthy. (3) the sausage plate was the most disgusting piece of meat i’ve ever shoved in my mouth. I couldn’t tell which one was the brat, the Italian sausage and the spicy sausage, they all tasted different shades of gross and gave me a gag reflex at $ 8.50. (4) The chicken tenders were not fully identified as chicken, as we discovered a weird piece of over-​fried meat that very much tasted like FISH. Something tells me they fry them together in the same basket, which sucks for us non-​fish lovers, or even those that are actually allergic. Their fries were double fried, once hours/​days before and the other one right before, to kill all remaining flavor of potato. (5) Their beer. Sorry yo, the oatmeal stout had no flavor.
The Space: Good for you for filling the place up on trivia night, but if people are there to participate at trivia, you might want to improve your sound system. Placed to sit in the patio (as no other spot was available) we couldn’t hear a single thing, while the sound indoors was absolutely BLASTING. An extra cheapo speaker in the patio would have been wonderful, because every time the bus or tram passed by, we couldn’t even hear our own thoughts, let alone the trivia questions.
So at the end, it IS in fact true that those Unilocalers were wrong about their 3 star average. Electric Brewpub isn’t more than 2 stars. I came, I saw, I ate, and I regretted all the above. Sorry Unilocal,I thought it would be better, I really really reaaaaaaally did.

I really liked this place. The beers aren’t necessarily the best ever, but they aren’t bad. I guess I am a bit of a snob though being from the beer meccas of Denver and Chicago.
What this place really has going for it is the feel. Its very laid back. a nice change of pace from the craziness of Mill Street a couple blocks away. The outdoor patio is comfortable and large, and the bar takes the place of the buildings wall so you can sit at it and still be outside while watching TVs inside. They also had live music both nights I went here which definitely added to the relaxing feel.
The food here is also pretty good. I had a tasty burger, but the real story was the appetizer. The pretzel bites… holy crap! SO GOOD. I definitely spoiled my appetite since I couldn’t stop eating them.

Very promising little microbrewery based out of Bisbee, AZ. The beer was pretty good and reasonably priced at $ 4/​pint. Nothing that’s going to replace Four Peaks as the best in town. But a great alternative at a nice central location with a big patio.
During game days (which is when we came) you can expect to be drinking out of a plastic cup and ordering from a limited menu.
I tried each of the 4 beers that they had. And They were all decent.

Stop. Just stop. In a city where some truly phenomenal beer flows freely, this place is taking up valuable beer-​brewing-​and-​pouring real-​estate. Sometimes I think that this place is a deliberate act of sarcasm.
…I have to stop thinking about it…

Pretty good food and their oatmeal stout is not bad. I love the name: Old Frog. :) They have a great fry cook. The fried food is really good. Light and crispy; not grease logged. The fry cook knows what temperature to keep the frying oil in order to get that light crispy texture. Oh, and their pretzel bites were pretty good, however, I’m not too sure about the sauce. It was a bit chunky and watery for a «cheese sauce.» The fried raviolis are pretty good too, the inside is made with both mozzerella and ricotta; the ricotta was a bit of a surprise for me. I’m not sure why. I also appreciate that they offer light and healthy, but substantial dishes like a generous portion of steamed edamame, and hummus. Their happy hour beer specials are pretty good too: $ 9 for a pitcher of good, local microbrew is a pretty good deal.
My husband and I spent approximately $ 40 or so, including tip, and we ordered:
Pitcher of Old Frog $ 9 (six+ glasses).
Appetizer Sampler $ 10
Beer Brat and Onion Rings $ 8
Edamame $ 4
Fries $ 2.50
Tax and tip.
Oh, and the location is a great meeting place for people before they hop onto the light rail for a night out in PHX.

Stopped by Daves Electric Brewerpub in Tempe AZ. on Monday, during my afternoon long pub crawl with Justin from Brew Bros. & a couple of mates. Walked over to Dave’s from Mellow Mushroom in the dead afternoon heat only to find that summer hours had taken effect and that they were closed. DRAG!
Anyway, I peaked in and met bar manager Cristina who invited us in for a pint and treated us like kings despit the fact that they were not even open for business. That was very cool. She gave us a little background on the pub and their recent brewing activity which was nice as well.
We all had the Trident IPA, a bit malty for my taste as far as IPAs go but nice none the less. A nice little place to check out while in downtown Tempe. A great Pre Game Hang Out. Cheers.

Overall, I like this place. The food is decent, the beer is decent, and it isn’t really fair to compare this small place to the colossal Four Peaks.
I have had almost every sandwich on the menu, and all are very good.
Today I had the chicken Mexican Pizza «Jump Start» for lunch. I was pleasantly surprised. It was well spiced, the salsa that came with it was tasty, and it ran about $ 6. Not bad for lunch.
The service this time was fine, but it wasn’t very busy. I honestly believe that after speaking with the owner, they are making an effort to improve service. Time will tell if the Unilocal community will notice.
Keep on keepin’ on Dave’s! You are the second closest restaurant to my office, so I want to love you! Please, please, please make it easy for all of us to love you!

I like this place. My friends and I have off-​and-​on frequented this place for the past year and we’ve never been disappointed. While they’ll continue to truck their staple brews up from the Bisbee location, they are finally brewing small batches here in Tempe.
Only a couple blocks down from the always busy Mill, Dave’s Electric is a nice change of pace with a chill patio, never overly crowded (if you’re day drinking, you might be one of only a few people here) and the waitstaff are pretty awesome!
My favorite beer is the OK Ale and the pretzel bites are good little snackers.

Beer. That is what we need to discuss when evaluating a brewery. Leave it to Arizonans to jump to food or service when grading a brewery. Uggg. This state sucks.
The beer was good by Arizona standards. People think 4 Peaks is some kind of magical elixir — it is average beer. The Electric is a stepchild of 4 Peaks, I believe they share investors and probably brew recipes. AZ needs more places like this and people need to drink more local beer. Drinking good local beer is so important. Brew your own, get educated and frequent your local brewery… just don’t go there and judge them on their food.

DAVE’S-I HOPE THIS CRITIQUE WAKES YOU UP!
Sunday evening, enjoying an almost cool night, wife and I dropped in on Dave’s. We were in for some good olé’ bar food for dinner, and the east side patio seemed inviting. Sat at the second table, and was annoyed by the smell. Glanced around the patio and other tables, all were dirty. Could be trouble!
Well, waitress came over right away so maybe service is good. One Chardonnay, one OK Ale, and opted for wings and sliders. Drinks came soon enough, and both were quaffable. But smell lingered, so we moved down a few tables (it was slow!)
Waiting, waiting for food. Again, waiting. After about 20m, chipotle wings showed up. 5m more, sliders and fries. All were very good, but were the only part of dining we enjoyed. But the wait… for appetizers… sheesh! The lack of cleanliness just became more apparent too. The condiment box was ragged and spotted, the containers were covered with mustard, ketchup dribbles, and we emptied the ketchup quickly on the fries. Waitress had forgotten us after food delivered, so getting ketchup refill took 10m. FRIES GOT COLD-​BAD!
After eating, then had to run down waitress and actually go to bar to pay tab. So much for the promising service. I better wrap this up, and re state my points-​Food was good, service can be hit and miss, but really, clean up the place, please! We do intend to return, but not sure when.

I went in this sat with some friends, and it was dead.
We each got a beer, and enjoyed on of the last cool evenings.
I had a IPA which is quite good, I the tried their oatmeal stout, it tasted water and the malts were a bit too roasted for a beer that lacked body.
One odd thing they offer is a «Tower» for $ 21 one would assume it would contain at least two pitches ($ 11) worth of beer, however it does not, it really has just 1.5 pitchers worth. Plus they are probably hard to clean.
Live music started around 10 making it hard to converse so we left for a stagger up Hayden Butte.

Really 2.5 stars, and with some small changes, it could be 3.5 stars.
I don’t come here for the food (with one exception) and I wish I was driven to come here for the beer — but so far, I’m not.
The beer is OK, but nothing stands out, and for now, this is a big for now, the beer is not made in house, but that will change soon. Being an IPA lover, I am stunned that their IPA has the lowest IBUs, at 17, among their 4 beers (IPA, Pale Ale, Lager, Oatmeal Stout). I’m at a loss on the IPA (and yes, I did get all beer geek on you). I don’t need 90 Minute IPA levels, but I’d like to taste my hops. That said, the IPA has good flavor.
The staff is friendly and usually a blast to hang out with, although it appears turnover is high (yes, I know, shocking). I’ve had some great nights and afternoons just chatting with people (including watching some Marines in from CA hit on every woman that moved… it was one of the few times that I was actually rooting for the guys). It is a nice, although slightly awkward space, because of a front room that makes no sense. Still, it has a bar that opens to the outside and a nice patio.
The food is slow and average on a good day. However, the sausage/​bratwurst sampler is awesome, but I’m not sure it is on the menu all the time. And let me tell you, if you play hide the brat with me, I’m not down.
Ultimately, I would hang out here more often if the establishment had cared about a small error that was made with one of my credit receipts (and the beer was better). Basically, a $ 7 + $ 3 tip receipt was run for $ 40 instead of $ 10. I informed them and left a note with my bank record for the manager. She never called and the error was never fixed. Consistent with the nice staff, the bartender did comp me a beer when I told her the story.
Given the good location, I’m sure Dave’s can survive, I just hope the beer improves.

About a year ago I had some Dave’s Electric beer in Bisbee. I thought the beer was just ok. It was more about the novelty of having a beer brewed and sold only in Bisbee. After Bisbee though, I never gave Dave’s Electric much thought until they opened a brewpub about a mile from my house. My wife and I are big fans of trying new local breweries and brewpubs so were excited to try it. We finally made it last Saturday at about 9pm and the place was dead. There were only about 5 other people in the place which is good because I like to have my choice of seat and don’t like to wait for drinks and service.
The place is pretty big but probably 2/​3rds of it is taken up by huge brewing tanks so the actual bar/​dining area is pretty small. We opted to sit outside because they had lots of heaters. The heater by our table though was on the fritz so the bouncer guy stood there almost the entire time trying to keep the thing lit which was thoughtful.
I really liked the atmosphere of the place. The bar opens up to a nice patio where you can sit, chat and people watch. There are several TVs where you can watch whatever games are on. There was also a small band playing in the corner. Being right on ASU’s campus and having reasonably priced beers it was hard to believe that the place wasn’t busier. I’m guessing that the place will get super crowded before ASU football games so get there early if you want a seat because space is limited.
Their selection of beer is small. They only had 4 of their beers on tap which was limiting but also made it easier to decide. They were all $ 4 ($ 3 during happy hour) which I guess is pretty reasonable. I had the Old Frog Grog and my wife had the IPA. Their beer isn’t my favorite but it is very good. It is more about trying a new place and supporting a local brewery rather than going for a superb beer.
A couple of the reviews on here mention poor service. I think that the service was very good. Our waitress was quick and friendly and I have no complaints.
They have a pretty large food menu for a brewery but is still pretty typical bar food so I’m not sure how good it is.
Will I rush back? No; I just didn’t think the place was all that special and different from a lot of other bars in AZ. However, if I am in the immediate area and want a decent beer, then yes I will return.

I went to Dave’s Electric for a Happy Hour. The group I met for Happy Hour was rather large, so I decided to buy my drink at the bar. It took them at least 10 minutes to take my order. There were 2 people behind the bar taking orders and 1 at the cash register. It wasn’t a big bar to begin with and the bar area wasn’t that busy.
One crotchity old guy was talking to his friend and said something on the lines of «Geez it’s taking forever to get a beer.» The lady at the cash register told him that she was closing the register and then had some pretty passive agressive statements to say to him. The old guy was like, I wasn’t even talking to you and then went on a rant. Even though he was rude, he had a point.
I’ve been to bigger bars, that were busier with the same amount of people, and had my drink in a timely manner. Even an acknowledgement (like, I’ll be with you in a minute), is better than totally ignoring the customer.
Anyway, I had Dave’s Electric Brew and it was alright. I went and sat with my group. I tried to order the crab cakes, but they were out. So I ordered Edamame. It took about 30 minutes to get my order. I think the Edamame was overcooked because they were really squishy and difficult to eat. It also took a very long time to get my bill and pay. I know my group was large, but it just took a long time.
I figure the reason for the substandard customer service to Dave’s Electric is that it’s a new establishment and they are working out the kinks. I hope they can work out these issues. It’s a great location right off the lightrail and they have a nice patio area.

Ordered the french onion soup and it was so salty I could barely eat it. Best part though? The slice of bread on top was a hamburger bun. How LAME. The waitress was cool and very attentive. My friend ordered chili cheese fries that were huge and tasted decent. The burger was a greasy mess.
I love the set up of this place, there have been so many different restaurants here and none seem to last long. And with mediocre food I doubt this one will last.

After repeat visits it just gets worse — the service, that is. It was as if we were held hostage and could not leave for a full 25 minutes because that’s how long it took to receive hour check after several requests to several different employees. Female servers might be somewhat cute but know absolutely nothing about beer and this is a brewpub. I asked if they have an seasonal beers and the reply was no, that they only sell their own beers! Even more amusing is their «industrial pale ale» is an IPA but it is not bitter. So, they say it’s an IPA but it’s not bitter, it’s not a true-​to-​style IPA. Then people say «Oh I don’t like IPA’s» and want something else. Their attempt to rename a beer/​style is actually hurting them. Amazing.
The menu was not the regular menu, just a small list of about 4 – 5 choices. To make it worse, the actual menu on every table was wrong, yet the kept the menus on the tables anyway. I heard 3 separate tables order the fried raviolis but they did not have them.
This place is *only* in business because of the location, location, location.

I was in town for the Cal/​asu game this past weekend and a few of us Bear fans decided to leave Sun Devil Stadium @ halftime for a beer break. Well… we never made it back for the second half of the game!!!
I’m originally from south Scottsdale so I know the Tempe area pretty well, and I know that whatever business is on this corner has always failed. It seems like every bar that’s been in this space has had more of a «loungey» feel, which doesn’t really make sense when you’re across the street from a football stadium. The fact that this place feels like an actual bar is a big plus!!!
The place isn’t huge and surprisingly wasn’t all that crowded for a game day (apparently it’s only been open a couple of weeks). There wasn’t much on tap, but the Four Peaks brew that I was drinking was tasty. They also had $ 4 Jaager shots, which I downed a couple of!!! Honestly, I didn’t get a good look at the menu (food or drink), but since this place is still in the process of opening everything is still a work in progess. I shared an order of nachos with some friends and they didn’t disappoint!!!
As far as the crowd goes, it’s a slightly older group of alums (30’s-40’s), which is probably why our experience was so pleasant (rooting for the visiting team in a college town can be an interesting experience as far as dealing with current students). Our waitress (Erica) was awesome!!! She was attentive and patient, which is a major asset when you’re working a college bar. The excellent level of service may have had something to with the fact that I told her I Unilocal (my tab seemed a bit smaller than it should have been as well), but hey, either way I had a great time!!!
Since I don’t live here, I obviously won’t become a regular, but I would definitely recommend this place to those hanging out around the ASU campus who want an alternative to the Mill scene…

I had already got a bit of a nosh at Casey Moore’s before I decided to go and check out Dave’s electric brew when I have been waiting to open like. forever you know dude? (thus ends my valley girl impression). They seemed to have a decent enough menu, the highlight of which for me will be the grilled German Sausages with mustard and dark bread. Dave (the owner) was there and said that he also intends to offer sausage with cooked cabbage and applesauce as well, which I’m all for!
As someone else mentioned, even though I was inside the smoke from those on the patio did tend to drift in but that was the price I paid for a beautiful view of the ASU stadium with the occasional light rail train sliding by (feels very euro) so thumbs up on one of the best sunset patio views of any patio restaurant near ASU.
As for the beers, since I’m recovering this weekend from a week-​long trip to Tokyo for business (kampai everyone!) I choose the lowest alcohol beer, the oatmeal stout. Dave said it had a chocolate finish and boy, it was very chocolate and not as smooth as I expected but… it was a hand crafted beer. I hope to try the IPA next time and Dave also noted that as soon as they could get an electrician in to finish up the connections in the brewing area he would start brewing beer on the premises.
The most promising thing was that Dave said his place would support the art of local home-​brewing. As soon as things get settled he will be holding regular home brew competitions and the homebrewer who wins the taste competition will get to brew that beer using the brew systems at Dave’s Electric Brewpub. As the occasional practitioner of the brewing arts I have to admit. I’m a bit excited to have a reason to brew some beer.
So, for now, 3 stars, since I was not all that crazy about the beer I tried and did not get a chance to try the food. However, service was pretty decent and one thing that Dave’s does that I’ve never seen anywhere else is provide the IBU or bitterness units for each beer so it let’s you know the general hoppy bitterness of the brew. I intend to ride the rail there from work for happy hour at least every other week so hope to be able to improve my rating after a few more visits.