Palooza Brewery & Gastropub - Kenwood, California

Marcus S.

What a place.!!! Today 7 of us rode our motorcycles from Oakland, up here to Palooza’s for lunch. First time here for all of us. Called ahead of time for reservations. Pulled up, table was ready for us. Ordered food, and drinks from our waitress Ryan, who by the way was Awesome too!!!! Food was served pretty quickly. While we were waiting for our order, the owner, Suzette came over and talked to us, explaining the history of the restaurant. Pretty impressive too. Food was off the charts!! Very delicious too. I had the French dip. Was a big and tasty sandwich. Upon leaving, asked if they could take a picture of us. The waitress took the shot, and Suzette joined in. Was a great day for all involved. We will definitely be back up this summer.
Thanks to Suzette, and the staff who served us. Awesome experience for all of us.

Brandi A.

LOVED, LOVED this place in Kenwood. We stayed in Kenwood at a vacation rental when we came to wine country for vacation at the end of September. We are here twice and loved it both times.
Great food, great service - ask for Hank-quite possibly the tallest server I’ve ever had! He was very friendly, easy going and knowledgeable.
The food is delicious, cocktails are great and loved sitting out on the covered patio watching pizzas go in the over. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had and the fries!!!! Oh goodness. The bread pudding was super delicious too.

Lorin K.

Great little spot we came across while driving to our Airbnb. Nice outdoor space. John our waiter was great! He was from Monterey too which is where we are from.
Food was good for the most part. Oysters isn’t my thing by I gave it a try. Not horrible but still not a fan lol. Anyway, great little casual spot!

Susan F.

We had a lovely afternoon meal here, cheeseburger and fries and the shrimp tacos- both were delicious!. Our server Rachel, was helpful and attentive. I accidentally left my prescription sunglasses on the table and the owner, Suzette, graciously mailed them to me as we were just traveling through town. We will definitely come back here when we visit again!

Dustin

Normally I don’t love being too harsh on to-go food. They were dead for a Saturday night, but it
just wasn’t good.

The staff were friendly, but clearly bored and standing around.

The food tasted old, like they made it too early in the 30min quoted time and it was under the warmer. All around just lackluster. We didn’t finish our entrees and were about to look into the desserts when I smelled the foul cheesecake (clearly gone bad) before I had even opened the bag.

Surendra M.

Nice ambience👍Food was good . . such a welcoming staffs with good smile. they were showing their hospitality by asking, "hows the food ?"
i left one star because all our ordered food came at a same time which was not good. . we rushed to eat pizza before it get cold and we couldn't enjoy our appetizers (salad and salmon )
but want to visit next time too for other foods

Jo K.

The menu is huge. There is something for everyone. We stopped by on our way from Healdsburg to Sonoma.
The food was fairly standard for what you would expect from a gastropub style brewery. However, the prices were steep. $22 for the French dip and potato chips is absurd. Had to pay 3 more dollars to upgrade to french fries.
The roast beef on the sandwich was good but the au jus is where the flavor was and the portion size was small.
The pizza’s looked really good and I didn’t see the huge pizza oven outside until we left. Would recommend going that direction instead of the sandwiches or burger.
The service was friendly but slow. Like most restaurants, they seem to struggle for staffing. There was only one server, one runner and the bartender who was also stepping in to help. There was another woman who was walking around but not sure what she was doing. Our order took almost 40 min.

Iona L.

Three stars because the pizza was tasty (if under cooked by about five minutes) and the price was decent - but those things DID NOT outweigh the lack of urgency by the service team or the manager's lack of presence. Also, someone please help me understand the 3% cost of living charge added to my check?! Just raise the dang prices. Absolutely unacceptable to add this to a check.

Disappointing service (long before the check arrived) as the very obvious manager greeted us at the host stand with a "he'll be right back to help you" as a hello when we walked in. After about six minutes, when the host did not return - but the manager was finished making the dinner floor plan (it was 115pm) - she went to find him, chatted with him for about three more minutes and then looked back at us and sent him in to seat us. No one acknowledged us at the table for about another five minutes and our eventual greeting was "Are you ready?" When there were only about seven other people inside and maybe four tables outside. Manager still talking to but not actually helping her team or speaking to guests. Fortunately we were ready and ordered. When I asked about the beer flight, I was given a choice of six or seven beers. I asked about the style of one of the beers, as the style wasn't listed on the menu and the server said it was a lager or ale, she wasn't sure. Brought the flight and told me it was a sour which is not a style I drink.

Overall the hapless folks who work there were all nice enough (except the manager, who avoided all contact with guests) but service was unsophisticated and amateurish.

Ultimately it was B+ pizza and B+ beer. I miiiiiight give it a second try if I could try bar service, but it's risky.