Steel Toad Brewpub and Dining Hall opened a few weeks ago and they are already buzzing. Long lines on Fridays and the weekends. The dining hall is 2 floors and the top floor is mostly for larger groups. We saw a lot of kids, so it is a popular place to bring the kids or infants and have a beer. Mount Pleasant is really buzzing with all these microbreweries opening up in the neighbourhood.
The venue has beautiful decor and ambiance, they do have live music every night too.
It was intimidating to go inside because we were confronted by their doormen that acted like bouncers warning us of the 1 hour wait and trying to detour everyone away from the doors. I totally understand since it would be a fire hazard. It really was a busy night, but luckily, I made reservations a week in advanced since I knew no other restaurant in town would have seats open for 15 people.
It was really packed inside. Some of my friends that joined us a little bit later had troubles coming in too. My friends were a couple and the staff didn’t believe they were with our party, so they sent them upstairs to us one by one a few minutes a part. This really made no sense at all.
Blonde was one of their house beers for October 2014. I ordered this one because it is one of their lightest beers. They brew it in small batches, so if the run out, it’s gone. This beer was quite popular, so by the time we finished our first glass, we couldn’t order more.
Marinated Tuna ($14) has cucumber, avocado, citrus, Thai chili, and caper vinaigrette. For the price, we imagined it be larger. It tasted ok, but it’s too expensive for what you get.
Carrot and Rabbit Soup ($7) has walnut, apple, and sultana. TaiwaneseGirl thought the soup was ok but nothing special.
Crispy Duck Salad ($12) has pea shoots, cress, pickled daikon & carrot,and black sesame.
The Burger ($13) has cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sesame bun, with their special sauce. You also get a side of their hand cut fries. The burger wasn’t anything special and a few of the burgers were overcooked. The friends that ordered this thought it was meh.
Mussels and House Ale ($20) is served with grilled garlic baguette. The mussels were large and plump, very delicious with the House Ale sauce. The grilled garlic baguette was pretty charred, so it tasted mostly burnt. Besides that part, the mussels were good.
Sheppards Pie ($16) has braised lamb stew, butter mash, and crispy shallot. At first glance, everyone thought it was takoyaki, but it was just the butter mash balls. My friends that ordered this dish really liked it. No complaints at all.
It was a birthday party, so we were able to bring in a cake and have them serve it for no extra charge.
Overall, the ambiance of the place was great for large groups, but the service and quality of the food could be improved. Since they have only been open a few weeks, I hope they improve those 2 aspects.
We Rate Steel Toad: 
Address:
97 E 2nd Ave Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://steeltoad.ca/
