Abbey Pub
A friend of mine is very close to opening a new beer bar over on Bend’s westside, and this weekend we got a chance to look in on the progress and get some updates to blog about.
Located next to WineStyles, just off of College Way at the base of the hill, the Abbey Pub is the name of the place. As of right now, they are planning on opening up this Wednesday, which is ambitious but doable. You may have seen the build-out going on in the eastern part of the building—while we were there, a guy walked up to find out if they were open yet, and Geoff (the owner) said that since their sign went up, people have been coming by and asking about it.
The Abbey is going be a beer bar, in the spirit of the Bier Stein in Eugene and Belmont Station in Portland: they will have between six and 12 beers on tap, and will be offering something like 150 (to start) specialty bottles for sale in their coolers. The bottled beer isn’t just to go; you’ll be able to buy the bottle(s) and open them up on-premise to enjoy.
Here’s the initial draft beer lineup:
- Laurelwood Free Range Red
- Double Mountain Kolsch
- Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
- Green Flash West Coast IPA
- Walking Man Homo Erectus (Imperial IPA)
- Hopworks Urban Brewery Organic Survival "Seven-Grain" Stout
- Stone Arrogant Bastard
- Lagunitas Lucky 13
- Trumer Pils
- Caldera Dry Hop Orange
There will be a food menu as well, though I don’t yet know what it looks like; I would expect appetizers and pub fare, with some desserts being added later.
Hours for the Abbey are going to be 11am to 10pm—though I don’t know yet what days they’re planning to be open (dumb oversight on my part to not ask).
The location used to be an ice cream shop, but they’ve put a lot of good work into it and I really like how it’s turned out. Check out the additional pictures below—you can see there’s still some work to do before Wednesday—like I said, ambitious but doable.
I’ll post any updates to the schedule or anything, too, so stay tuned—but right now, plan on visiting the Abbey as of this Wednesday the 5th.
No deschutes beer at all on draft?
And another one gone
And another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, Bend’s gonna get him too
Another one bites the dust
Nope, no Deschutes. You can get that on draft anywhere else in town.
While I like Deschutes, I would rather have a place like this serving stuff you cannot get elsewhere in town – personally I think this place will fly
Very stoked about this place! Anonymous, I’m sure they’ll have Deschutes and other Bend beers as some of their 150+ bottles, but i’m glad they’re not wasting a tap handle on something I could get everywhere in town. I’m very excited about their beer lineup. Let me at it!
I believe Geoff’s answer to Deschutes beer was he didn’t want to serve beers you can get just "anywhere" and that he might consider Deschutes limited/speciality beers, such as XXI or other seasonals.
Remember, what he has to start is not necessarily permanent. I also suggested to him to have comment cards to welcome suggestions of what people *want* on tap and I believe he’s open to suggestions.
Thanks for all the comments. As is stated above, I’m not looking to serve things that are on tap all over town. We have excellent breweries here in town (Deschutes, BBC, Silver Moon, 10 barrel, Cascade Lakes, etc) but I’m trying to stand apart by having different things on tap.
Sammie I hope you’re wrong, but time will tell.
P.S. Ran into a slight problem with the coolers, so no bottled beer yet but we are working on it.
P.P.S. Jon thanks for the write up!
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
i like beer. another winner for the best side of Bend, the WEST SIIIEEEEDE!
Are you open yet?
Hi Anon,
Yes, we had our first night open to the public on Thursday and it seemed to go pretty well. The learning curve is still pretty steep, but we are getting there. I think 2 or so groups came in and left before I could get to them, which I feel bad about. We stop offering table service at 4 pm, to make it a little easier on the server (me) so we won’t have to hire as many people, thus keeping the prices a little lower for the customers.
Had lots of people from our local homebrew club (COHO, of which I have been and active member, but it seems inevitable that my participation will go down) and people who read HackBend. Apparently The Source picked the story up too; I wish the would have given me a week to get my feet under me, but the news is out there so that is their job.
We have some food, and will have more in the future but honestly – I’m a beer bar and am all about the beer so BOR – Take it easy on me! Give it a little time. BTW Nice review on Brother Jon’s, they have lots of experience and it shows. I’m trying to do this on a bit of a shoestring at first. Thanks everyone and any comments are appreciated. Your Wife – comment cards will be coming.
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
Just wanted to let Hack Bend know that the most recent Source gave a shout out to your blog mentioning this very opening! 🙂
Bend has needed a pub like this for a very long time. I can’t wait to check it out. Suggestion: keep a tap dedicated to locals. Economy, buy local, and things like that. Good luck!
S
Visited the pub a couple nights ago with a couple friends — great service and even better beer! I think the prices are reasonable and you can’t go wrong with a couple soft pretzels w/ dipping sauces to nibble on. So glad to have this establishment just a hop, skip, and a jump away from my front door!!
Thanks for the positive comments! Some days have been busier than others but that is to be expected. I am cautiously optimistic. We were quite busy tonight (Wed, Aug 12) so the service may be lacking at times (my fault) but I am trying to keep costs down as much as possible to get started.
There are two schools of thought when getting started: run as lean as possible (mine) OR have lots of staff on so if things do get busy, you will be prepared and people will still have a good experience. I can see both sides, but I am going to try to do things myself and get a feel for what people are looking for. I am trying to encourage more counter vs. table service for that same reasons. I hope people understand and if not, well its better to add people than cut back hours or fire anyone. I don’t look forward to my first experience doing that but I know it is part of the job.
Thanks again and let me know when you come in that you heard about us here and anything that can be improved. FYI I have had some constructive criticism on the lighting ( I want to get some pendants/hanging lights over the bar) and music (I need to figure out how to get Pandora streaming)
I have a list I am trying to keep of beers people want to get in on tap… so if you would like to see something, if I can get it I will. Okay, tired…. off to bed.
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
P.S. Scott, I had someone from Deschutes come in a introduce themselves and wondered whey I would get something from them on. I honestly told them I like their beer (I do) but Mirror Pond, Black Butte, etc was everywhere and I was trying to get different things on, but if I could get Mirror Mirror Barley Wine/ Black Butte XXI / Abyss on I would definitely do that, however I assumed they would want that kind of stuff for their own pub. He said that isn’t true and would be happy to have that sort of thing on tap around town, so look for that here at some point. Can’t go wrong with one of those in a nice snifter!
Hey:
Just wanted you to know that a user on the website BeerAdvocate has just added you to the database as of this afternoon. I’m looking for a phone number and/or web address to add to your listing and haven’t found one…
Cheers & best wishes,
Brian
BTW: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20815
im so stoked that there is finally somewhere i can go to get good beers on tap that arent just from our local breweries. dont get me wrong im a huge fan of 5 out of 7 of our local breweries and I support them to the fullest. But theres so much good beer out there that rarely makes it over the mountains. I had a delicious sandwich there today and washed it down with some amazing kolsch. looking forward to some bottled beers and maybe some more imports. Keep it up.
Are kids welcome until a certain time?
Do you fill growlers?
Kids are welcome until 5:00 pm everyday and we are working on stretching that until 7:00. We don’t fill growlers at this point but may in the future. I am considering filling Pint and Quart sized Mason jars soon. Glad to hear people enjoying themselves. That Double Mountain Kolsh (Hood River, OR) was great, but sadly is gone. We have Ommegang Abbey Ale on and Victory Prima Pils. More great beers are going to blow soon, but we will find more! Thanks again,
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
Oh, and phone number is:
(541) 323-2337 (323-BEER)
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
Great beers, but I think you should strongly consider changing the lighting and possibly the floors. It would make the place feel a lot more comfortable. Just an idea.
Congrats to my big cousin! GO FOR IT! It is your passion and always something you have been awesome at! I can’t wait to come and visit!!
Yeah, the lighting is going to change here pretty soon. I know I’m not wild about it, and I have received several comments. I guess I have just gotten used to it. I’m not wild about the floors either, but I don’t think I am going to rip up the tile floors. That is kinda a big (and expensive) job. I will do the lights first and go from there. Thanks again for the feedback.
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
P.S. Thanks Jilly, how is little Jullia?
Did the hours change?
love the place and the beer selection – BUT, the lighting needs to be changed to create a better ‘mood/atmosphere’
Hi everyone,
Our hours have changed a little bit. Here’s the scoop: we were closed last Tuesday due to having a wisdom tooth extracted.
We will be closed this Tuesday due to going back to the dentist in the AM and then, frankly, taking the rest of the day off to rest. Coming up on a month straight with the only day off being the wisdom tooth day, I need a little break.
We are opening at 11:00 am Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat. We have been opening at 2:00 on Sunday because it has been really slow in the mornings, but this will change when Football start and when COCC starts (Sept 21st I think).
I have started a twitter account if anyone wants to follow that to see what the current draft list is (twitter.com/TheAbbeyPub). We blew the Big Sky Trout Slayer yesterday and put Terminal Gravity ESG (Extra Special Golden) on. Upcoming beers are: Sea Dog brewing Blueberry Wheat and Dogfish Head India Brown Ale.
As for the lighting, that will be taken care of after the cooler issues. I have a guy coming over on Wednesday to look at the coolers, so we should have the coolers up and stocked (somewhat) by Friday. That means the lights should be addressed by the following Friday. I will go shopping for lights on Tuesday and try to get that taken care of. Thanks for all the posts and suggestions.
Say Hi when you come in and let me know you found out about my place on Jons’ awesome blog!
Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
323-2337 (323-BEER)
1740 NW Pence Ln
Congratulations, Geoff – the place looks incredible! And we can’t wait to taste your brew selection. Good for you – and Cheers to all.
DOn’t forget us in Eugene! Got the Ninkasi? Good job Geoff!
I’m a busy guy but when I saw they were putting in a Pub just downstairs from my apartment I was seriously excited. When I read the write up in the Source I got even more excited. Just had my first experience last night at Geoffs pub and have to say I will definitely be returning. The conversations were great with the other pub patrons and with Geoff and Sharon. They have done a great job making it feel like "home" with their great service and down to earth attitudes. So I thought I’d do the neighborly thing and spread the word about this awesome Pub.
P.S. I hear a rumor Geoff and Game Crazy might be teaming up for a couple weeks to run a Madden football tourney on Tuesday nights, lets hope so!