Crafty Bastards Restaurant & Pub

Occasionally I will go out for a burger (not on my plant-based diet) so it better be good. This is about the only place that understands what rare means. Feeling the urge just thinking about it. Service was good. Ambiance typical pub sports bar with multiple TVs.

My daughter and I were driving through Gainesville today and decided to stop here for lunch. When you walk in, it is definitely a sports bar. They had several tv's, and we were able to watch the Olympics on them. The only staff person that spoke to us was our server. He got a bit flustered when we asked him what he would recommend, or what some of the most popular dishes are. He basically started reciting the entire menu to us. But, other than that, he did a good job. I know this is minor, but I didn't like that they didn't have straws. But that's just my hang up. The menu was a variety of typical bar type appetizers and food. We got the onion rings for our app, and they were huge. Some were crispy and some were not. Then, we both got the cowboy hamburger. It came with crispy onion straws, thick cut boar's head bacon, and bbq sauce. Both of our burgers were cooked perfectly, but I felt they had too much char on them. The fries were pretty tasty. Overall, it wasn't bad. But it wasn't great either.

This is a place with a good atmosphere to come with the family. Every time I've been here I haven't had any complaints. The employee who served me today was super mega friendly. I ordered some shrimp tacos, theywere delicious and very well seasoned. But I think if there was cabbage instead of lettuce, it would have given the taco a crunchy touch. My husband ordered fish and fries, but he ordered them with sweet potato; I tried one of them, it blew my mind, they are the best sweet potato I've ever tasted, sweet and crunchy, not greasy at all.

I came here to watch a UF Gators game and I wasn't the only one, the place was packed with people of all ages on a Saturday night! You can tell this really is a mom-and-pop establishment loved by the local community. I started with a delicious pear cider by Original Sin. Wow, such incredible flavor, I would return for that alone. Then I ordered the pesto turkey panini, which was perfectly grilled with crispy bread, melty cheese, and great pesto flavor. I substituted onion rings which were thick-cut with a healthy coating of batter. There is seating inside and outside, at tables, booths, or the bar. They have board and card games to play, plus plenty of TVs. Looking forward to trying them out again soon.

The food was so incredibly bad. We haven't swing by fast food after because they didn't even make chicken tenders taste okay. I got the spicy burger (not pictured) for $16 which was dry, tasteless and not spicy at all. What an incredibly disappointing experience. It was just after opening and not at all busy.

So... this place is interesting. I had my daughter pick a restaurant for the day before Mother's Day. We like to go to places we typically have not been before. She selected this place no knowing what this place was all about. As we entered, there was a person smoking in front of the restaurant. I hated that since it is the law not to do that in Florida and for the restaurant not reenforce that law well; -1 on them. However; I can't rate them by what other people might do. I entered and as I looked around I got to say from the get go plain and simple it is a bar. From the time you entered that is what it is. It is a bar. Now the food I would say: it was surprisingly good. The quality of the food is on the higher end of the scale for bar food. I would say much better that chain food. It is not a fancy place, but it is not the big M.

Service was slow and there were barely any tables occupied. The place and bathrooms are filthy. They had no straws and didn't tell us until they brought drinks (we have a 3 year old). Food as basic. The burger didn't have any seasoning on it.

Brittany keeps it all together!!! She's very friendly with a great attitude to boot !! As we were passing through Gainesville, we met up with our kids for some cold ones. I ordered a flight and enjoyed them all. They also have a Package store next door with a very wide selection of beers. Occasionally, they have Open House events with the latest beer Co they are promoting. Very friendly people. Yes, we would go back !!!

In Gainesville for an appt, so thought we would try somewhere new for lunch. This restaurant has one of the largest selections of craft beers we've seen! Food was good, service was great, took quite awhile for our food to come out, but we weren't in a hurry so no issues. If you like craft beer (they do have the "normal" yucky kind too haha) and home made food, this is your place. Hope to go back next time we are in town.

This is the first time going to this restaurant. I went on a Tuesday night unless you're into trivia that's not the best night to go.It's very loud and very crowded. The service was excellent five stars. The food was two stars.