Brew Crew
Great breweries for hanging out if you have a big group.
Post by Scott 8/1/2024
The beauty of many breweries for families is the flexibility. You can go for a beer, a meal, or the entire afternoon. Same goes with the crowd. You can invite everyone you know and it doesn’t matter who shows up, if they show up, when they show up, or how long they stay. Come hang out! Here are some of our favorite spots to hang out with 2-20 of your best, or soon to be best friends.
Suffolk Punch (SouthPark) - There’s a lot to love about Suffolk Punch SouthPark. It’s in the mall. It has a playground. The bier garden seating is first come - first serve, mostly long picnic tables, able to seat your whole crew. There’s coffee, cocktails, even a kids’ menu! You know what makes it great for groups, though? Tabletop QR code ordering. People can show up for 20 minutes or two hours and everyone can leave, whenever they want, and be happy. Enjoy a craft cocktail or a Daydream Lager, grab a flatbread and wait for your crew to roll in. Or not. No pressure.
Fonta Flora (Optimist Park) - Fonta Flora at Optimist Hall should be a cheat code. The beer could be ok and it would still be fun, but the beer is great! Invite your whole neighborhood and dare them to not find something delicious to eat. Then, take your food down to Fonta Flora, set up at one of the picnic tables outside, and while away the afternoon with a Hopbeard or a Lake James Lime. Dessert? Check out Honeysuckle Gelato or Suarez Bakery. Bonus points if everyone orders from a different stall and you have an absolute smorgasbord.
Free Range (Camp North End) - There’s so much to do and see at Camp North End, so why not do it with a beer in hand? Invite everyone and let them choose their own adventure. Get empanadas at La Caseta, Shawarma at Halal, and indulge with a popsicle at PopBar, a cookie at Wentworth and Fenn, or ice cream at Seemingly Overzealous. Take it all back to Free Range and enjoy a Camp Beer lager before setting off again to check out the murals. Grab a to-go cup from Free Range and explore it as a crew.
Edge City (Oakwald) - You’re probably noticing a pattern of beer, picnic tables and multiple food options. Edge City delivers on all that with a kid’s dream of food options. McDonald’s. Hawthorne’s Pizza. Wing Stop. OMG Donuts. The brewery lawn has plenty of room for a game of tag, so order a Foggy Bottom Boi hazy IPA and a large pizza for the group and let the kids (respectfully) roam while you live the real life version of Nextdoor. Are the Edwards ever going to bring in their trash cans?
Middle James (Pineville) - Someone once described my neighborhood as “Ballantyne Adjacent”, so why not invite your friends and family to a Ballantyne adjacent brewery? No, not Olde Meck, though it’s great for groups too, but Middle James in Pineville. It’s ideal for groups, especially teams after a game, with a sea of picnic tables, a ton of grass, and a food menu that is absolutely delicious. You can draw up a triple reverse for your next U-8 flag football game with your co-coach over a Highly Dramatic hazy IPA or Mint City Gold pale ale and a Cuban sandwich!