Start Line Brewing Co - Hopkinton

We had lunch here on the Saturday before memorial day. We tried the raspberry lime sour, the tortuga Mexican lager, and the brand new pilsner.The Mexican lager was a great lager, nicely rounded with a hint of extra hops over your average mass market version.The pilsner was awesome. A very nice gentleman who I assume is the proprietor explained to us that pilsners take far longer to make than an ipa, but he likes them and he gets to decide so there it is. Whoa Nelly indeed.The sour was very tasty but very sour. What did I expect, right? Not something I could drink in volume but very refreshing.To eat, we had pulled pork poutine, brisket sandwich, and falafel sandwich.The poutine was outstanding, with pulled pork, a bbq sauce style gravy, cheese curds and fripp fries. I had never heard of the latter they look like small skins hollowed out wedges, maybe. They were very crispy and a perfect vehicle for all of the other ingredients.The brisket was thick, tender and came with caramelized onions on brioche.The falafel sandwich was delicious and crispy, delivered on flatbread with a tahini style sauce, cucumber, tomato and hummus.The patio was large and well laid out. Tables were roomy and comfortable. You might find yourself sharing with other parties at busy times. There are lots of umbrellas for shade, and lots of lights strung up. I'm sure it is very pretty in the evening.The staff were very friendly and accommodating, helping us to get ourselves set up with a drink and order food. Hint seat yourself and get drinks, order food at the bar using your tab and table number.

So to start, it’s a really nice place, cool atmosphere, and good drinks. That’s kind of it though. I didn’t have the best experience when I went here. Now I get that I went here on a Sunday evening a little after 6:30, they’re open until 8 per their listed hours. Last call for food that night was 6:50 and 7:30 drinks which is fine, I fully understand that places close early in a post covid world. What I was not fine with was that I needed to have 3(three) different people, manager included, in the space of 1(one) minute tell me that information and that they were trying close a little early. And from what I could see, they were well staffed at that time. Definitely left a sour feeling with that and promptly paid and left right away. They should probably change their hours for Sunday at least if that’s going to be the case.

Went with my two small kids on a slow Sunday evening (4pm)had a few beers and food, but my son was making a mess of the floor which I was planning on cleaning up. The owner or manager noticed the mess and a snarky remark that he is in the business of selling beer and having kids there was not ok.First off they have a kids menu, so not sure what he meant by that. Also, did he not realize that the brewery is located in a town where tons of families with small kids are?Never going back and been sure to tell our other brewery friends with kids about our experience on how the owner/manager treated us.

They make a delicious seltzer for gluten free customers love that it is not too sweet. I asked for the lobster roll without the roll and with a side salad. It was excellent. My husband had the ribs which he said were good but a bit dry. The corn bread and corn bean salad were too hot for him with too many jalapeños. He said the Haden Rowe Pilsner was tasty. They have great live music on weekends but they do not have enough tables or seating outside. Plenty of space to seat more efficiently.

Great BBQ food craft beers ,clean bright one of the larger barbecue restaurants we've been to lots of open seating , so you see yourself, go up to the counter order your food a waiter brings the food to your table which has a number on it live entertainment, which was great the night we went a Johnny Cash tribute band performed Counterfeit Cash engaging the guests I highly recommend this restaurant and entertainment was a bonus