Beertown Public House
Thirty taps, the Paddletron sampler and an all-season beer garden on Waterloo Public Square — the region's beer HQ.
#26 of 27 restaurants in KWC
What it is
A modern public house on Waterloo Town Square, pouring 30 draught lines — heavy on Ontario craft — beside a chef-driven comfort menu, with an all-season covered beer garden overlooking the square. Born here in 2012, Beertown grew into a small Ontario family that includes a Cambridge sibling on Hespeler Road.
Why locals rate it
Beertown solved the group-night logistics problem: enough taps that every beer opinion at the table wins, a menu broad enough for the vegan and the wing devotee to coexist, and a location that puts the whole uptown evening within a hundred metres. The Paddletron — a sampler paddle that works through the draught wall — turned beer indecision into the house sport. It’s polished-chain competent rather than chef-driven daring, and on a patio evening over the square, that’s exactly the right tool.
What to order
Start with a Paddletron flight to map the taps, then commit to a pint of the best one. The kitchen’s strengths are the shareables and burgers; the separate vegan menu is one of the region’s most complete.
Insider tip
The beer garden is enclosed and heated in winter — it’s the rare patio seat that works in January, and the square’s skating rink turns it into dinner-and-a-show.
Heads-up
Uptown’s busiest corner means uptown’s busiest room: weekend waits are standard and the volume climbs with the taps. Food here is the beer’s supporting act — order accordingly.
