Fr8yard – Full Review

My 1 year old daughter seems to think the car is some sort of torture chamber.  Since birth she has protested consistently and loudly every time she gets even close to her car seat.  This has obviously made long car trips, (or any car trip really) PAINFUL.  I mean getting to the grocery and back can be therapy inducing.  That being said, when we get the ridiculous notion to take a long car trip with the kids, we must stop often.  We have found that it is good for everyones moral if we take nice long leisurely stops about every 2 hours.  So recently, on a crazy expedition to Savannah, we stumbled across one of the coolest beers with kids places!

I usually try to research some potential stop locals before we begin our travels, but on this particular trip, when the baby was screaming, I just whipped out trusty google and came upon Fr8yard in Spartanburg, SC.  I wasn't sure what exactly to expect as it was described as a beer garden built in old shipping containers.   I was totally impressed.

 

The lower area of Fr8yard has tons of super long picnic style tables, perfect for my little red chair.

There are large umbrellas for plenty of shade and giant fans that I would assume really cool the place down on a hot day.  They weren't on when we were there because it wasn't too warm out.

Downstairs has multiple ping pong tables, corn hole, giant blocks that could be used for Jenga or for a 3 year old boy to build tons of towers.

Also there are multiple huge TV screens for any sporting event viewing.

As far as good goes, the menu was a crowd pleaser for both kids and parents!

The hot dogs and brats that we tried were excellent, as well as the soft pretzel.  The French fries were these cool twisted wedge fries that I have never seen before but LOVED.  There were no complaints from anyone.

The beer options were plentiful, as well as some wine and liquor options.

Upstairs had more seating, an extra bar that wasn't currently open and some more giant jingo sets.

The only real drawback that kept Fr8yard from getting a perfect score was the complete and total lack of changing tables in either bathroom.  I have no problem changing my girl on an outdoor table, but I can't imagine that makes all the patrons thrilled.

Overall the food was great, the beer was great, and there was plenty of room for little people to run and play all their car energy out.  The staff were super kid friendly and there were tons of kids there on our random Thursday afternoon.  I expect that we will keep Fr8yard in mind whenever we travel through South Carolina in the future.

 

HG Hangar Full Review

Although this post is very delayed, I have to talk about the place that inspired Beer with Kids, The Hunter-Gatherer Brewery Hangar.

Several weeks ago, we trekked down to Columbia, South Carolina to get a puppy. Why exactly did I feel that having a 3 year old, a 1 year old and a 4 year old Pit Bull was not enough life chaos?? I HAVE NO IDEA. We’re nuts. Regardless, we all packed up and made the trip down for an overnight stay.

After hitting up the adorable children’s museum, we really wanted to go somewhere where we could all eat, the kids would be welcome and Mom and Dad could have a recovery drink. So, we started our usual method of searching through review sites to find places that could be good possibilities. This is always a long tedious process that often requires driving by several places until we find the right fit.

Seriously such a cute children's museum...click on photo for website

We found the HG Hangar and WOW. (Believe it or not, Yelp says this place is not kid friendly…I can’t figure that out.)

 

This Brewery is actually in a giant old refurbished airplane hangar. It seemed to me to be somewhat in the middle of nowhere, but I am not from the area so I could be totally wrong. We actually thought the GPS was taking us to the wrong place, then BAM, there it was.

 

The inside of the hangar is a giant, open brewery. There’s also a bar that serves beer and wine, and booth seating.

The day we were there the hangar doors were open and the wind was a little chilly, I would just recommend bringing a jacket. It seemed like the inside is probably closed off when the weather isn’t nice. It is seat yourself, we had no problem finding high chairs in the back. They only offer pizza, pretzels, salads and some limited apps for food, which you order and pickup from the bar. Let me tell you though, we got a couple different pizzas and the pretzels and they were fantastic! Our kids ate everything and so did we. After eating we decided to walk around outside to the back of the hangar, and that was where the real magic was.

There was a huge field and tons of kids playing soccer, hula hooping, and basically running around like lunatics. The whole area was mostly fenced, and the unfenced parts were super visible. The best part though, there were tons of PARENTS drinking beer, hanging out, and not having to micromanage their children. Kids having a blast, parents letting loose, perfect Beers With Kids experience!!

We left and decided that there needed to be a better way to find places like this, and BeersWithKids was born.

and....

This little fuzzy bear came home with us