Olfactory Brewing - Berkeley Taproom

Ellen Lo

Love Olfactory Brewing in San Francisco but decided I HAD to drag my friend out their new Berkeley outpost for their Chicago grub since my friend is from Chicago and misses Italian beef so much that he orders Portillo's on the regular. Never mind that he doesn't even drink, but...food for him and more beer for me! Win-win, I'll say ;) TLDR: the food and beer were both amazing - we'll be coming back for sure.

Carrie Eckert

Great beer from the brewery in SF, simple menu focused on authentic Chicago style including traditional breads and garnishes, vegetarian option for the Chicago dog. Staff was friendly and attentive!

David

Excellent Ol Factory IPA + a Delirama pastrami sandwich on rye; flavor of meat, bread toasted perfectly, wonderful portion. Also, chips are super delicious. Highly recommend! Great seating, music, atmosphere.

Justin Chu

Dropped in for a delicious west coast Pilsner. Super friendly staff, right next to BART, and comfy environment. Great addition to the downtown Berkeley beer scene!

Robert Most

Great beer and food. Loved the west coast ipa. Close to freight & salvage.

EM FL

Good spot to enjoy some beer and a hot pastrami sandwich. I'll definitely be back.

Hands down the best Italian Hoagie in the Bay. This thing was crafted with love. If you're from Philly and craving an Amoroso roll, oil and vinegar, and high quality deli meat, this is the closest spot that you're going to get to home. Great service, great beer. Very excited to see where they go from here.

Nice albeit slightly small taproom with a decent variety of beers. Very accessible from downtown Berkeley Bart and several bus lines, including the 88, 51. On street parking tends to be sparse, but the taproom is located near several parking garages. I recommend the black lager.

Hello, beer! Actually what got me in the door is the sign outside that said "hoagie". They do have a tasty Italian beef that was good enough I had to come back the next day and get another. Tried two of the beers so far and both were excellent. I always try a pilsner at a new brewery since I figure it's hard to make a pilsner and it basically vouches for the rest of the beers. Anyway both the pilsner and the hoppier west coast pilsner were completely competent beers. I look forward to trying some of the others.

This is a cozy place to enjoy some excellent pilsners and pale ales. A very nice break from IPAs. Friendly service and some delicious Chicago style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches.

The bartender - Oscar was hyping all of us up during the football game. Great atmosphere. Will definitely be returning

First rare beers, rad location. Cant say enough good things about them. The SF location is also a great stop!

The sandwiches are the best in town. The balance between the acidity and fattiness is perfect. The bread is perfectly toasted. The pastrami is on point. The coleslaw makes me want to eat more vegetables. 10/10. Hella good beer and food combo. Highly recommend

Phenomenal beer all around! I love that there are often new flavors and always an eclectic variety of brew styles. The service is great, staff is knowledgeable and super friendly. Great brunch experience with delicious food. Lots of brews in cans to go as well. Fun atmosphere and close to BART. Love this place!

Fernando Fernandez

The bartender - Oscar was hyping all of us up during the football game. Great atmosphere. Will definitely be returning

Joel Pattinson

First rare beers, rad location. Cant say enough good things about them. The SF location is also a great stop!

Karin Austin

Phenomenal beer all around! I love that there are often new flavors and always an eclectic variety of brew styles. The service is great, staff is knowledgeable and super friendly. Great brunch experience with delicious food. Lots of brews in cans to go as well. Fun atmosphere and close to BART. Love this place!

Juan Herrera

The sandwiches are the best in town. The balance between the acidity and fattiness is perfect. The bread is perfectly toasted. The pastrami is on point. The coleslaw makes me want to eat more vegetables. 10/10. Hella good beer and food combo. Highly recommend

Scott Butler

This is a cozy place to enjoy some excellent pilsners and pale ales. A very nice break from IPAs. Friendly service and some delicious Chicago style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches.

Jeffrey Baker

Hello, beer! Actually what got me in the door is the sign outside that said "hoagie". They do have a tasty Italian beef that was good enough I had to come back the next day and get another. Tried two of the beers so far and both were excellent. I always try a pilsner at a new brewery since I figure it's hard to make a pilsner and it basically vouches for the rest of the beers. Anyway both the pilsner and the hoppier west coast pilsner were completely competent beers. I look forward to trying some of the others.

Nick Rubin

Hands down the best Italian Hoagie in the Bay. This thing was crafted with love. If you're from Philly and craving an Amoroso roll, oil and vinegar, and high quality deli meat, this is the closest spot that you're going to get to home. Great service, great beer. Very excited to see where they go from here.

Jonathan Hofer

Nice albeit slightly small taproom with a decent variety of beers. Very accessible from downtown Berkeley Bart and several bus lines, including the 88, 51. On street parking tends to be sparse, but the taproom is located near several parking garages. I recommend the black lager.

Business is ok, but nothing exceptional. More and more I get sensitive about acoustics of these pubs and it is unfortunate that you can’t sit here for extended periods of time of you cont want to get deaf

Delirama Jr now closes at 6pm mid-week! But can’t tell on this website. Would like more non-IPA beers. e.g. today the menu has 4 IPAs vs 1 Pils, 1 Amber Hef, and 1 barrel-aged Stout. Amber Hef is decent, more amber less hef. It’s a nice, low key, small bar with good prices! And the current game on TV. Update: as of 5/31/2025, Delirama Jr inside Olfactory Brewing in Berkeley has closed.

Antonin Sulc

Business is ok, but nothing exceptional. More and more I get sensitive about acoustics of these pubs and it is unfortunate that you can’t sit here for extended periods of time of you cont want to get deaf

Tom Moore

Delirama Jr now closes at 6pm mid-week! But can’t tell on this website. Would like more non-IPA beers. e.g. today the menu has 4 IPAs vs 1 Pils, 1 Amber Hef, and 1 barrel-aged Stout. Amber Hef is decent, more amber less hef. It’s a nice, low key, small bar with good prices! And the current game on TV. Update: as of 5/31/2025, Delirama Jr inside Olfactory Brewing in Berkeley has closed.

Dutch crunch with no crunch is sad. I was so excited for the $8 hoagie only to hoodwinked by the minimal amount of meat. I wonder if it’s weighed out, and if so how little it is. Maybe slice it thinner so it looks like more? Maybe the beer is good, don’t go for the hoagies.

Jeff Laprade

Dutch crunch with no crunch is sad. I was so excited for the $8 hoagie only to hoodwinked by the minimal amount of meat. I wonder if it’s weighed out, and if so how little it is. Maybe slice it thinner so it looks like more? Maybe the beer is good, don’t go for the hoagies.

The $8 hoagie is what brought me here and it’s disappointing since there’s barely any meat in it. I suppose for $8, you can’t expect more but then just increase the price! It doesn’t make sense to charge less for inferior stuff.

Syomantak Chaudhuri

The $8 hoagie is what brought me here and it’s disappointing since there’s barely any meat in it. I suppose for $8, you can’t expect more but then just increase the price! It doesn’t make sense to charge less for inferior stuff.