Good News Brewing Company - Defiance

Great beer & pizza, fantastic family atmosphere and they have a variety of NA beer options!

Food is all pre-boxed, which is fine, but just know that. Great beer, great ambiance, especially for Katy folks.

It wasn't terrible

Great place. The staff is always accommodating.

Pizza is good for trail food. Beer is good. Pretty much self service.

Disappointed today. We have always enjoyed our times at Good News breweries. We like to support a local business that is usually friendly and inviting to customers. However, today at the Defiance location. We were not treated that way. We have the Pub Pass, a purchased app which gives us discounts at participating breweries. My husband accidentally pressed the “redeem” button on the app while he was waiting to order beers. He explained to the bartender what happened, but he did not believe my husband. We did not appreciate the distrust from a place where we have visited quite often.

Beautiful day for great beer out of town.

Facility was clean and welcoming. Beer tasted good and was cold. Live music by Rockwood Boys added to the positive and fun atmosphere.

Food is very good but pricey . Very nice environment

Great pizza and salads. Good beer options and great atmosphere.

Great!

I have good news for you, it's really nice.
Excellent stop after a ride on the Katy Trail. Good beer selection and pizza was excellent. The Vampire Death vegetarian was hilariously named and delicious.

After having such a lovely experience at their O'Fallon location years ago (posted a glowing review here 5yrs ago & went a back a few more times before Covid + kiddo), we had been wanting to visit this location, as we have long loved coming to Defiance anyway.

Finally made it on Saturday, 2024/06/29 (writing this 7/18. Still upset). We arrived at 3pm. There was a couple who just arrived and about 5 other tables seated. The couple were placing their order at the bar on the covered patio area. A server at the other end of the bar said if we knew what we wanted to order, she could take our order. We each got a flight (4 - 4oz pours) of beer and we got 2 pizzas, as we were all quite hungry (and we're never certain if our kiddo with actually eat with us while we're out!) We got the meat pizza & the vampire death wish "with chicken" (paid for, but not on pizza, unless it was only on my child's 1 slice).

Now, let me say, I have had wood fired pizza many times (see another 1 of my glowing reviews for a great 1 in Chesterfield with way bigger serving sizes & nicer staff!). I have even had this company's pizza before. What I have never experienced is such tiny pizzas at such inflated prices with so much charred blackness on them. Were our pizzas forgotten in the oven for extra time?? It was definitely sub-par.

Back to the ordering phase: I hand over my card to pay (1 of the standard big 3, nothing odd AND I had just used it to buy gas 20 minutes prior), and it's declined. Okay, she runs it thru again. It doesn't go. Hmmm. Okay, she runs it again. Now, I get to the sign here screen. I sign AND my phone buzzes that the card has been charged. She tells me it didn't go through. I'm weirded out, but she says, don't worry. That's just a hold on your card, only the real charge will go through. That happens all the time with this machine. Then she takes me to the other end of the bar, runs my card through AGAIN & has me sign. That time it took. But, in the meantime, with tip, this was an $80 bill, and it showed for several days as x3 on my card. I had to stress out over it for 5 days before I could confirm that 1 charge went through and only 1!
IF YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A POINT OF SALE MACHINE THAT REGULARLY ERRORS OUT, WHY IS IT STILL IN USE?! Why would you put so much undue stress on your customers?

She wasn't at all apologetic. Totally blasé about the whole thing.
There was 1 nice man working there that helped counterbalance my experience a bit (I didn't see anyone's names, and I did try, in case I needed to call them to fight extra charges) who said he had retired from a previous career and then began working there.
We both also enjoyed our beers. We have different tastes, but each liked our own.

Lastly, 1 smaller note, compared to the above, my kiddo had to use the restroom & although the women's bathroom seemed clean, it was in an unoccupied indoor bar area with a kitchen-style order-up window (again unoccupied area) that smelled more like a port-a-potty than a bar area, even an unused 1, should.

This experience was so unpleasant on so many levels that it completely soured my feelings on the all of these Good News Brews spots. I certainly won't spend our money and time visiting another after this!

Great wood fired pizza & delicious beer! Dirty laundry brown ale, pepperoni/Banana pepper & meat pizza pictured!

Love the za and beer. Great summer tradition to ride the KT and grab a meal. Only complaint is the price of the pies. $15-$18 for a personal pizza is too much. Going to have to make this a snack stop instead of a meal.