9 Restaurant Chains With The Best Beer Selection

When all you want is a cold one with your meal, you may not be that particular about which beer is in your glass. However, just as ingredients are carefully selected to complement each other in a dish, your choice of brew can be more than just a means to wash your meal down. Unique flavor profiles with various hops, malts, and accompaniments could prove to be the exclamation point of your meal. So what chains offer the best selection of beers to complete your next experience dining out?

You'll find that, no matter where your tastes fall with preferences on the scale of International Bitterness Units (IBUs), the best chains out there cover all the bases. For some, this means some serious square footage for taps and reliance on cold storage for scores of bottles and cans. In most cases, you'll see that location isn't just about attracting customers; it's also about paying homage to the local craft beer community and offering tasty pairings, including pizzas and sandwiches. You'll soon discover how some chains have solved the problem of selecting a beer by providing helpful menu notes or a unique beer tasting experience.

Be it at a game night with friends, on Friday night at the end of a rough work week, or just as a chance to relax, pizza and beer make a great accompaniment to kicking up your feet. As such, the evolution of BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse from a SoCal deep-dish establishment founded in the late '70s into a craft brewery that happens to have a full menu makes a lot of sense. The identity shift kicked off in 1996 and, ever since, BJ's has expanded its restaurant footprint, along with its award-winning brewing business, across the country.

The Huntington Beach-based chain doesn't play around. Its brewers at six locations across five states are said to test upwards of 150 beers each year. Only a fraction make the cut and are worked into the menu rotation along with 10 seasonal offerings. In addition to the slew of brews on tap, at some locations, you can also grab a six-pack of beers to-go like BJ's Brewhouse Blonde or — for the true hopheads — the Committed Double IPA, coming in at 75.0 IBU.

As BJ's has grown over the years to over 200 locations, additional updates have included the first ever change to its deep-dish pizza in 2025. On top of introducing New York water to the dough, it maintains its Chicago-style pizza identity while introducing Detroit-style crunch.

While some restaurants consider drinks an afterthought to food menus, The Brass Tap, which first opened in 2008, only had eyes for brews. It wasn't until years later, around the same time it was picked up by Beef O'Brady's parent company FSC Franchise Co., that the beer was accompanied by bites. Of course, this gave another avenue by which the Wesley Chapel, Florida chain could spotlight the craft beer options — exceeding 150 bottles at some locations — as menu items include a convenient recommendation for which suds to sip while you eat.

Speaking with the Tampa Bay Times in 2013, the chain's chief development officer James Walker said, "This is a craft beer bar. Everything we do is about the beer. The food is here to support the beer program." So if you're into an American pale ale, you're advised to snack on some tempura beer-battered Boom Boom Shrimp with it, and if you're a fan of heavy porters, get an order of the Five-Cheese Flatbread or the Pretzels with Beer Cheese. As of 2026, you can find your ideal pairing at one of over 50 Brass Tap locations.

If the "draught" part of its name, which refers to beer being pulled from a tap, isn't enough, you'll come to realize just by opening its website that brews are a big focus of the Flying Saucer. Not only does it list the beer menu ahead of the food, it also keeps guests in the know on what the latest additions using its website splash page roster of new arrivals. The beer-centric establishment started in Fort Worth, Texas, and has since expanded to four different states. It celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025.

Brown ales, various Belgians, lambics, and stouts are just some of the offerings, as there are dozens of drafts and a list of 100 available bottles and cans to choose from. Its Fort Worth location even won a Reader's Choice Award for best beer selection in Fort Worth's Magazine in 2018. Over its 30 years of operation, it's introduced an immense variety of brews, including Sierra Nevada pale ale, which is on our list of best breweries in California and craft brews from Alaska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oregon, and of course Texas. Flying Saucer has also highlighted Lone Star favorites, including those from Firemans, Live Oak, Peticolas, Pinthouse, and Saint Arnold.

If you spy a Ford's Garage from the road, you may be inclined to think that it's an automotive museum. That's because this restaurant chain, which began in Florida in 2012, has fully capitalized on its licensing agreement with the Ford Motor Co. While the decor may feature engine parts and vintage automobiles, none of this detracts from its craft brew selection.

The beer variety you encounter depends on which of the over 30 locations across nine different states you visit. At the Boynton Beach location, on the other side of the state from the Fort Meyers location where Ford's Garage began, you can sip on a couple of selections from the local Copperpoint Brewing Company. Likewise, the Plano, Texas, restaurant has choices from around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, like Rollertown Beerworks out of Celina and Garland's Lakewood Brewing Company.

HopCat got its start in 2008 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since then, the chain has added a dozen locations around — and in one case, a ways outside — Michigan, all without skimping on its extensive list of curated craft beers. It says it handpicks its brews, but its team aren't the only ones who get a say, as HopCat takes customer feedback into account when deciding what brews to offer. 

New seasons open up the opportunity for new beers, including local and regional craft beers, with each restaurant boasting at least 40 taps. When the Lincoln, Nebraska, location opened in 2016, its menu had a whopping 132 beers on tap.

There's no monopoly when it comes to pizza and beer. While chains like BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse have shifted their menu's focus some, the Atlanta-based Mellow Mushroom has kept the classic beer-and-pizza pairing all these years. You can build your own stone-baked pizza, or choose from a dozen pre-topped pies, to create the ideal flavor profile to match one of over 50 beers on offer at any of its nearly 160 locations around the country. We're not talking about just '80s defining beers like Budweiser, Coors Banquet, and Miller Lite either.

Rotating tap selections ensure local brews are well-represented. That's why a trip to a Phoenix location can include selections from Flagstaff's LumberYard Brewing Company and Mother Road Brewing Company. Likewise, a visit to a location in Chantilly, Virginia, may warrant a Mustang Sally amber lager or some other Virginia-made IPAs, lagers, sours, and ciders.

In an age where chains like McDonald's have started to do away with self-serve beverage stations, a Florida-based business with adult libations continues to embrace this unique feature. Since the concept's launch in 2015, several Oak & Stone locations have opened throughout The Sunshine State and, as of 2026, in Texas. All of them are built around the Tap Wall. Along with beer, wine, whiskey, bourbon, and craft cocktails are available with the system designed to sip on as much or as little as you like.

Opening a tab at Oak & Stone gives you access to a tap card. Once scanned at the screen, you can pour the beverage of your choosing with charges calculated to ⅒ of an ounce. Rotating selections include local options like JDub's Brewing Co. for Sarasota customers and TUPPS Brewery for those visiting its McKinney, Texas, location. Any of the brews from its 40 to 60 taps can be used to wash down artisan pizza, signature handhelds, or an order of wings from the kitchen.

World of Beer, another chain based in Florida, first opened its doors in Tampa in 2007. Its bold claim that it embraced craft beer ahead of the trend isn't as important as its continued promotion of craft brew culture. All along the Eastern seaboard, as well as into the Midwest and Texas, connoisseurs can visit the bar at a World of Beer location and immerse themselves in that exact culture — and alongside its extensive food menu. 

Customers can try brews from around the country and the globe, whether it be by the bottle, can, or glass from the roughly 50 taps the chain tends to offer. Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain are just some of nations represented. Cream ales, eisbocks, fruited sours, saisons, and stouts are but a small sample of the variety. The chain also happens to carry the World Beer Awards 2026 winner for best international lager, Bavik Super Pils. Though it may have hit a financial hiccup in 2024 with a bankruptcy filing, it's still serving up brews at its many locations today.

In 2026, Yard House marked 30 years since opening its first location in Long Beach, California. After three decades of operation, the chain boasts that it offers "the world's largest selection of draft beer" with more than 100 taps. Along the way, successful growth to 40 locations caught the attention of Olive Garden's and Longhorn Steakhouse's parent company, Darden Restaurants, which dropped nearly $600 million in cash to acquire the brew-focused business.

The investment undoubtedly paid off as, upon the completion of the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, Yard House joined its sister chains as the third brand under Darden to exceed $1 billion in sales — which is impressive, considering its comparatively small footprint. Curation is key for the chain that, along with serving up well-known brands, has collaborated with breweries to offer its own House version of various styles. This includes an amber tripel, a honey blonde ale, a couple of Belgians, and an IPA out of Escondido, California, that blends hop varieties for layers of woody and citrusy flavors.