I had somewhat high hopes for Alcatraz' opening at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills.  My first visit most certainly did not meet up with my expectations.  First off, the decor was industrial in style as I expected.  There was lots of metal, a scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge and a catwalk overhead (complete with prison 'guard.')  The furniture sort of gives you a feel of being in a prison cafeteria and the chairs were quite uncomfortable.  My friend observed that the vinyl lettering on the sign at the entrance of the brewpub was peeling already.  Inside the atmosphere felt cold and impersonal.  Our server was poorly trained, probably the worst I've seen.  The poor fellow seemed as if he were only a customer who bought a T-shirt and was put to work by management.  He had to look at the menu to confirm everything we ordered, even my beer!  I had the bread pudding which was good but very rich.  As for beer, I ordered the Birdman Brown, which was supposed to be an English brown but I feel they missed the mark on style.  The Birdman had a nice hop flavor with a faint hoppy nose, but too light on malt for my taste.  It was a decent beer however, and was pleasantly creamy going down.  Overall, I'm not too impressed, but I'll return after they get settled in to see if they have improved.

*One small note:   I'm unaware if they had been open long enough for my beer to have been actually brewed on the premises.  Alcatraz did not start brewing the beer on site until after opening.  The batch served at the grand opening was from another location, I'm not sure which.

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First off, this place is inside a crowded shopping mall.  Expect to walk close to a mile from your parking spot and then wade through a sea of teenagers to reach the entrance.  I was there about two weeks after they opened.  The furniture inside was horrible.  The tables were the small square type that you rent for a banquet with wood wallpaper covering the tops. The decor of the place is pretty neat with large pictures of inmates, a lighthouse and a huge Golden Gate Bridge replica.  Our waiter was around 16 years old and appeared very overwhelmed and annoyed by questions like "Do you have a seasonal beer on tap?" The beers were described to us not by their flavor or characteristics but what domestic mass produced beer they tasted like.  Their golden ale was likened to "Bud Light" the red ale to "Killians", and their stout was referred to as "dark beer".  My favorite was the description of their GABF medal winning brown ale..."Like JW Dundee's Honey Brown but with bite".  I ordered the sampler and a pint of that dark stuff.  Amazingly, the waiters descriptions were pretty accurate. Overall very bland and unremarkable. The food was also disappointing.  I had the salmon on pesto mashed potatoes and 15 dollars and 5 minutes later i was left wondering how such a small serving could be legal in the United States.  My girlfriend had a 18 dollar shrimp and crab salad which looked like a 8 dollar salad.  Also, the dressing was similar in flavor to battery acid.  Overall, i was not all that pleased.  However, i will make a return visit to the bar in about 2 months to check out the new pale ale and see if the quality improves.