I love visiting tap rooms / breweries. Always great beer and always provides a friendly atmosphere, nice way to kick back after a long day or week. A friend of ours started a brewery back in our home in the Midwest that we love, and when I went to Nashville for grad school I loved all the little breweries popping up (Yazoo was my favorite).

So when I moved to Florida a few years ago I was yearning for a nice little taproom like those that I missed in Nashville, and it’s safe to say that I found it with the Funky Buddha Brewery located in Oakland Park (just outside of downtown Fort Lauderdale).

Funky Buddha Brewery Fort Lauderdale Review

Funky Buddha first came to my attention when I picked up a 6-pack of their Floridian at the grocery store one time. I’m a big fan of wheat beers, hefeweizens, and the like so it caught my eye when browsing the beer aisle at my local Publix. I had seen it at the taps at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza one day but hadn’t yet given it a try, so I figured it was time to. I loved it from the first sip, and until then I hadn’t known that it was a local brewery here in the Lauderdale area.

So, of course, I had to go see this brewery myself. I had a date coming up, and in our chats we both mentioned loving beer, so what better opportunity to give it a try than then? Plus it was conveniently located for both of us to get there without either of us having to trek too far.

I loved this place from the moment I saw it from the outside. One thing about taprooms, is they always have a food truck it seems. Funky Buddha is no different and I was loving me some fancy grilled cheese that night. But we’re not here to talk about the food truck (of which I don’t know the name of anyway).

Food in hand, we went into the taproom and the atmosphere was great, the layout was great, and I loved the long bar extending more or less the length of one wall of the establishment. As you walk in you’ll have the taproom, seating area on the left, and through the glass on the right side you’ll see the brewery itself. You can get a tour of the brewery but I did not on that occasion, or any visit since, but I do intend to sometime.

It was during the Women’s World Cup when we went — the US Women were playing and we both wanted to go out and watch that game — and the place was packed with red, white and blue. It was a really fun atmosphere and lively when the good ol’ USA scored on their way to victory. Fun crowd, young and old.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their beer menu as I had only tried the Floridian at that point and wanted to see what else they had to offer. We lucked out and got the last two seats at the bar as another couple stood up and the bartender was very helpful in deciding what beer I’d like. Well, there was a few I wanted to try really bad so I got some samples of each of them and then made my choice.

They have over 20 different brews there (sometimes more with their seasonals), so no matter what kind you like, they certainly have something in that variety. Only 3 of their brews are available in retail so I was excited to try some of the other offerings while I was there. I started with the Tripel Lindy, a dark Belgian ale, very malty, and it was great. I followed that with a Moro Moro Blood Orange IPA which was awesome, and I had a third that I can’t recall (and must have been seasonal since I’m not finding it on their site).

As fun as it is inside, there’s also seating outside in front of the building as well as a back patio area. Bonus for the back area – cornhole sets! Grab a beer and a partner and challenge them to a game of cornhole and have a little friendly competition.

All in all, I love this place, I miss having a nice taproom to go to. The beers are amazing (as I write this review I’m currently making plans for another visit this weekend) and I haven’t put a dent in the full beer list yet. I’m willing to put in the time to try them all!

If you’re in the Fort Lauderdale area and have a hankering for a good beer and a good time, this is definitely a place worth checking out!

Location:

1201 NE 38th St
Oakland Park, FL 33334
(954) 440-0046

funkybuddhabrewery.com