Ponysaurus Brewing Co. is a forward-thinking, backward-tasting brewery that creates beers meant to be savored, appreciated, contemplated, philosophized, studied, nuzzled and mindfully guzzled. Order a pizza and enjoy a nice afternoon on one of the largest outdoor patios in Durham or underneath the covered picnic tables.
Beer is good, but not good enough nor cheap enough to beat out other joints in Durham. We came for someone's birthday because of the fire pits, bar was pretty full, and we were told by the bartenders "We can't light another fire because of low sales." While writing this review, they added multiple logs to the other fire pit, which was already lit.
We brought 20 people, all in for multiple drinks, I think we can cover the cost of a couple logs. You want low sales? Give people reasons not to want to return your brewery.
Edit: As pointed out by the brewery's response, the bartenders were told no fire because of "low sails" over the pit. Unfortunately, they told our group and another that there was no fire because of "low sales." Adding two stars for legitimate reason, but keeping off full 5 for failure to communicate by staff and for the horrible parking lot out front. Needs to be made/clearly marked as a one-way lot.
Kristen Butler
Oct 16, 2025
5
Oh my goodness. We just popped in to grab a beer. Then there was a cool shirt, then to-go beers…
Enter Mike. Mike is WONDERFUL. Mike has said it’s his first night behind the bar, but if Mike is not teasing me, he might be the most competent and kind human on Earth. First he complimented my husband’s hoodie and let us ramble on about Odesza. Then he made sure we liked the drinks we had just ordered. Then he found the shirt i horribly described. I’m in the service industry- not anyone would have infinite patience. When we then asked about grabbing a 4 pack to go, he made sure we would like it and got us samples! We wish there was pizza still, but Mike let us down easy. (It’s our fault. Mike did not say this. Mike might have suggested it was the pizza’s fault. Pizza, I love you anyway. Mike, you too.)
Mike is the best.
Mike might be a witch.
All hail Mike!
Daniel Cox
Oct 16, 2025
5
Craft Brewery serving great beers and a cozy-feel outdoor seating area, featuring fire pits, wood benches and string lights.
There is a wide range of great beers to choose from - the saison was a particular highlight. Tasty food was also a available from an ajoing pizza restaurant.
As it was the run up to Halloween, the brewery was showing horror movies in the evening on a big projector, which was a nice touch.
Overall a great place to visit if you enjoy your beer!
Adam Lewis
May 4, 2025
5
Pizza and beer? What more could you want. Tried a wide variety of beers. The cherry sour , IPA, Pilsner, Kolsch all were great.
Also how can you not love a motto of “don’t be mean to people”?
Melinda Spencer
May 2, 2025
3
Lovely atmosphere and friendly staff; underwhelming pizza. Plentiful outdoor seating, including mini fire pits and plenty of picnic tables. A very accessible bar and water stations, with a bar selection that even included a sour, a cider, and a moderate assortment of wines. I had heard good things about the vegan pizza, and as someone who cannot eat cheese but loves cheeseless pizzas, I was interested to try it. The ingredients listed on the menu are a tomato sauce and garlic confit, so a one-topping pizza. I decided to also add some mushrooms to it. What I received was a tomato sauce pizza with unseasoned mushrooms added. No garlic in sight, and no garlic by taste. In fact, the entire pizza was so tasteless that I wasn’t actually sure it had any topping at all. It had the consistency of an enjoyable pizza, but the most flavorful thing about the entire thing was the crust, which was somewhat enjoyable, but somewhat akin to eating the cardboard box that a pizza has sat upon in terms of flavor, rather than a pizza itself. I strongly considered simply leaving most of the pizza on the table with the rest of the trash. Others seemed to enjoy their pizzas, but they all had multiple toppings including cheese. So perhaps Ponysaurus makes good pizzas, with the very notable exception of the vegan pizza. I can see returning here for the atmosphere and friendly dogs, but definitely NOT for the food.
Michael
Jan 15, 2025
5
This is an amazing place. I ordered the cheesy bread and it was very delightful. They had a trivia night which was very fun with fire pits and the football game on tv. I love this place. My girlfriend ordered 4 special beers.
Ajimon Thomas
Nov 7, 2024
5
Great place to hangout with friends. Good selection of beers with some great food. I had a pilsner, a margarita pizza and garlic knots. Everything was great! The outdoor seating is really nice. You can also reserver the upper floor for events. If you go on Wed nights, there is Music Bingo as well.
