Superior Bathhouse Brewery

Superior Bathhouse Brewery is a restaurant and brewery in the northernmost of the eight Bathhouse Row buildings. The old red-brick bathhouse now makes beer with Hot Springs thermal spring water, so it’s an easy pick if you want a meal tied to the place’s history. This is a brewery and restaurant, not a bathing operation, and there are no brewery tours.

Seating is first come in the main dining room, upstairs or on the patio. The business doesn’t take reservations, and busy periods can bring a wait, so leave some flexibility if you’re planning to eat here. There’s food as well as beer, plus house-made root beer if you want a nonalcoholic option.

The brewery says it has been brewing here since 2014. Its ten-barrel brewhouse is steam-fired, and the beer uses the thermal water collected for Bathhouse Row. A flight is a handy way to compare a few styles before choosing a pint; root beer is the house-made alternative if you’re not drinking alcohol.

The present Superior opened in 1916, designed by architect Harry Schwebke. At about 11,000 square feet, it was Bathhouse Row’s smallest and lowest-priced bathhouse. It offered basic hydrotherapy before closing in 1983. That change of use is part of the fun here: you can have a meal inside a building built for a very different kind of visit.

Take a moment with the street-facing front before you go inside. The projecting sun porch and brick pilasters give the building its shape; green-tile medallions and small decorative disks sit high in the pilaster capitals. Superior is at the north end of Bathhouse Row, so it fits naturally at the end of a walk along the historic buildings.

Dogs are welcome when they’re vaccinated, leashed, under control and well behaved. Keep them off the tables and chairs. The entrance has both steps and a ramp, though the restaurant’s interior accessibility details aren’t clear from the available information.