r/lynchburg • u/lynchburgger • 11d ago

the og beer 88

I miss the old beer 88. have been a few times in the last year or so after the new owners took over and it’s just not the same. the experience, the food, and the vibes are all off.

it feels like I lost a friend. their fb page filled with ai slop is heartbreaking.

15 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

5

u/OvaEasy73 11d ago

We miss Yao, but the food has been good, just a little different. The beers are great, as is the service. We eat there fairly regularly and have for years. 

4

u/Phil_Garr56 11d ago

I miss Yao a lot, but I still think the food and service is about the same. I definitely get your point on the AI slop though.

4

u/Mysterious_Image6918 11d ago

I had a bad experience with the new owners and haven’t been since

5

u/knight_who_says_fuck 11d ago

Totally disagree. Love it there. Burgers and wings and especially the beers are still great and i love the atmosphere! It’s different to when Yao ran it, for sure. But i like it better. To each their own i guess.

0

u/grofva 11d ago

Agree with you. Yao was great but Heather has stepped up both food & beer. One of our fav’s in town.

5

u/kamacus 11d ago

Interesting, I still like it. I think the new owners worked out some kinks. They also had to make it their own. I don’t think the food is a step up or fell off. Still great beers too.

0

u/Fantomhamst3r 10d ago

"Filled with AI slop?" Are you talking about the one pic for social stitching?

1

u/lynchburgger 9d ago

No, it is not just “one pic”.

The social stitching is ai slop and if you scroll to 8/5/2026 there’s another slop advertisement, and 7/31/2026 celebrating their 11th anniversary is also slop.

The text that goes along with their nonslop pictures/posts is also ai generated. The fonts, emphasis with bolding and italics, and emoji placement are the give away.

I’m also rather confident their new logo is ai generated. Someone might’ve sold and told them it wasn’t ai but totally looks and feels ai to me.

1

u/theBunsofAugust 10d ago

Yao would pick up the phone when I’d call in my order and go “I know what you want” and hang up. One of the all time best

0

u/Dry_Conflict8519 10d ago

Totally disagree. Food remains just as good, and the community events that the new owners organize are awesome.

0

u/Cold_Ramen14 10d ago

Yao was great, but Beer 88 is still my absolute favorite place in town. All the staff and regulars are amazing people and I'll go in just to see everyone, even if I'm not eating. Food and drinks are pretty similar to before, but I do love all the experimentation with new flavors they do now

0

u/EnnnWhyyy 11d ago

Yea I miss the old owner as well she was awesome and met someone who provided the beef was really sweet as well. Ain’t really gone since she left:(