Biography

Established: 1971 (restaurant), 1995 (brewery)

Owners: Employee owned, RAM President Jeff Iverson, COO Dave Iverson,

Brewer: Company head brewer Dave Leonard

Location: Headquarters – 10019 59th SW, Lakewood, WA 98499. Restaurant and brewing locations locally here in Washington, plus Oregon, Idaho and four other states.

Status:
Still churning out burgers, brews, and big, brawny plates across six states, RAM Restaurant & Brewery remains one of the Northwest’s original brewpub empires—with a respectable brewing pedigree and a cheeseburger-soaked soul. Headquartered in Lakewood, WA, RAM is now proudly employee-owned and still pouring Big Horn beers across its family of 30+ restaurants under the RAM and C.B. & Potts banners.

Though not exactly a secret lair of experimental saisons or one-off Brett bombs, RAM’s staying power lies in its consistency—its ability to deliver a fresh house-made beer next to a 1/2-pound bacon burger in dozens of cities, from the Puget Sound to the edge of the Rockies.

Specialty:
Beer you can chew on. Big Red IPAs. Blond Ales. Patio-perfect Hefes. RAM is where craft beer met casual dining long before your coworker knew how to pronounce “Citra.” Every location brews on-site or nearby, creating hyper-localized freshness in a nationally scaled operation. Their menu leans proudly into beer-infused dishes and burly bar food, and yes, some of their burgers are cooked with the very beer you’re drinking.

Five Notable Beers (aka the Gateway Pints):

• Blonde Ale – Clean, easy, and lawnmower-approved.

• Hefeweizen – Classic American style, citrusy with just enough banana to make it fun.

• Big Red IPA – Malty backbone, bold hops, eternal crowd-pleaser.

• Total Disorder Porter – A mocha-smooth, dark and roasty gateway to winter.

• 71 Pale Ale – Crisp and classic, named for the year RAM was born.

Awards:
Over 190 medals from 1996–2019, including multiple medals from the Great American Beer Festival and North American Beer Awards. RAM isn’t flashy about it, but those medal walls are legit.

Fun Facts & Origin Stories (with fries on the side):
🍕 Founders Cal Chandler and Jeff Iverson, Sr. were frat brothers and former Shakey’s Pizza employees, which feels cosmically correct.
🍺 RAM went from pub to brewpub in 1995 after its Salem, Oregon location found success with in-house beer.
🏗️ In 2014, RAM went employee-owned, gifting over 2,000 staff members a literal and metaphorical share in the company.
🏞️ In 2020, RAM celebrated 25 years of independent brewing—outlasting dozens of fads and fast casual empires.
🏭 They currently brew across 11 facilities, ranging from 7 to 15-barrel systems, producing 15,000 barrels annually (as of 2019).
🏛️ RAM even purchased the historic Nisqually Power Station building in downtown Tacoma—though it’s been largely dormant, it’s still dripping with architectural potential.

Legacy:
RAM’s impact is tangible: future stars like Bethany Carlsen (Pacific Brewing & Malting) and Andy Kenser cut their teeth on RAM’s stainless steel before heading into more experimental territory. RAM remains one of the rare breweries that trains talent, brews consistent beer, and builds equity for its workers—while never forgetting that sometimes all you really want is a porter and a pile of onion rings.