The nice thing about writing reviews is one can come back and rethink an original review and in this case, my rating has to go up from 3 to 4 stars. It seems like Handlebar has just improved over time, offering a wider selection of food (fish and chips and a number of vegetarian items) and the beer selection continues to stay varied and interesting with some excellent happy hour specials (I believe 3 pm to 6:30 pm). I do like that they work on serving each type of beer in a glass appropriate to that style of beer, something that stands out as a differentiator in regards to their approach to beer and they seem to now have a wider selection of Belgian beers in the large bottles.
I went early on a Friday evening with my father and while the music was elevated it was not too loud, and the music was interesting and varied. We sat at the long bar and the wait staff was friendly and regularly checked on us so our water glasses and my beer glass were refreshed as needed. I had two beers from the happy hour list, which has about 10 or 12 craft beers so nice to take advantage of the lower prices without feeling one is missing out on a quality selection.
All I can say, when I go to see a movie on Mill, I always seem to end up at Handlebar for a beer and a bite so I think I can clearly say I fall into the fan category. I also like that the place is good for people watching, big outside patio and an open area and a long bar so that you can almost always find a space there early in the evening.