Came in at 5:20PM on a Thursday, party of one. My server seemed frazzled. The front of house team was clearly overwhelmed. I guess this is a popular after-work spot? Just an unfortunate first impression; the people spoke shortly and you could feel the stress pouring off them.

Two beers out of stock -- Pilsner and IPA. It's hard not be able to choose the staples. I settle for the pale ale, which was a pretty average rendition of an English pale ale. Maybe I was just soured by not having my first two choices available, but it wasn't anything to write home about.

I had the spinach salad to start, which was very good and very inexpensive. The bread that came with it was particularly nice; fresh and perfectly seasoned. The dressing was tasty and not too heavy, and the dose of bacon bits (real bacon) was generous. Really good overall -- this is a dish to try.

Had the red ale next. Pretty good! True to style, no detectable faults.

I ordered "the best steak around" in a 12oz size, with fried garlic mushrooms. It totalled $31.50. I asked for it cooked blue. She didn't know what that meant. So I asked for it as rare as they can make it. It ended up rare, which is fine. The mushrooms were generous and steam was well seasoned. Fries were cooked very well.

Over the course of the meal the FOH staff settled into the rush, and service got better.

Overall the experience was middling. I would come back, but not at a busy time. Will update my rating after a second visit.