Bull & Bones Brewhaus — Restaurant in Blacksburg

I go there for wings and burgers. Both the Blacksburg and the Christiansburg location are great for burgers and wings…when they get the wing order correct. Their wing flavors are all good. The wing size and quality are good. The smoky taste is usually good.

The problem is the texture of the wings. If you do not specifically ask for them to be flash fried, the skin is flaccid, the wings are chewy, and the mouth feel is terrible. It’s like eating a wet rubber glove. I had to learn by asking questions about the texture that you can request for them to be flash fried. I now do so on EVERY wing order. When they do this, the whole experience changes. The skin has a slight crispy texture, the chicken is hot and tender, and the sauce flavors pop. Great wings.

However, the kitchen staff has to actually follow through on the flash frying request. I have ordered from there many times. About 30-40% of the time, the flash fry request is overlooked by the kitchen staff. I see the bar/support staff adding the flash fry request on the point of sale system (or select it myself online) and I ask them to be sure. They confirm, yet the wings will come out without it.

When you are eating there, it’s not really a problem because you can send them back and make it right. When you order take out, you get home and open the box to soggy, chewy wings that you just paid $15 for 10 pieces plus tax and tip of your hard-earned money, it kills your meal.

My suggestion to the establishment would be to change your policy so that wings never leave the kitchen without flash frying them unless the customer requests them to not be fried. Make that the usual. You will sell PILES more wings that way. Sure, it takes a little longer, but they are WORLDS better. By a LOT.

The reason I waited to post is because I’ve seen the good and the bad and had hoped it would change depending on the time and day and season, but it doesn’t. Still a 30-40% miss on the frying request. Just ordered 10 wings today. Selected flash frying on the website. No fry. Soggy wings and couldn’t take them back to the store because I had to go back to work. 1 or 2/5. Service is good but the new ordering system needs work. Get these straight and you’re easily one of the best wing/burger joints around and the smoke house flavor underneath sets you apart from many...

This review is specifically for pandemic responses.

I am happy with how Bulls has handled the pandemic response from my personal perspective. I have never worked food service myself but i know it's hard and very trying. Given the fact that this place has suffered - along with many many other places - during the pandemic, i think their handling of mask wearing is to be commended. No one wants to have to wear masks and i imagine no one wants or likes having to enforce it, particularly when you never know how enforcing it can affect patron turnout. I think that sticking to their guns with regards to wearing masks is responsible and earns my continued business. I play a lot of pool and love Karaoke and like anyone else who does, wish we could get back to that normality, but i fully support business who do not allow it when safety is the concern.

Further, the pool tables are well maintained - or as well as can be expected given how few real pool halls there are in the area.

I wish Bull and Bones marketed themselves more as a brewery in some respects. I like their beer and food and think it's a good place to spend rec time in normal circumstances. Games would be even better in that regard. Of course, this is not a criticism, just a request.

The staff is really nice and while i'm a regular - full disclosure - I would still be heard if i had a problem with service as a patron.

The owner is a great guy as well. He's also a much nicer person than he is a pool player. I wish he played more pool so i could wager free food against him - the food is excellent in my opinion. Who doesn't want to beat the owner for free smoked ribs??

Continue the good work and keep being responsible so we can one day get back to...

Tonight was not B&B’s best effort.

I knew we were off to a rough start when the server said that most beers were not available because of maintenance on the brewing equipment. I got a decent IPA but B&B did not have an ordinary wheat beer for my wife.

Wife ordered a medium rare 6oz sirloin. Steak arrived well done. Sent the well done steak back to the kitchen. Second steak was medium rare but not very warm. How could it just come off the grill and not be warm? Steak was mostly flavorless. The piece of steak my wife ate and the piece my brother tried both ended up on their plates because they couldn’t get past the gristle in the meat. The garlic mashed potatoes had an intense raw garlic flavor that left us feeling that we had just bit into a raw garlic clove instead of a potato dish infused with a roasted garlic flavor.

I ordered a cup of chili and a smoked chicken Caesar salad. I was served the chili and a smoked chicken sandwich. I notified our server and he brought me the salad and said I now had a free sandwich. Caesar salad was nothing but Romaine lettuce with some shredded cheese. The smoked chicken was three pieces of cold chicken breast. The chicken had no flavor. I gave my wife a piece and she could not detect any smoked flavor nor any other flavor. I tried the chicken in the sandwich, and that chicken seemed to have some smoky flavor. The chili had an odd sweet taste. I was a little surprised that my chili wasn’t comped considering the weak quality of the food.

Server was decent and honest about what was good on the menu. Too bad the kitchen crew didn’t do their part in providing tasty...