(219) Taproom — Restaurant in Chesterton

The spirits are fine, the place is comfy, nice crowd. The chili with brisket was fantastic, although for eight dollars they could’ve put a few more spoonfuls into the bowl. Tonight I had the beer brat and although the taste was fine, it was way too short. Almost as if you took a Johnsonville brat and cut the ends off to fit the bread (?) and that’s what the size was. It was served on the wrong type of bread and promised caramelized onions, sauerkraut, and mustard. I wanted to taste the sauerkraut before I ordered it and it was your basic, run of the mill, right out of the can of Frank’s & rinsed off - no flavor, sauerkraut, so that was a tad bit disappointing. The onions were on the verge of about to be caramelized but never made it, however they were tender. The mustard was fantastic. The disappointing factors were that my meal came after my Companion was almost done with his meal (a restaurant no no!). The sausage was raw in the center so obviously served cold, and I really didn’t like having to pull out too long blonde hairs from the center of the sausage.The homemade potato chips were tasty and had just the right amount of salt on them and just the right crunch to them as well. Am I picky? I just moved here from the Chicago area so I guess I am. I would seriously ditch the sauerkraut if you’re not going to season it & cook it properly (it was crunchy from right out of the can) make the sausage heated & regulation size, and please serve it on the correct bun. Otherwise it was OK (except for the two hairs-I just have to not think about that). I cannot fault this place for its alcohol choices though, but what is with all the waffles? Everything is served with a waffle. We were told you could have other types of bread but unless somebody came right out and told you that, you would never know because it’s not listed on the menu that way. Well, they are pretty new, so hopefully they’ll...

So. 219 Taproom. The one located in down town Chesterton. Actual trash. I’m not one to leave reviews, and if i do it’s usually very positive. However. From the moment we walked in it was clear there was one thing they very much so lack. And that would be CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS. Not one person acknowledged us. We had to physically walk up to the kitchen and ask if we seat ourselves since there’s no signage and no one to great the customer. After walking up to the kitchen finally some angry and full of hate blonde woman came out and basically just barked at us telling us everything we need to do. Which was included but not limited to. Seating ourselves, grabbing our menus, waiting for our soft drinks at the bar for almost 5 minutes. Just to not be given or told where the straws were. Then, as we seat ourselves and waited at least 20 minutes for a hot dog and sandwich. Just to receive this as my meal. How this even made it past the cook is beyond me. Then when i went back up to the counter and asked for a manager i was denied being able to speak to one and then for them to try and offer me a new meal. At that point i just wanted it off the bill. This was an absolutely terrible experience 10 out of 10 DO NOT RECOMMEND. EVER. I would literally eat gas station sushi before i ate at this...

We went twice within a week. I wasn't a huge fan of my drink (the blue bikini- had just overdone it on the soda water for my personal taste but thats totally OK). My husband LOVED the 219 margarita. He talked about it all week until we went back 4 days later AND IT WASNT ON THE MENU?! There was another drink that i had saw prior that i wanted to try and it wasn't on the menu either. we asked and they said they didn't have them. We were so confused. The food was decent and honestly a good portion. Overall it was just ok. I think the second time going was a let down because we were looking forward to menu items that we had saw just 4 days earlier that were no...