Douglas Root Beer Barrel — Restaurant in Douglas

The Root Beer Barrel is exactly what it sounds like: a big barrel that serves root beer and hot dogs. The novelty of the building is fun, yes, it really is shaped like a barrel, and yes, they serve food out of it but unfortunately, the charm of the aesthetic didn’t outweigh the actual experience.

On my most recent visit (a Sunday afternoon), two of the five hot dog options were already crossed off, and when I asked about a third, I was told they were out of mac & cheese. That left just two choices. My son and I settled on plain hot dogs, some chips, and potato salad that could’ve used a little seasoning. I ordered root beer (they were also out of diet) and found it to be overwhelmingly sweet—more syrupy than hearty. I ended up giving most of it to the bees, who were already waiting for me at the table. And when I say bees, I don’t mean the occasional one or two that are expected at an outdoor picnic spot. I mean swarms. At one point, I counted half a dozen bees sitting on my drink at once. They clustered around the trash can, hovered over the condiment stand, and made dressing a hot dog an exercise in evasive maneuvers. I even mentioned it to the staff, and was met with a quick “that’s natural,” which, sure, but it doesn’t make the experience any less overwhelming. For someone allergic, it was enough to make me pack up fast. The smaller details didn’t help either—like the condiment table stocked with six bottles, three ketchup and three mustard, but half of them completely empty. A Speedway hot dog I had earlier in the day honestly tasted about the same as the one I paid for here.

In short: it’s a one and done kind of stop. Fun to see once, but between the limited menu, overly sweet root beer, bees by the colony, and snappy service, it’s not somewhere I’d plan to return. If you’re curious about the novelty, snap a photo...

My wife and I visited a few days ago partly for the history of the barrel. I mean, it is food coming from a giant barrel! Who wouldn't want to experience that!! The novelty is cool. The three stars come in only because of the wait and seating. I rate restaurants based on my total experience from tip to tail. Its a cash only type place which is fine, no complaints on that, but the line to just order took 45 minutes.

We had 10 people in front of us which was about 5 groups or so. I know things will be slower in a tiny barrel, but my goodness. I saw 3 employees, one taking orders and two cooks. After ordering I waited another 10-15 just for the two hotdogs and mac and cheese. Again, slower is expected but hotdogs aren't that complicated. With the proper prep in place I can construct a proper gourmet dog in under 2 minutes. I think that can be improved upon.

Their root beer is delicious and the food was very tasty! No complaints on food quality. One hotdog fills me up. I had the chili and mac hotdog along with a side and chips and it was plenty.

The only other recommendation I could make is more seating. If making the hot dogs takes that long in a barrel then pump the ordering line through and get people seated with ticket numbers and get them drinking the root beers. Maybe offer $1.00 refills or something from a separate window and people will be drinking more root beer while waiting for the food....

First time visitors - PLEASE READ!

It's important to know that orders at the Douglas Root Beer Barrel are not prepared in the order in which people pay for them. You must take your receipt to the pick up window, not to pick up your food, but to tell the kitchen staff to BEGIN preparing it. If you go and sit down expecting someone to call your name, you'll literally sit there forever and never get your order.

Prices are good, portions are generous and the food tastes great. We'd totally go there again, and are happy with our visit overall.

Back to the order/line topic: I politely explained to the woman helping at the window that we were confused about the method of food pickup. We weren't alone, 3 other groups of guests had similar experiences. She became unncessarily rude and insisted that they "don't have fancy computer screens" and "everyone needs to wait in line", despite our repeated reassurance that we were happy to wait in line and we weren't criticising the system... only their communication of the system to customers. She even interrupted us to show us what the shape of a line looked like. She was missing the point and clearly didn't care. It's her rudeness that earned the visit 4 stars and not 5, though the food was great and we'd be happy to go again now that we know how their...