The Toasted Barrel — Restaurant in Grants Pass

Whisky & Wine … Food is unique & fine!

BACKSTORY My friend Mike got a recommendation for a restaurant bar in Grants Pass. Specifically a whiskey and wine bar with great food. He wanted to treat me to some good food while I was in GP. So, I am game to try anything new… I’m glad we did!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS Upon pulling up, we noticed the parking lot was completely full! Good sign!!!! He has a big truck and fortunately somebody was pulling out and we took the last spot. When I walked in, it looked very relaxed. No one greeted me at the door so I walked through to look for a place where we might land and enjoy our evening. We settled on a tall table in the back porch. Heaters were on… It was comfortable!

SERVICE We were greeted by a kind waitress. She handed us our menus and came back promptly to take our drink orders. I’m a big water guy and throughout the entire evening she made sure my water was filled. Service was excellent! Between our waitress and the owner periodically checking in on us, we had an incredible evening.

ATMOSPHERE The atmosphere is relaxed. Tables are spaced out. There is garden style seating, restaurant cafe table seating, and plenty of space to move around. They have a cornhole tournament area and fire tables. There seems to be music periodically because there was a stage set up in the back. Simple relaxed, nice atmosphere … like a combo of my backyard with a bunch of friends laughing while being served by excellent caterers… Easy place to relax!

FOOD … EATS We were not too hungry so we ordered flatbread and potato chip nachos. Excellent bar food with a gourmet twist. Food was flavorful and served hot! Check out my photos of the potato chip nachos with Carnitas on them. Delishhhhh!

BOTTOMLINE if you’re looking for a nice whiskey bar with good food or you’re looking for a wine bar with some excellent tapas in Grants Pass, Oregon… I recommend you check the Toasted Barrel out!

By the way… The owner retired from the crazy corporate world. She fell in love with this old 1930’s barn and turned this community beauty into a delightful place to experience whisky and wine and hangout with friends! Check out the history wall and check out what she’s doing… You won’t be...

Updated 5/19/25: The menu has changed since my last visit. It seems like prices went down a smidge. The parking lot was packed because of “Open Mic Monday.” That was good to see because I do like to support local. The bartender didn’t seem happy to be there. Anyway, I ordered food to-go for the first time tonight. I didn’t feel like being around a lot of people. They do charge a $1 “Takeout Fee.” That’s okay I guess. What was less than okay, was our food. I was unimpressed for sure. I got the grilled chicken wrap. It was gross! 🤢 The ingredient ratio inside, and the texture is all wrong. There was way too much cheese and ranch in it. The whole thing was gooey and chewy. It needed a crunch and to be put together in a way that you can taste the individual ingredients and feel the different textures. The chili was yucky too. It was very sweet and although it’s made in-house, it impressed me the same way a can of chili would. My husband got the Taylor’s sausage with grilled onions. That was good. I would love to see a Mac salad or potato salad offered. Overall, looking at the menu, I was underwhelmed. Nothing really peaked my interest. I guess the hope is to attract the bar crowd, but more emphasis needs to be made on the food menu. Honestly, an entire refresh and maybe a different chef would do some good.

Weak drinks, sub par service if you’re not sitting at the bar. One server for the whole place on a Friday didn’t prove to be enough… $45 in drinks and I was barely buzzed because most of the drink was ice. Food was decent. Wish they had fries or potato salad though. They definitely need better dessert options and seriously though… my whiskey sours weren’t even filled to the top. The ice cube took up half the glass! Idk I’m bummed. The server was too busy to care, and I didn’t like hearing F bombs dropped one after the other in the bar when I was trying to hang out with my friends...

If whiskey is your purpose, this place is pretty awesome for that! If not, I would probably seek elsewhere. Me and 3 other friends came on a saturday around 7pm. Pleeeeenty of seating, some nice live music in the back, atmosphere was really good. I arrived a little early and was well attended to as I waited for others. Veeery friendly staff! But after we all arrived it kinda went down hill.. we got out first order of drinks (4 in total) all really good and fairly priced! (Although the beer selection was sparse at best.) But then we werent checked on for the next 45 mins.. and though the parking lot looked full, there was only about 30 people or so tops inside. So we manage to waive down someone for more drinks and i ordered a burger special they had for the night. Took about another 20mins to get those drinks and 30 or so for my burger. The burger was actually alright. It was a well done (I assume frozen patty) kinda burger, but it was mostly luke warm by the time I got it. After that, me and my friends were pretty much done and walked over to the bar our selves to cash out.

So over all, food was ok...., and service, though friendly and kind, was almost non existant. Hopefully it was just a bad night and i may try the place again if my friends want to. Though ill probably just eat before I go which is kinda dissapointing since I enjoy good bar...