278 South — Restaurant in Hiram

This bar and grill is relatively close to our house but we rarely go there even though we've lived near there for almost 20 years. The name has changed a few times but I've never had good service there. They have always, however, have had top-notch bands playing there and last night was no different so major props to "The Wandering Willows Band".

Me and my wife got there early and paid the $20 cover charge (we don't mind that, we love to support the hard working bands). It wasn't busy when we fist got there so we ordered our drinks, I ordered an "Irish Car Bomb" and my wife ordered a "Long Island Iced Tea". For the record my wife loved both of her drinks, however when my first drink arrived it left me scratching my head. As you can see in the photo the shot glass seems okay but the beer portion didn't even make the halfway mark in the cup and the waitress promptly left our table before asking us how our drinks looked. Like I said before it was still early and it wasn't that busy yet but even so I had to flag down another waitress to ask her if they got my drink made correctly and in my disbelief she agreed that the bartender made it correctly.

By the time I finished my drink the band started playing and the place started getting crowded so I decided to get a pitcher of beer so I wouldn't have to wait long in between drinks since the service was slow. I ordered a pitcher of Yuengling beer and after several minutes of waiting our waitress brought me a half pitcher of beer explaining that they had run out of that beer and that they would not charge me for a full one. She promptly left our table before I could ask her my options, I guess she assumed that's how I wanted it handled.

Now I'm a pretty easy guy to talk to, I've worked in restaurant business before and know circumstances happen. It's what you do as a server/bartender/manager or owner to make up for problems to bring that customer back in after a bad service for us to leave a good tip, or spread a good word about their establishment. In this case we didn't and so we...

I had wanted to give this place a try for a while. I finally found myself driving by while hungry, so I stopped in. It has a classic bar-like atmosphere at around 230pm. Felt like the "regular crowd" was enjoying a drink at the large bar area, while watching sports on a bunch of TVs. It's a much larger space than it looks from the outside. I can see where it would be more lively later at night, after the workday was over. There was a sign that said to "seat yourself", so I camped out at a high top table near the bar to watch TV and to take care of reading emails. The food was great, the service was too. I never felt rushed and overall I would recommend 278 South for lunch/early dinner. It has a solid menu. There is plenty of parking, and overall just a good experience. I did have a surprise when it came time to pay! I had heard of places using QR codes for the bill, and 278 south was my first experience using it. It was sooo easy to pay, and even tip. I usually tip in cash, I wasn't carrying enough cash to tip properly, so I used the QR codes website for everything. Although I was dining solo, the interface allows to split the bill, which is great. I felt weird having no interaction after paying, and making sure the waitress/waiter got the tip, but the experience was just so smooth. Way to go 278 South. Great food, attentive service, and the convenience of paying really made my stop worth it. I will definitely return to try...

We went there for my 22nd birthday and brought our kiddos and two friends. From the moment we walked in we were told we had an hour to eat, because after 8pm they require you to be 21 (and I had my kids with me.) This really wasn’t that big of a deal for us, even though their website doesn’t specify that, they have kids meals, etc. We were expecting a RESTAURANT, not a bar. The food was mid, over priced, the drinks were watered down, and overpriced. I specified that I didn’t want red meat in my food, only to have it in my food and have to send it back, so in all, we left without even being able to eat our food, because we had an hour to eat, and our food came out so slow. All I got was a salad. Now time for the atmosphere, if your aesthetic is redneck, perfect place for you, if you look slightly different, expect everyone to stare you up and down and give you the nastiest looks. Save your money and time and go somewhere else. The best part of our night was our server she was very kind, very understanding, helped me get my food fixed, etc. The live band was good, they even danced a bit with my little one! The servers seem to be great but their biggest downfall is judgmental people. Edited to add: we got food poisoning from eating there, I guess the chicken wasn’t cooked well? All of us who got chicken happen to all be sick with a stomach something today. The ones who didn’t get chicken seem to be fine. I really wanted to like this place but...