Pub 500 — Restaurant in Mankato

I stopped in for my first visit to watch the Vikings/Packers game (Skol!). The restaurant/sports bar 5 TVs on the wall (I think that is correct), ranging from 30" to around 44"-46". One larger 2 tvs were at the seated bar area which large and sits in an oval.

I sat at a high top table in the area that is the sports bar side as there were. one of the 3-4 booths open on the small quieter side. In the seating area there are only three booths, all the rest are high tops, around 10. Once seated, the game ready to start, there was no volume to the game?! I asked my waitress (name withheld) about turning up the volume to hear the game. She replied she would have to talk to the manager. I had to ask again 10 minutes later. Then the volume came up to about a 6; you could hear voices talking but the din was loud that it was hard to hear as it made very muffled. I was disappointed being new to town, picking a sports bar, the TVs were so small and having the big game on with low volume. You should at least he able to hear what is being said without having to focus on it unless the intent is to gather and talk and look at the game?

The menu is wide; I settled on the pineapple chicken which was good. The only comment is the baby carrots were 2/3 raw still. My waitress informed me other customers have complained but it doesn't change. I will ask for no baby carrots and extra pineapple. It is a savory with light sweetness. The food was good with plenty of fresh grilled chicken. I was also pleased to have Woodchuck Amber cider on tap! There is a pool table with one dart board right next to a large 10 top table.

If you are coming here to hangout it is recommended as they list themselves as "A Gathering Spot" if you dont mind a large amount of background din. I would not recommend if you are here to have a casual conversation as it would be difficult to listen, unless you are at the small quieter side.

Food was good! The cider was cold and the chicken and waffles looked good as did the homemade sloppy joe. Disappointed in the infamous crunchy baby carrots and would come back to sit up front where there is one tv on the wall...not sure about the volume. I am giving them four stars even though it didn't get my expectations a lot of people were there because they want to be there. I wont let that take it to a lower number of stars...

What do you call it when pulled pork, a burger, and bacon get lunch?

A delicious meating 🫢😅

Here’s the rub from two trips to Pub 500:

Hickory Burger 🍔 🥓 with slow-roasted pulled pork, bacon, pepper jack cheese, and signature BBQ sauce

Fried Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole 🥘 🍚 with fried chicken, wild rice and farro, corn, peas and carrots with house made turkey gravy

Cheesy Turkey Sandwich 🥪 🍗 pulled turkey topped with cheese sauce, grilled tomato and lightly dusted with cajun seasoning.

Artichoke Spinach Dip 🧀 house recipe served with pita bread ——— Why do you put three kinds of meat on the same sandwich? Bar-be-cause why NOT! 😆 My culinary companion had no complaints, just compliments for this handheld. He liked the smoky, fall-apart flavor of the pork, along with a lil’ burger and bacon for a robust meal on a bun 💯

My casserole was a big bowl of home-cooked goodness 😊 The fried chicken had excellent crispiness, and the grains/veggies helped contribute unique textures, with the wild rice being the highlight 🌾 The gravy wasn’t standout, but it was made in-house which always keeps things interesting. I think the creativity of this dish exceeded any subpar components ⬆️

Cheesy turkey was no fowl play 🤭 I think these two ingredients are a heavenly match, and fresh tomato is typically a safe bet. Nothing super outstanding about this one, but I liked the ‘wich for what it was 👏

And in reverse order we end with an appetizer. Unlike many Minnesota sports teams, these ‘chokes are a fine way to end our lineup😬🤣 they’d be winning order any day. The pitas did not impress, but the flavor itself was phenomenal. Don’t dip before trying this one.

Pub 500 gets many props for atmosphere, menu uniqueness, options, and food freshness. I’d say a few tweaks they they’d make the top 10 establishments in Mankato for me. If ya check it out, try another burger or appetizer as it seems they do...

Very nice pub, friendly & welcoming atmosphere & staff. We were seated promptly even with it being packed & busy, and got to put our orders in quick as well. Food was very good, maybe a bit pricey but that’s anywhere nowadays, and it took an hour to get 2 sloppy joes and a turkey BLT. I don’t know if that’s normal, but 20min after getting our order put in the amount of customers halved and not many new customers came in during that time. Our server, Emily M., was not great whatsoever; she greeted us, took our drink order, came back with drinks & took our food order, then only came back to give us the food. Didn’t check on us once (and I’m not going to flag someone down and piss them off) in between unlike all the tables around us. In the hour she could’ve helped us, or any table for that matter, she did this instead: Moved bar glasses inches from where they were originally placed Talked to coworkers/friends (we had to interrupt this conversation just to get our check) Possibly flirted with a guy two tables from us while we were trying to get her attention (lead to us interrupting her convo at the door for our check) Overall, love the place but our server was terrible. I can’t speak for the other two people I was with in regards to if they tipped, but I know I gave her the spare change from paying my bill, which I ALWAYS tip. I only did this because she did not seem to care whatsoever about us (since I was drinking watered down Coke since our food took some time), didn’t even give an update on our food after it had been awhile like any other place would do, and didn’t apologize for how long it took with no update. No “still good over here?” no hospitality from...