Beer Barrel Pizza & Grill — Restaurant in Maumee

This was my first visit to Beer Barrel and I was suitably impressed. It takes a very good impression for me to give a chain five stars, even a smaller regional chain like this one. This is one of eight active locations, all in Ohio. Perhaps the reason this is better than most chains is that it has local roots. The original Beer Barrel opened in Lima in 1965.

We visited on a Friday night, and it was packed (to the capacity allowed under current restrictions). We had a half-hour wait for a table in spite of the rather spacious dining area this place offers. Once we were seated, the service was excellent. Our server Alexis (Lexy) did a superb job taking care of us throughout our stay.

The menu featured many favorites one might find at a pizza pub, along with a few creative options. We started with the Hummus and Guacamole Board, which was terrific. It featured carrots, celery, cucumbers and tortilla chips as dippers, with two types of hummus and jalapeño-laden guacamole as dips. It was a satisfying starter.

For mains, we split a California Cobb Salad and a Thai Chicken Pizza. The salad featured mixed greens, bacon, egg, avocado, bleu cheese crumbles, tomato, cucumber, and scallions, with a seasoned grilled chicken breast skewer. We chose honey mustard dressing, which was a nice complement. The pizza included Thai sauce, grilled chicken, mozzarella, mushrooms, sweet red peppers and topped with green onions and cilantro. It tasted great. We had plenty to take home, and the leftovers lasted two more meals.

With food, drinks (iced tea and club soda), tax and tip, our total expense was $51. At $25.50 per person, this was a reasonable deal considering the quality of the fare and the fact that we got extra meals from our take home portion. I was happy with the value. We'll look forward to...

Well this review started off as a 1 star. We sat 10 min before any one actually acknowledged us. Our waiter finally came to the table and said he was gonna take care of us. Well that was a lie. He immediately brought us the drinks. We sat there for 35 more min with empty drinks until a different server randomly brought us refills. Still had no appetizer or soup. At this point we ask for a manager and waitress immediately ask what the issue was . We sat at 9:04 according to the hostess computer and our food was not put in till 9:46. We asked that the original server not return to the table. It was clear to me when we got our food the original waiter was talking trash to another employee as the 2 of them would not stop staring at us. I brought this to the attention of the manager and he immediately addressed the issue.

Our new waitress was as expected was very nice, promt, and apologetic. The manager offered to cover our appetizers but I refused as i do not go to restaurants looking for free food. In the end they offered us a gift card if we opted to come back.

On to the important part the food. Their menu was very robust. The original pizza order was placed incorrectly. So we had to wait for the deep dish to be made. The did however give us the pizza that was originally made. The French onion soup was really good. The pulled pork nachos were slightly better than average but not disappointing by any means. The incorrect pizza was not bad, but the deep dish was REALLY good.

I did not find the atmosphere to be loud and annoying. I feel as though if we had the 2nd waitress as the orignial server I would have most likely given this a 4 or 5 star. At some point I will give this...

I went with a family to dine for the first time at this establishment. I would give it a zero if I could. For an appetizer to share I ordered the spring rolls. They were the worst spring rolls I've ever had in my life. When biting into them they contained nothing but a mushy substance. Although the outside of the spring roll was light and crispy, the interior contents were gross. Then the 2 children ordered a cheesy bread for their app. They seem to enjoy it. However children will eat anything with bread and cheese. Their mother and I each ordered hamburgers. I ordered mine medium rare and it came out well done. When I questioned the server she said that's how we do them. ( However I was not informed of this rule when ordering.) Also the children's mother, her Burger was well done too. Not the way she ordered it. I had the spicy burger with jalapenos and pepper jack cheese. Totally lame. Also the fries were limp and mushy. How much talent does it take to serve fresh crispy fries? Really?? The children had a cheese pizza for their entree and they enjoyed it. ( Again, children will eat anything with bread and cheese involved.) When the bill came it was $95 for crummy food. The children's mother had two small glasses of wine and I had a cocktail. In closing one positive thing I can say is the server was attentive and she was tipped properly for being attentive as she's not the staff member who cooked the unacceptable food. ( However the server could have told us that it is their company policy to serve all burgers well done of which she did not inform us of that rule when we placed our order.) Never...