StokeRidge Tavern & Grill — Restaurant in Stokesdale

We stopped in for lunch today, our first visit here. This is a nice layout inside, rustic, comfortable feeling in the dining area, the bar is large & attractive, there are plenty of large screen TVs, and a nice amount of outside seating. We were seated quickly, drink orders quickly filled as we looked over the menu.

They offer some "quick lunch" choices, but we wanted to try some their barbecue items and a burger off the full menu. We settled on the Brisket Sandwich ($9.95 with a side & drink), the Jalapeno Burger ($9.25 with a side & drink), and the Outlaw ($8.25 with a side) which is their pork barbecue sandwich.

Unfortunately, the food was just OK, with something a little off center with each item we tried. The Jalapeno Burger has some real potential, especially if you like some heat, but the burger was well over cooked beyond the medium we ask for. The accompanying Hot Chips went the other direction, with at least half of them significantly under-cooked and very limp. The burger is well sized, but is under-seasoned when tasted without the bread or toppings - a little salt helped this somewhat.

The Brisket Sandwich was filled with thin slices of beef, but the meat was considerably over-cooked, with no tenderness, almost a crunch though out the meat, not just the char on the outside portion - this meat did not seem freshly cooked, at all, but rather warmed over. The BBQ sauce is a thick, rich sauce dominated by sweetness, a bit too sweet for my tastes, and the Swiss Cheese didn't add anything to this sandwich considering the amount of sauce..

The pork barbecue is minced rather than chopped or pulled, not a texture I care for, and the meat comes out of the kitchen more than well sauced, and the sauce here is sweet, as well. There is not a huge portion of meat on this sandwich, which also has a little cole slaw on Texas Toast, a platform that doesn't stand up well to a rather wet filling. The French Fries had some flavor, but were not the least bit crispy, in fact, mostly limp.

The service was excellent, the ambiance pleasant, other than the piped in music being too loud, and the pricing was reasonable in most respects. But the food was just not something that made you say "wow", and the items that were either over or under cooked points to a lack of attention in the kitchen - those chips and that brisket, in particular, should never have been made it out of the kitchen, period.

Might drop in and try again, maybe try something different, if in the area, but this would not be a destination spot based on our...

I am writing to express my deep disappointment regarding an upsetting incident that occurred at your restaurant on July 24, 2025, at approximately 1:00 p.m. My wife and I arrived, as we have many times before, looking forward to enjoying a meal — but we were shocked and disheartened by the treatment we received after the servers saw my service dog.

We were told we could not sit at the bar and were only permitted to dine outside in extremely hot weather, despite clearly explaining that I was accompanied by a legally recognized service dog. We then respectfully spoke with Sammy the bartender /manager to clarify that, under the law, service animals are permitted in public areas, including restaurants. Nonetheless, we were denied the ability to eat inside and were effectively refused service unless we agreed to sit outside.

What made this experience even more upsetting is that we have been loyal patrons of your restaurant for approximately 15 years, regularly driving 25 minutes from our home specifically to dine there. We have always enjoyed your food and atmosphere, which is why this treatment felt so discouraging and unfair.

In addition, we were further disappointed that after writing to Kevin, the owner, over a week and a half ago, we never received any acknowledgment or response. Given our longstanding loyalty and the seriousness of the situation, this silence only added to our frustration and sense of disregard.

The decision to exclude us from indoor dining, despite our rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), was not only a violation of federal law—it was discriminatory and unacceptable.

We are asking for a formal response that explains how this matter will be addressed to ensure it never happens again, to us or anyone else.

We truly hope to continue supporting your establishment, but this matter needs to be resolved respectfully and responsibly.

Sincerely Steve &...

Let me start by saying I call a spade a spade and I had high hopes for this place because they are ALWAYS busy well outside bar is always busy so I assumed it must be a hot spot in the area. So we decided to give it a try. Staff seemed to be a tad bit inexperienced a lot of 18yo ish girls serving tables. Service was the best thing about this place and it wasn't great. Our waitress was nice and attended to our request pretty well. However, the negative reviews here about the food were pretty accurate. We ordered the nachos and they were nothing special canned beans, canned cheese, and canned jalapenos. NOT WORTH $10 My wife ordered the fried mushrooms and said they had no flavor at all. again NOT WORTH $10 I ordered the BBQ Bacon burger and it unfortunately was not very good tough over cooked part was medium the rest well. The burger came with mac and cheese they said made on site. Well I believe that because the mac & cheese was elbow macaroni with what looked like shredded cheese on top and tasted about like that as well very little flavor.

We ordered in my opinion tavern/sports bar food and they were not great not even good. You don't have to have a perfect menu but you should be able to get these tavern/sport bar foods right. Nachos, burger, were missed by a mile. I don't expect a tavern/sports bar to have GREAT mac & cheese but put a little effort and fried mushroom maybe a little seasoning. Lastly, both my wife and my stomach have been upset since we ate last night. something did not agree with us.

There are not many restaurants in the area. IF you do things right a business should make good money but in my opinion the only thing keep this place afloat is the bar/beer and...