Barrel 135 — Restaurant in Williamsport

Our Saturday night dine out took us to a new place (for us) in Williamsport - Barrel 135.  I've been seeing a number of their FB posts recently and was eager to try out some of their menu.

The restaurant is along 3rd Street with limited street parking (although there is a parking garage right next door). The restaurant is small and narrow on the inside with outdoor seating in the alley. Reservations are strongly encouraged due to space and we watched many customers get turned away without them. Seating is a bit tight with some tables approximately 12 inches from your neighbor and with the brick walls, it was a bit loud/noisy, so don't expect an intimate conversation here.  Also, the chairs weren't the best regarding comfort.  If you are classified in the "big and tall" category, you will most certainly be uncomfortable.  My hubby had to periodically stand up mid-meal to shake out his legs and hips before settling back in.  So take a cushion. Or sit at the bar.

The food and cocktails, on the other hand, were amazing. I started off with a Tart Berry Martini.  Refreshing, but not tart at all - actually too sweet for my tastes.  I downed that baby pretty fast.  My second and favorite drink was a Smoky Paloma. This one was a good sipper and I loved the beads of chili oil floating on top. Kept the tingle on my lips throughout the evening.

Appetizers were incredible.  The Beef Tataki just melted in your mouth.  Thin strips of tender beef in a very tasty ponzu sauce really hit the spot.  And the 'Nduja Bruschetta was a true taste treat! A hefty slice of grilled sourdough slathered with 'Nduja and topped with roasted red peppers, feta, a little honey drizzle, and a sprinkling of microgreens.  Not knowing what to expect, my first bite was met with a spicey goodness that actually brought water to my eyes!  I had never heard of 'nduja before and I am so glad I tried it.  I like spice and this little piece of heaven was wonderful. I could have had two of those without hesitation.

Main courses were the Sundried Tomato and Italian Sausage Tagliatelle (the homemade pesto sauce was fresh and tasted like summer) and the Grilled Chicken Souvlaki (tender marinated chicken over a bed of flavored couscous and hummus). Even the toasted pita was delicious.  I do need to point out, however, that the souvlaki was NOT my menu of choice and here is my strike against the place. My first choice was the Bulgogi Lion's Mane steak and I had been thinking about that dish pretty much all day because I had reviewed the online menu days beforehand.  We put our orders in and after 15-20 minutes, our server came back saying they no longer had the Lion's Mane mushroom.  I think she could see my disappointment.  So I had to scramble for a substitution.  Don't get me wrong, I think I made the right decision in getting the chicken but it wasn't what my mouth had been 'set' on.  Communication between the kitchen and the wait staff could have been better in this instance. I wish I would have been told up front when we placed our original orders.

Desserts were three - a death by chocolate cake, a cheesecake with some kind of jammy topping, and an espresso mousse something or other - sorry I didn't catch all she said.  We decided to skip dessert - I knew my poor hubby was not comfortable in that tiny chair and we just decided to leave.

But we'll definitely return - we'll just sit at the bar because the seating there looked better.  Our food and cocktails were outstanding and we were told the menu changes every couple of months.  Service was good but a bit slow (we were there almost 90...

I haven’t the slightest idea WHY this place isn’t listed as a 5 star restaurant because not only do you get ambience but you get genuine personality from the staff. The engagement with the phenomenal bartender (I’m a retired bartender) who makes her own craft specials drink and the server who waited on us, I could speak volumes to their service. That alone would have me make the 5.5 hour drive from central Ohio to dine there again. Now let’s talk about the menu. It’s a variation of foods, no real genre which I love. My husband and I had a mix of the food. We started with the sesame crusted tuna nachos, it’s homemade tortilla chips stacked with the tuna, cucumber slaw, wasabi and a jalapeño slice!!!!!! Delicious 😋 he had the dragon sushi roll and I had the pound of curry mussels. Disclosure here; I LOVE me some mussels and anytime we travel I try the mussels. I’ve had some delicious mussels but THESE I would drive 5.5 hours to eat. I tasted the freshness of the ocean, they were super tender and full of flavor. I devoured the pound of mussels in 5 min tops. We took a chicken schnitzel served with asparagus to go. Now if I had to have a debate I would say the chicken schnitzel is not a traditional schnitzel. German schnitzel is a thin cutlet of pork or chicken pounded and then fried in a crispy breading. This was a thick piece of chicken, still had the taste of schnitzel but definitely not a thin pounded piece of chicken. Asparagus was cook to perfection and that means a lot to a foodie and culinary student. Drinks were on point and creative for this small town in Williamsport, PA. We will be back every time we visit because this place is absolutely AMAZING!!!! 5 STARS for sure.

P.S I wanted you to see the mussels but at first taste I just smashed them without care for the before photo. That should tell...

Dont waste your time or money. "BIG DISAPPOINTMENT"(start to finish). 8 of us made reservations for Sunday brunch because a good friends band was scheduled to play. We got there only to find out another band was playing because the restaurant double booked bands for that day. It continues to go down from there. Service was slow, food was mediocre, short staffed and disorganized. Two tables that came in after us received their food before us, one person in our party received his egg Benedict platter after the rest of us were 3/4 done, (how much longer can it take to cook that selection?) The cooked onions in the omelets were cold, and the Caesar salad was a joke. It was presented like a whole section was just pulled out of the bag and chicken pieces placed on the side with dressing drizzled over top, AND the core wasn't even cut off, so the person who ordered that refused it and ended up settling for an extra platter that was cooked by mistake. "Definitely not waiting for something else." I went inside and when I asked one the waitress walking by who I should complain to, she said her. I expressed to her our disappointment about all that happened, her only comment was "Well we only have 1 cook on Sunday's. REALLY!!! No apology, nothing deducted from our bill. Just a "whatever " attitude. I said her excuse was lame, and no one in our party will ever come again. SO BEWARE....DONT GET SUCKED IN! There are many other restaurants that care about their customers. "NOT THE ONLY...