Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Stop #6 - Bernard's Tavern

Here is why I should not procrastinate on writing these restaurant posts: I didn't write down what we ate and now I'm not sure I remember. So, let's see how this goes.

On a Friday before Christmas, we first walked to the movie theater to see Lincoln. (Loved it, by the way. Look for a movie-themed post closer to the Academy Awards.) On our way home we stopped at Bernard's Tavern for a late dinner.

We've been to Bernard's before. It's been open about three years in the old East Village space (and before that, Union Station). Bernard's is the closest thing the Short North has to a sports bar, in that they have a lot of TV screens and sports are shown on said screens. But they also have events like Karaoke Night and Trivia Night. When we've been there to watch games it's usually a weekend afternoon or we might go for happy hour. They DO have a lengthy happy hour - 4:00 - 8:00 on weekdays, with 1/2 off ALL beers, 1/2 off selected appys, $2 well drinks and $1 off glasses of wine. And they have quite the selection of beer, conveniently listed on two big chalkboards, although I'll bet the servers are often asked "what's on draft?"


This is from their website so it's not necessarily current.

This night was our first time being there on a weekend night after 9:00. It was loud and crowded, mostly with 20- or 30-somethings, but there were a few older folks like us. We did get carded at the door, so that was exciting.

I ordered a Blue Moon, which you'll find I order pretty often. I have no idea what Aaron ordered; I'll have to ask him, but you can see it was darker than mine. Aaron tends to either drink dark beer or cheap American beer such as PBR and Miller High Life.

Apologies for the darkness of the pic.

As for food, I always, ALWAYS get the Portabella Mushroom Sandwich. Just look at it on the menu: carmelized onions, goat cheese, pretzel roll? Yes, please. But for the sake of you, dear reader, I ventured outside my Bernard's comfort zone and got ... "Not Your Mom's" Grilled Cheese and I naturally added the apple wood smoked bacon. The menu says "the secret is in the dijon mustard sauce." Unfortunately, while I love spicy and flavorful food, when it comes to grilled cheese I'm not a condiment kind of girl so I really didn't have an appreciation for the dijon mustard sauce. But it's a perfectly good sandwich. I also got a side of sweet potato fries, which are crinkly and likely frozen.




Aaron ordered a burger. I think it was the Ginny's BBQ Burger. I do remember that he misordered the doneness - he normally does medium but for some strange reason "well done" came out of his mouth. So he wasn't thrilled with it but I think that's just because of his error in ordering. He had Cajun fries, which also may be frozen but they have a tasty Cajun seasoning.

Bottom line: Bernard's has pretty decent bar food, a great happy hour, and you can watch a variety of sporting events there. On weekend nights, it seems a little more "clubby."


Check out the exposed brick and the jukebox!


Stay Tuned,

Spidey and The Gila



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