The Ax Billy Grill & Sports Bar

Located on the top floor of the historic Ax Billy building, above the Downtown Athletic Club, Ax Billy Grill & Sports Bar serves up surprisingly competitive fish tacos.  The cool, swanky restaurant caters to business folks, DAC members, but also is welcoming to the public...as long as they've got money.  It can be spendy, but they do have a decent happy hour menu that includes the fish tacos. The thick taco shells are filled to the brim with a thick cut of golden fried fresh cod and crisp cabbage.  I have no idea what sauce they use but it is magical.  I've had a few other items from their menu, but none were better than the fish tacos.  And of course their flat screen tv's make it so much more convenient to enjoy my tacos during a game!

Was only in town a few days visiting family. Wanted a chill spot to watch the NBA finals game. Nice mellow atmosphere, friendly service and great food. Plenty of TV's to watch sports. Very satisfied with my experience here. Definitely recommend the Mambo burger!

I'd been here for drinks once before, and hadn't thought much of the place. It was ok, the drinks were fine, etc. etc. I had viewed the menu at that time, and wasn't too excited to return. However, it was a friend's birthday, and he wanted to come here, so what can you do? He wanted a place that could accommodate a group without being noisy, and was also good for a (very polite, quiet) kid. It worked for that, mostly.

And when I say "mostly," I mean if you didn't have to go down the hall and use the bathroom next to the sorority dance party blasting music in the ballroom, with its sweaty drunk ladies swarming the bathroom. The only bathroom. With only 2 stalls. And filth everywhere. And that smell of vomit, booze, sweat, and bathroom that anyone who has been to college is probably at least somewhat familiar with... but which there's a time and a place for, this not being it.

But back to the dining experience. The food wasn't horrible, if you like your local organic meat to be processed by a cook who is clearly dead inside and can only express his sorrow by forming it into a perfect imitation of Sysco's uniform machine-packed patties. They have reasonable beers on tap too. The kid's menu actually looked quite good, and I found myself gazing with envy at the grilled cheese of the little girl in our party. Of course, being a rough-cut panini-style sandwich, rather than the safe grilled cheese on white bread you'd expect from a kid's menu, it didn't seem to appeal to her any more than my burger appealed to me. Instead, she ate her grapes, apple slices, and spinach salad, and was done with the meal, leaving me to be sucked into the void of darkness created when the chef lost his soul to the people who flock to the DAC and insist upon this type of food to fill some emptiness of their own.

My husband finished his seared ahi tuna sandwich, but mostly because it was something to do during the long long sit we had, waiting for the waitress to bring the bill after we had all finished (or given up on) our meals. He reported that while the fish was high quality, and the bun and wasabi mayo of good flavor as well, that the overall presentation of coldness on an untoasted bun really took away from his ability to enjoy it.