Bar West Neighborhood Grill

A great bar for servers! It's wonderful for relaxing after a long shift, with a stellar staff on hand.

Some friends gave us a Living Social for this place and we finally made it there today.  We went in for dinner on a Sunday evening at about 6pm.  Place wasn't overly crowded, but it wasn't empty either.  Initial impression was, OK, it's a bar in a strip mall.  We'll be eating mediocre bar food, but hopefully the burgers and fries aren't too bad and hey, it was a gift.

We were pleasantly surprised.  We started with the nachos appetizer (with beef), They were plentiful and had lots of chopped tomatoes & onions, black beans, ground beef, and sour cream (which requested and received on the side). My (Mexican) husband said the best part was that the chips were freshly made.  I wasn't blown away by the nachos but they were definitely good and slightly above my expectations.  I would definitely go back for drinks and order the nachos again.

Best part...our entrees - beginning with my son's who ordered the bacon smoked cheddar burger with fries.  I tried a few of the fresh-cut fries from his plate and they were awesome!  I know different people like their fries prepared different ways, but these made all three of us happy.  The burger was huge and my 13 year old with a super size appetite couldn't even finish it all.

My husband ordered the Southwest burger.  I included a picture of it because we were so blown away.  This thing was huge!  Not only was it huge, it earned the following description from my very picky husband, "fresh and amazing".

Lastly, I went out on a limb ordering something that could have been a huge flop, especially taking into consideration the surroundings, which were cozy and inviting, but nevertheless, there was no mistaking that we were in a BAR.   The 8oz. KC Strip was priced reasonably at $15 and came with parmesan, garlic, horseradish spuds (mashed potatoes), grilled asparagus, and blvd. pale ale-battered red onion rings.  I ordered the steak medium (sad, I know), but it was cooked perfectly and still very juicy and flavorful.  Asparagus had that great grill taste and was just the right amount of crispy.  Potatoes were good, not amazing, but good.  And the onion rings pretty much melted in my mouth.   The presentation was really nice for this entree and I should have taken a picture.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  

We will definitely be returning to Bar West.

Bar West is not far from my home and many of my friends have made it a regular drinking spot but after buying a groupon or something similar my hubby and I decided to try it out for lunch.

The lunch crowd is pretty much non-existent so there is no wait staff, just a bar tender, but she did a fine job serving us.

I had the BLT and thought it was really good.  The fries were good when they first came out and were piping hot but once they cooled off they were just mediocre.  Guess next time I'll eat them first :-)  My husband had a chicken sandwich and also thought it was good.

Given the other choices in that area I'm not sure I'd go back if I didn't have a coupon - if paying full price I'd pick Barley's over Bar West.  But with a Val Pak coupon which they seem to have frequently, I'd go back.