The Barn Bar & Grill

I'm at a loss for words to describe how bad The Barn is. The outside looks promising but leaves you wondering whether it is mainly a bar or a restaurant. I like the rustic sheet metal covered walls on the inside but with little to complement them, the overall atmosphere is dull and boring.  The beer keg urinal was the highlight for decor.  The front of house staff are friendly but unattentive resulting in emply glasses begging for refills and our appetizer taking about 50 minutes.  The worst part by far was the food so it will need the most detail.

We started our meal with the Voodoo Nachos which again took about 50 minutes to arive at our table.  This is a $9 appetizer which is only a few chips larger than what you would get at Taco Bell for $2-$3.  The chips were very chewy and the meat was way over seasoned.  Most of the bites were bland until you had a piece of meat and then you were reaching for your emply glass to wash your mouth out.

I ordered the small greek salad ($3.50)  to have before my entree and it arrived in a reasonable amount of time.  It was your basic greek salad with lettuce, feta, olives, and tomatoes.  The vinegar and oil based dressing was poorly seasoned and lacked the right balance of oil and vinegar.  Whoever collected the dressing probably failed to stir the container before ladeling some into the small cup.

The filet mignon (normally $29 though there was a special this night) is a chef's opportunity to display his talent and creativity.  Although prized for their tenderness, filets lack the flavor found in other cuts of beef.  This demands that the chef create flavor with seasonings, marinades, and/or sauces while at the same time giving him an excellent canvas to show off his creativity.  My filet arrived without any or with very little seasoning and overcooked without a sear.

I didn't expect to see a filet smothered in a balsamic or wine based sauce you might find in Italy, France, or New York, but something would have been nice.  A good bit of fresh cracked black pepper, kosher salt, and some fresh garlic usually works well.  Basted with butter after a good sear makes for an excellent filet.  The lack of a sear is either due to the skillet not being hot enough, the filet having water on it when put into the skillet, or both.  

The two sides that came with my filet were the garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.  The mashed potatoes were seasoned nicely and were probably the best cooked item we had.  The woody lower part of the asparagus stems is supposed to be removed and it wasn't.  The asparagus was also very undercooked.  When you pick up cooked asparagus and it's still as straight as a pencil, it needs more cooking!

I ordered grilled shrimp to go with my filet.  The seasoning was spot on but they were very overcooked and chewy.  They were also not grilled but probably sauteed in a skillet or in the oven.

My son and wife ordered burgers.  The buns were nice and the fixings where fine but the meat was way overdone and dry.  Now if there was anything with a sear it was those burger patties.  When the sear on the patty begins to look like the bark of an old pine tree after a forest fire, they've probably been cooked a bit too much.

In conclusion, I did hear the owner tell the table next to us that his chef wasn't able to work because he was sick.  On the other hand, any properly trained cook should be able to duplicate the menu items created by the head chef.