Buckeye Beer Engine

My wife and I finally gave this place a shot on a Friday evening. We were seated right away for it being 6pm.  The staff was friendly and efficient, with the only problem being it was difficult for them to hear us order because it was loud inside. I guess that's to be expected due to the size of the place.  The aged red ale was outstanding with great cherry flavor.  The Petraus(sp) lager was good too. I had the mammoth melt and my wife had the west side burger. They were both outstanding and perfectly cooked and juicy.  We split an appetizer of onion rings and these were phenomenal.  They were large in portion and size, and perfectly breaded and fried.  The homemade chips with the burgers were very good. The only negative I have to say it's about the fried pickle. There is only one place we've been to that has done this right. Unfortunately Buckeye did not.  The breading came off of the pickle, and the pickle itself was mushy and warm. This was the only negative and it certainly won't prevent us from returning. We will be back very soon because we want to make our way through the menu...both food and beer menus.

This place gets crowded for good reason.  The beer selection is phenomenal for beer freaks like myself.  The electronic tap menu is a really nice addition and is a major upgrade from the chalkboard they had before.  

I like to go here to eat and have a few good beers.  The servers are pretty friendly for the most part and pretty knowledgeable about beer.  The burgers are freaking awesome, and their homemade chips are really good.  My brother had the spaetzle last time and said it was tasty and filling.

The bar service is awesome.  Your glass does not sit empty very long if it even gets there before the bartender is offering to refill it.  I like that.  The bartenders seem to purposely not engage in lengthy conversations with the patrons probably because they would get distracted and have empty glasses sitting on the bar.  I never have to ask to get a refill like I do at some other bars.

Before St. Patrick's Day this year, I might have given the Beer Engine 3 stars. *might*. We had been there a couple times before and it was just ok - food is average bar sandwich/burger type of stuff. Yes, they have a good beer list but who doesn't anymore? That alone really doesn't earn you many points in my book these days. Some will say, 'hey the service sucks and the food is just ok, but hey they have an awesome beer list'. NOT THIS GIRL. Sorry, I'd rather go somewhere with a good beer list, good food and decent service.

Aaaanyway, on St. Patrick's Day, we had plans to meet up with people here since they are enamored with the beer list and they were supposed to be serving breakfast. So around 10am, we headed here to meet up. I was starving and excited to get some good grub. In my experience, bars do often have really yummy brunch so I was hopeful - especially since my friends assured me that they have  a good brunch menu here.

When we arrived, we were able to find a table quickly and the service was fine. We ordered some beers and began the day. When it came time to order food, we were surprised to learn that they were not only not serving their normal menu, but they only had ONE option for breakfast. ONE! Corned beef hash and eggs. Ok fine, I'll eat that but would have appreciated another option or two. All would have been well because I do eat most things....but the food was bad. Nasty even. My eggs were totally overcooked (if you have a brunch menu and cannot cook an egg properly it drives me insane!) and the hash was totally mushy and gross. You could tell they just had a giant vat of it with a scoop back there. NO GOOD at all.

Not only is there one option for breakfast - the rest of the St. Patrick's Day 'menu' (consisting of mostly corned beef sandwiches) - wasn't available until hours later. What? You can't get me an f'ing corned beef sandwich? The waitress said they 'might' have their regular menu available around 3pm. You might? Apparently the Beer Engine was taken by surprise by this phenomenon known as St. Patrick's Day.

On top of it all, they have a single bathroom. NO. You are a bar. Do what you have to do to get more than one.

Now you might say - come on you can't judge a place by St. Patrick's Day. OH YES I CAN! Plus, I've been there other times. Not a fan of the Beer Engine. Would rather go to 10 other places if just for a 'great beer list'.