Wow. You can barely even pick out the few remaining vestiges of Panama Joes. Great job of remodeling the place. This definitely isn't a dive bar now.
The interior is large, clean and very open. Â They have the standard sports bar menu. My burger was fine -- nothing spectacular. I asked about the sides and the waitress talked up the cole slaw. Too much mayo for me. But then I do tend to minimize the use of mayo. My wife's fries had a good flavor but were soggy and slightly undercooked.
Service was mostly good. A little slow on the refills. They seem to have a shift change at 4 so I think there was a little too much focus on end of the shift activities.
All in all I wasn't wowed but I'm willing to chalk it up to growing pains. I'm sure I'll give it another try before too long.
Chomps is a sports bar that isn't divey, is brand new/clean, on a good side of town, and provides great food while still having the 'bar' feel with TVs, decent food prices, and a good size bar. We dined here Friday night and were pleasantly impressed to see how busy the new-ish place was with a wide variety of patrons. Older couples, families, young professionals, etc all seem to occupy the place.
When we first got there, we were greeted by the friendly hostess and seated quickly without a wait. It took a few minutes longer to have our server come to our table to take our drink orders, though. Given we ordered a beer and a glass of wine, the drinks took longer to come out than I think they should have the first round, but didn't have a problem the next round. We did enjoy the greatly priced happy hour prices - $3 house wine and draft specials.
We ordered and shared the blue cheese chips ($7.50) appetizer. Plenty to share with probably 4 people. Great flavor in the blue cheese - you could tell it was good quality cheese - and drizzled with balsamic vinegar on top of homemade potato cut chips. It's presentation was as good as it tasted.
We also shared the Southwest Chicken Sandwich with coleslaw ($9). The sandwich was good, although it didn't have the southwest 'kick' we thought it would for having chipotle sauce on it. I would have renamed it the chicken sandwich. The coleslaw tasted freshly made in house.
We'd certainly return to Chomps and hope their business continues to flourish with patrons!
3.5 stars, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and give it the 4 until I'm compellted to update otherwise.
They definitely did a nice job on the remodel. It's a comfortable atmosphere and a nice bar to hang out for a few beers. I wish they'd have a little better selection than your typical domestic beers and Swamphead. Yeah, I like supporting the local brewery, but every damn restaurant in Gainesville has them and other craft options would be nice. That's a side rant that has no impact on the rating.
The service was good and the bartender was attentive, though it was a slow Sunday evening. It really comes down to the food. We stuck to the burgers/sandwiches, as late Sunday night wasn't the time I felt like trying a $20+ steak. Actually, I'm not sure a $20+ steak matches the atmosphere. Anyway, a reuben with only a choice of talapia or turkey and no corned beef is strange, but my stepson said the talapia was really good. I had some of my wife's chili burger and while tasty, left something to be desired. I picture chili burgers being messy and mounded with chili, this was more like a thick paste, just enough to give you the flavor (which seems cheap, imo). It was also a very beany chili, not much meat. The burger itself was good though. I had the shaved sirloin....a philly cheesesteak. Nice flavor, well sauteed onions and peppers. My compaint? It was too damn small. I liked the style of the fries, so no complaints there.
All in all, while the flavors were good, some of the quantities are a little questionable for the price. I'll go back and try a couple more items though. At the very least, it may become another drinking spot for me, being so close to home.
I liked everything about this new, renovated restaurant except I wish they had more vegetarian/vegan options on the menu. Hopefully they will add some as they are open longer and develop their menu!
For my full review, see my blog at <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvegouttoeat.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F04%2F01%2Fmarch-madness-millers-gainesville-ale-house-and-chomps-sports-grill-gainesville-florida%2F&s=8696d6848d59ff247609cf3cdeb4bd17806c68f50b25d02bf1ad3f54f5367674" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://vegouttoeat.wordp…</a>
Finally, a dissent sports bar near the I-75 NW corridor. It use to be Panama Joe's, and I use to feel like I needed a shower right after I walked in the place and the crowd could get kind of sketchy late at night. Chomps as done a great remodel! Imagine a smaller Gators Dockside but with 2 pool tables and nice steaks on the menu. It's clean and the servers were nice and on top of their game. They do trivia at 10:00pm on Thursday nights. I think this is our new neighborhood go to spot!
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