Schooners Patio Grille

Had a great 1st visit and returned for their BLT and more carne fries. I'm hooked, got to try a cheeseburger, some flatbread and pizza soon!

After a long absence from Ridgecrest, the old "Schooner's" has been resurrected as Schooners Patio Grille. It is a welcome return. The large frozen stem mugs, known as schooners, of course, are back, as are the boats of free peanuts with shells scattered everywhere. Although barely open a week when I got a chance to stop by, they are running pretty efficiently with a very friendly crew. We sat at the bar during happy hour and watched the place fill up just behind us. This was last Tuesday and the place was jammed by the time I left with people waiting at the door for tables. I tried only one food item: a chicken wing appetizer shared with my family and friends. They were very tasty and well-cooked with some of the smaller pieces just a bit overdone. That's fine with me as priority number one is a fully-cooked wing. Celery and Blue Cheese accompanies and we enjoyed them a lot. There is a large selection of beers with Stone and Widmer leading the way. Guinness and Bass are also on tap. And they have Rolling Rock on continual special, which is great because I like that beer about as well as any of the American adjunct-based pale lagers.

The have remodeled the interior of the old building to put in a full kitchen in the back and have redone the north wall so that all of the windows open to the outside, lending an alfresco air to the place.

Mixed drinks are available in this new iteration so cocktailians will not be disappointed. The sports bar vibe predominates, lots of TVs on the wall, plenty of waitresses and bartenders to keep the beer flowing. Our bartender was great, funny guy and those frozen mugs are just awesome. Great place to stop for a beer, and if the food turns out to be as good as the appetizer was this place could get a fifth star from me.