Stonehouse Pub

A nice comfortable room with, oddly enough, whitewashed stone walls. About the only drawback for me of the two times I've been here is the bizarre sound effects on the poker machine which some strung out poor soul was playing yesterday.

  The Jameson's Select Reserve was nice to see since there's still too many bars that don't have a selection of Irish whiskeys. The Bell's Spring Ale was a nice crisp Belgian style brew. Together I believe they were under $10 with a $2 tip. Taking into consideration that I'm paying $7.50 for a shot of the Jameson's 12 year at my normal watering hole I'm a happy camper.

  The first time I ate here I had the double cheeseburger with pepper jack and sweet potato fries. Nicely done juicy burger and fries that were crisp and not greasy. Yesterday I had the Philly Cheese Steak with pepperjack cheese and sweet potato fries. I see a pattern begining to form here. The beef was tender and moist with a balanced proportion of grilled onions, green peppers, and cheese. There's a dipping sauce with the fries that's kind of like a french dressing but not quite as tart that I actually ate. Normally I'd just soak the things in hot sauce. But there's a house made hot sauce that reminds me of Cajun Chef or Louisiana Hot Sauce that's pretty tasty as well. I soaked my Philly Cheese Steak in that instead of the fries.

  Gabby was behind the bar and I would hire her in a heartbeat if I opened a place of my own. Had some conversations with several different people, including the proprietess of the couch for people who can't make it home safely, on both ocassions and felt very much at home. There's a nice old down town area here with some good neighborhood people and a variety of bars and eateries within a two block radius.

  Easy to get to off I 355, it's worth the drive.

Met a group of friends here a week or so ago.  Service was very good, agreed to split checks which is always a plus.  Beer selection was very interesting and very reasonably priced.

Food, though, was not all that great.  I had "just a burger" which was described as  "8 oz. of fresh ground beef, hand formed and grilled to order."   It did not appear to be 8 oz. Nor was it hand formed.  And it was not grilled to order as i ordered it med. rare and it was well done.  Not sure if it could be cooked med. rare given how thin the burger was.  Fries were not crisp but rather limp.  The cup of gumbo I ordered tasted like rice in ketchup.  Worse cup of gumbo I've ever had.   A friend ordered the reuben and said that was good.  Another had the fish and coconut shrimp, which was just okay in their opinion.

Stonehouse is a solid option if you're in the area and want a sit down, but not fancy lunch. I've been twice now and had similar experience both times.

Food, a solid four starts. Stuffed burger? Are you kidding me? Of course I want bacon INSIDE my burger. And cheese too? Why not. The waffle fries and regular fries are both crispy and a good addition to the filling burger. Don't plan on having dinner if you order this for lunch.

Service and atmosphere range between 2 and 3 stars for me. Sure, a pub should be lit dimly in the evenings and on the weekends, but when it's for lunch clientele, a little more light would be nice. Both times I've also had one of those tables that wobbles, which is just plain annoying. Something that just plain grosses me out is that the menus smell disgusting, like old food and sweat. Makes me not want to touch them. (Good thing I know that I'll always get the burger.) Service has been ok, but tends to err on the side of being there less frequently than you need them to be - my boss hates having to ask for refills.

Overall, the burger will keep me coming back here if it's convenient for a work lunch, but I wouldn't write home about this place.