Alternate title: an ode to the night we went out not intending to sit on a patio, but ended up there because sitting inside the restaurant would’ve meant a 30-40 minute wait, while the patio was seat yourself with lots of open space.
Yes, you read that right.
I mean, lets also be honest about the fact that it was also about 90 degrees outside, and because the patio is really just a portion of the blacktop parking lot with tables – very few of which have umbrellas or were under the awning and out of the sun – it wasn’t exactly the most attractive destination for dining out on this August evening. Also the full menu is not available on the patio.
But we all know what Shane’s hunger level is by this point on a Wednesday evening after a day of work.
So here we are.
I’m not exactly sure when this location of Wild Eagle opened – we knew about the one in Brecksville by Rt 77, but noticed this one on a recent day while out driving in the area and earmarked it as a place to try eventually. Beware that if you use Google Maps to get there from someplace south of the area, the directions may dump you out on the opposite side of the street. Fortunately we’re savvy enough to realize that McDonald’s looks considerably different than the destination we were trying to reach.
#skills
But then I think you can take some of our wisdom points away for Ted’s comment as we’re walking up to the door of “how do we get in?”
Um …
Let’s all take a moment for a collective head slap, shall we?
Anyway.
So we were told that the patio – excuse me, Beer Garden – had a smaller menu, but we didn’t realize just how small until we sat down out there.
But they do have a full bar, so, you know, priorities.
Well, but not draft beer. Bottled, yes. Draft, no.
This seems complicated, but we’ll roll with it.
You also have to go up to the bar to order anything, as there are no servers. So of course we picked the table closest to the bar, because we like convenience. Especially when it comes to alcohol.
We got the kettle chips to start.
I got the burger, which is cleverly disguised on this menu as the “Eagle Classic.” When I said I was ordering the burger, Shane asked “Where do you see that?” – which, to his credit, the description never does actually mention a burger patty at all … but I honestly couldn’t think of many other things you might be able to cook on an outdoor grill that would go along with those particular mentioned condiments, so I kind of took a chance that my assumption wouldn’t end up delivering me some fried bologna or weird fish sandwich covered in American cheese, lettuce and tomato.
The burger was just OK. Maybe my mouth was just still on fire because I thought it would be a good idea to season my chips with both salt and hot sauce (newsflash: it wasn’t) – but even in spite of that it just seemed like the burger itself didn’t have a ton of flavor.
When we went up to order, Shane asked the bartender what was better – the burger or the Po Boy. The bartender said she was literally eating a Po Boy at that moment, and gestured over to a sandwich sitting half covered on the back counter. Which kind of made me question how many drinks I wanted to order from someone who was right then actively eating dinner as she waited on people, but that’s a whole other topic.
Shane took her recommendation and went with the Po Boy. But when the food came out he definitely had food envy over my burger.
Despite his food envy, Shane actually really liked the Po Boy. He said the hot sauce on it was a good balance to the sweet cole slaw, and that there was just overall a really good flavor to the entire sandwich.
Now, we’ve also already discussed the fact that he was really hungry, so you may want to grade that statement on a curve just a tad. Fair warning.
This may also be a good time to let everyone know that Shane is on a mission to bring Gus’ Chalet (RIP old friend) back into every Wednesday dinner conversation. So as he talked about the sweet Cole slaw it of course opened the door wide open to reminisce about the other things he’s eaten that should’ve been sweet but weren’t.
Good times.
Hey, who guessed after looking at the menu that Ted would be ordering the steak on a stick?
Well, you’re right.
Ted’s love of meat served on a stick is only rivaled by mine and Shane’s collective love for homemade chips and dip – so we’re two for two on favorites in this trip alone.
But while he loves this particular dish, it’s also not exactly a substantial amount of food as a standalone meal option. So he also ordered sides of the street corn and cole slaw.
Ted felt the same way about his steak that I felt about my burger – that the meat itself just didn’t have a lot of flavor. Fortunately for Ted, the sauce that was served with it did, though. He said it was spicy but also sweet and just overall really good.
Maybe they should put that same sauce on the the burger. Just a suggestion. I mean, if you ask me I would say that the predominant flavor on the burger was pickle, if that tells you anything.
Ted said the corn wasn’t as heavily seasoned as the street corn he got recently at The Battleground, but it was just enough that you knew it was there. Personally I think he was just happy that it didn’t have Parmesan cheese like the last time.
Once the sun sunk down behind the tree line the patio was a bit more bearable, and it’s large enough that we didn’t feel like we were on top of anyone else. They also have lots of party games like giant Jenga and corn hole – so if you had wanted to wait for a table out there would be plenty of ways to fill your time while enjoying a few drinks.
Which basically is probably how we would choose to return. Because the menu was so small, with portions to match (don’t be shocked to discover that Shane alerted us to still being hungry as we were driving home) it’s probably better to save the patio as either your pre-game as you wait out a table, or a destination for late night drinks and small bites after eating somewhere else. The food was just OK, so I do think we would like to return to try the full menu before completely ruling them off of our list of repeat visit possibilities.
At least next time we’ll know how to get in, though. Ha.
Where To Go Wednesdays 