When I announced the pick for tonight I was immediately hit with some shade from both Shane and Ted, who thought that we had pretty much canvassed this part of town by this point. Shane in particular seemed to think he has a lock on the Norton area and so was in a state of shock that he somehow never discovered a place called the Houston Pub.

Truthfully I can’t remember where I initially heard of it, but know it’s been on my list of potential places to visit for a little bit now.

It also seemed to have Shane’s name written all over it – hidden down a residential street way off the beaten path, in a building that very likely was someone’s home in another decade. We all know how he gravitates to those picks.

Mental note to check on that Annex place in Solon that we never quite got around to ordering food at and see if it’s still open these days.

The inside of the Houston Pub is very much a whole “grandma’s house turned private club” vibe. There’s wood paneling on the walls. And a space which probably was a corner fireplace in another life. And carpeted floors. Because that’s always a good design choice in an area where people are consuming alcohol, no? The bar area looked like it truthfully could be someone’s extended kitchen and they just invited us all to stop in for a party.

They do also have a patio, which we contemplated sitting on but given we’re in the weird time of year when it’s 76 degrees at 6:00 but then will drop to 59 when the sun goes down a few hours later we opted to stay inside.

Wherever I heard about this place, I also had heard the burgers were good. Wednesdays are also wing night – so all wings are 99 cents each – and you can also pick the amount, no minimum. So like you can get two wings if you want. Or 14.

That’s new.

Also noticed they had chicken tenders sold the same way. You pick the amount you want and they’re $1.65 each.

It’s like a new form of “made to order.” Nice.

In what should be a shock to no one, Shane and I got fried mushrooms for an app.

I got the Pub burger with a side salad. The salad comes in a fry basket, which is a first. Keep it classy, Grandma. The good china must only come out at holidays.

Ted got the breakfast burger, which has a fried egg on it, along with peanut butter and strawberry jam. To which Shane commented for the second time in two weeks “there’s a lot going on there.” But it came highly recommended by the server, so that was enough to win Ted over.

He opted for fries as his side, and also six of the hot garlic parm wings, hold the parm. Because, Ted.

Ted also ordered fried green beans, which should’ve been an app but showed up with the rest of the meal for whatever reason. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was because they forgot to put the order in until after the rest of the food was almost done, because they hit our table still steaming. Ted had to save them for more of a dessert than an app if he wanted to keep use of his fingers for the rest of the evening.

Shane got the black and blue burger with fries and six of the garlic parm wings.

Shane’s biggest complaint was that he wasn’t asked how he wanted the burger cooked, which we all know is the kiss of death for making it onto Shane’s “top (insert random number here) list.” As usual in these situations the burger arrived more well done than he would’ve liked. And he said that the wings could’ve used more parm. So basically they could’ve put the parm that didn’t get put on Ted’s wings a s donated it to his.

That being said, he still ate everything. So either it wasn’t that terrible, or he was just that hungry. It could truly go either way.

Ted said he actually agreed with Shane’s initial statement that his burger really DID have a lot going on with it. But it was still very good. And very filling, as this became a rare occasion when he had to ask for a box.

I liked my burger. It was a touch more well done than I would’ve preferred, but you could still tell it was freshly made and it had a good flavor.

The server made the cardinal sun of bringing us our bills before asking if we were ready to cash out – so essentially assuming we don’t like to continue drinking after our meals and kicking us out – so that left a bit of a sour taste in our mouth at the end of the visit. Other than that move she was very attentive and quite personable, and told us to be sure to come back now that we know the place exists … but yeah, that’s probably not likely. Like don’t offer us a return visit if you aren’t even going to offer us another opportunity to order another round right now.

So instead we went to Magic City Brewery to help fill another stamp on our Summit Brew Path passports. Shane and I didn’t realize until we pulled up that we had actually been to this location twice before – once when it was Rippers Rock House and once after it was on Bar Rescue ans renovated by John Taffer to an even longer name that I will forever forget. It’s like how may times can we come to the same place under a different name?

Don’t answer that.

Picked by: Steph