Shane picked this place at first for the patio and then for the fact that they had a steak special on Wednesdays.

Magical words to Shane’s and Ted’s ears.

Admittedly we were a tad worried on the drive over because we seemed to be heading into the middle of an industrial park. Which, you know, bodes well for a steak dinner on an outdoor patio, no? Also there’s no real parking lot for this place. People seem to just leave their cars parked in the turn lane in the middle of the (not busy) road. So there’s that.

But our worries were dismissed when we walked out onto the patio, which is like a whole other world.

Live music, several tables, lights – how have we never discovered this place before??

Also word to the wise, don’t let the number of cars parked out front – or, rather, in the road – scare you. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as we expected just from the cars we saw outside.

Shane asks about drink specials and immediately orders a bucket of Bud Light all for himself. Apparently the non sharing nature isn’t just for food.

Ted got a Kilians. I got a Downeast blackberry cider – which was delicious. 

(Spoiler alert, they later ran out of the blackberry and I switched to the cider donut kind, which oh my lord I’m not sure where this has been all my life but I’m definitely going to be making up for lost time now)

The guys were all set to order the steak special. But then I asked about the burgers and the server threw them all for a loop by saying they were 16oz, fresh made and very filling.

Ted did some quick “food math” and quickly changed his order from the steak special to the peppercorn burger. Because 16 oz burger > 12 oz strip steak. He kept the chips as a side and added the Lawson’s chip dip – because that’s another thing we don’t pass up on Wednesdays.

Shane still stuck with the strip steak special, which comes with mashed potatoes and a side salad for $12.99. But he swapped out the potatoes for the Mac and cheese. 

I got the steak tacos but changed out the bean salad side for the Mac and cheese. I still have a visceral reaction to the words “bean salad” after our experience at Gus’s chalet all those years ago. Safer = better.

Shane and I also got the full order of chips with Lawson’s chip dip as an app. For reasons me ruined already above.

Shane rated his salad in the top 10 salads he’s had on Wednesdays – but mainly because he probably hasn’t had 10 salads on Wednesdays. I mean, even when he was in “healthy Shane” mode his version of health food was more nachos than salad. So take that as you will.

As far as the steak, it was good, but he wouldn’t rate it as high as the Dougout or the Islander. Still tasty, but it didn’t seem to make the (insert number here) list of the week.

Ted said he didn’t think his burger was actually 16 oz. And it wasn’t cooked the way he had asked. But it was still good. Although he also said he probably would’ve gotten the steak had he seen the burgers in advance.

So I guess the moral here is that our server was a great salesperson.

I liked my steaks tacos. They definitely had some spice to them, and the meat was tender and flavorful. I’m also glad I swapped out for the Mac and cheese because it was tasty too.

The patio here is definitely the star of the show. It wasn’t super crowded, the music was fun and overall it was a really good vibe. You can tell some of the people are regulars there but we weren’t looked at weird for being the new people.

Although, even with the steak special and Shane’s bucket of bud lights, it was a bit of a pricey Wednesday night out for us – $93 for me and Shane before tip – but the atmosphere was worth it. We didn’t get too much of a look at the interior, but it did seem nice as well – just very small. So coming back when it’s not patio season might be a little crowded. But we should definitely earmark this one for when we need a food patio pick on a future evening out.

Picked by: Shane