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April 18, 2017 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

Carolina Ale House, Raleigh- The Newest Sports Bar on Glenwood!

Carolina Ale House, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Carolina Ale House, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Competition is usually a good thing for customers and that’s certainly the case with sports bars in the S. Glenwood area!  Within half a mile you’ll find Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh, Napper Tandy’s, Village Draft House and Raleigh Beer Garden all offering good bar food and beer for the big game.  So when I heard Carolina Ale House was opening up its new flagship restaurant on S. Glenwood, I wondered what they were up to.  Once construction finished up in late January 2015, I knew exactly what!

Sign for the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Sign for the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Located on 500 Glenwood Avenue, you can’t miss the new Carolina Ale House!  It sits high above the street on the third floor with bright signage. Take the three flights up or grab the elevator up.  Up front you’ll find the hostess kiosk, you’ll need her help since all the seating in the restaurant is assigned outside of the bar seating.  And there is PLENTY of seating at this new Carolina Ale House with at least three interior dining rooms along with a strip of patio dining area around the edges.  Carolina Ale House is now one of the largest sports bars around!

Hurricanes room at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle
Hurricanes room at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

And there are TV’s everywhere from 32″ to probably 60″.  It seems like the walls are either covered with TV’s, posters or photos so you will have something to look at wherever you are.  While you’re watching, quaff one of the many micro-brews that Carolina Ale House has on tap or by the bottle.  Without counting, I’d have to guess they have at least 120 or so beers available, very impressive.  Don’t forget $3 pint night on Wednesdays, too!

Nachos at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Nachos at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

For food, Carolina Ale House has a pretty standard bar menu, I’ve tried out their nachos, pulled pork tacos and wings which have all been solid.  On par with the other sports bars in the area but not quite as good as Tyler’s.  I’ll report back when I’ve had a chance to try more of their menu.

Barbeque wings at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Barbeque wings at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

But what makes Carolina Ale House shine is the service.  Their servers are well-trained, personable and speedy.  They definitely know what they’re doing here and are ready to handle a crowd.  Which they are definitely going to get in this prime location.  Can’t wait for the better weather so they can roll up their doors and windows to really open up their patio.

Patio area at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Patio area at the new Carolina Ale House, Downtown Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

So call me a bit surprised because I’m pretty pleased with what Carolina Ale House has brought to my neighborhood.  A solid sports bar, beer garden, cool patio type spot that may be a bit too popular but still worthwhile.  Nice job Carolina Ale House and looking forward to my next visit!

 

Carolina Ale House- Downtown Raleigh

500 Glenwood Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27603

919.835.2222

Location on Google maps

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Filed Under: Raleigh, Restaurant & Bar Reviews Tagged With: Sports Bar

February 8, 2017 by Ron Wen

Media: The New Tobacco Road Sports in Raleigh, a Great Spot for the Big Game

Front of the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Front of the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining

As a pro football and baseball fan, I love my sports bars! A place to grab some wings and a burger and cheer on your team in a crowd sounds like a good Sunday to me. And when Tobacco Road Sports came onto the scene in Raleigh on S. Glenwood, it raised the bar for that category of restaurants in Raleigh. So it was definitely with some sadness when I saw that it had closed during 2016 to move into a new home around the corner. Thankfully at the end of year, construction finished up on the new Tobacco Road Sports and as luck would have it, I was able to pop in during its soft opening to see what the new, better and bigger Tobacco Road Sports would be bringing to the hood.

Dining room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Dining room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining

Moving into the old Natty Greene’s space was a huge endeavour for Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh. Not only is the space gargantuan but apparently there was a LOT of fix-ups required which is why opening the new spot was a bit delayed. But at least they’ll be ready for the Superbowl and March Madness! I was pretty familiar with the old Natty Greene’s so I was super curious to see what had changed. From the outside you won’t notice much, step inside into the new Tobacco Road Sports and you’ll still find the hostess desk and brewing equipment up front. But to the left side, the space has been upgraded with a large multi-screen display and the upper balcony (additional seating and private rooms) has been opened up. You can reserve a space with a food/beverage minimum for your private party. This part of Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh reminds me a bit of H Street Kitchen and its open dining room.

Bar at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Bar at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining
Dining room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Dining room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining

Moving into the dining room on the right you’ll find the brick and warm woods that sat in the old space. Fifteen or so flat-screens are perched overhead to catch the game, the new Tobacco Road Sports is actually less television dense than the old space. It reminds me more of the layout in their Chapel Hill location, blending in more restaurant than pure sports bar. But there are still plenty of screens to watch the game. I’ve come in for two visits so far (soft opening and dinner at bar) and the menu stays true to the Tobacco Road Sports formula. You’ll find an array of delicious appetizers (wings, egg rolls, sliders), their famous nachos, salads, sandwiches along with a mix of main entrees including their popular country frizzled and drizzled chicken!

BBQ chicken w sriracha eggroll at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh

And I can tell you that the everything tastes as I remember. Love the cheese steak with tobacco onions along with their egg rolls. I also tried out a nice plate of barbeque beef ribs which are a bit different for the area (pork ribs the norm). Given the newness of Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh, it may take some time for the kitchen to settle down but I’m sure they will get everything buttoned up given their experience. Overall it was everything I expected out of their uplifted sports bar menu.

Cheesesteak at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Cheesesteak at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining
Frizzled and drizzled chicken at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Frizzled and drizzled chicken at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining
Barbeque beef ribs at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Barbeque beef ribs at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining

After finishing dinner, I couldn’t resist a look into their third room which has been transformed into a game room and bar area. There’s a lot of space to stretch out in and burn off some of those calories you just ingested here! Foosball, Pop-a-shot, skee-ball, along with some pool and pinball tables, console games and my favorite boxing game. It’s an interesting use of this space and works better as a bar and hang-out area which is a nice upgrade.

Game room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Game room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining
Game room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Game room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh – NC Triangle Dining

So welcome back, Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh! You’ve been missed and fill that sports bar hole in my heart and stomach. And while the formula has been tweaked a bit in your new space, Tobacco Road Sports still does a great job offering up sports bar food that’s a cut above along with a fun and warm space to catch the big game.

 

Tobacco Road Sports Cafe, Raleigh

501 W Jones Street

Raleigh, NC 27603

919.301.8793

Location on Google maps

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Filed Under: Media, Raleigh, Restaurant & Bar Reviews, Retakes Tagged With: Sports Bar

January 7, 2017 by Ron Wen

Photos: The NEW Tobacco Road Sports in Raleigh!

Take a peek at the newest Tobacco Road Sports in Raleigh! Located in the old Natty Greene’s building and offering up a game room along with private rooms for your dining pleasure.


Front entry to Tobacco Road Sports in Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Side dining room at Tobacco Road Sports in Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Dining room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
BBQ chicken w sriracha eggroll at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh
Cheesesteak at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Frizzled chicken at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Brownie sundae at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Game room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining
Game room at the new Tobacco Road Sports Raleigh - NC Triangle Dining

 

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Filed Under: NoRSS, Photo Album, Raleigh Tagged With: Sports Bar

September 22, 2015 by Ron Wen 2 Comments

First Take: Sammy’s Tap & Grill Offers a Solid Sports Bar Experience!

Front of Sammy's Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Front of Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Out over on Avent Ferry Road, near NC State you’ll find a neighborhood of restaurants, businesses and student housing supporting the Wolfpack. You’ll also find long-time favorite, Sammy’s Tap & Grill, a sports bar and NC State favorite. I used to work right around the corner from Sammy’s Tap & Grill but hadn’t visited the place for years once I left Red Hat. But with GroupOn in hand, it was time for a return visit!

Front room at Sammy's Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Front room at Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

From outside, Sammy’s Tap & Grill is pretty impressive! Large neon sign, open front patio with shorn timbers and in back a full dining room and bar. Given the nice weather, we grabbed a seat out on the patio which is filled with TV’s and Wolfpack pararphanelia. It’s a casual spot with plenty of room to spread out in. In addition to NC State, Sammy’s is the sports bar to hit up for Pittsburgh Steelers and W. Virginia Mountaineers fans.

Front dining area at Sammy's Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Front dining area at Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining 

The menu at Sammy’s is pretty basic bar fare with  a smaller mix of beers and wines. Choose from wings, nachos, ribs, burgers, sandwiches and more!  I go for a nachos starter with chili and queso, we’re not holding back on the calories today. And some baby-back ribs with buffalo bites for my main.

Nachos at Sammy's Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Nachos at Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Sammy’s Tap &  Grill seems like a pretty popular place for lunch with a busy mix of office workers and blue collar folks. The nachos arrive and they are a smallish plate of chips, chopped tomato, iceberg lettuce shreds, cheese and chili. Tasty stuff but I’ve never met a nacho plate I don’t like!

Baby back ribs and chips at Sammy's Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Baby back ribs and chips at Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

As the hour passes on, the place slowly fills up and it takes a bit of time for our mains to come out. My main is a lot of food with a 1/2 rack of ribs (your choice of sauce), home-made chips, Texas toast and some veggies to balance the calories out (hah!) Everything is solid on the plate, the ribs are grilled a bit with a good slather of sauce, the parmesan garlic bites are nice chunks of breast meat and fried well. And the sides are all fine making for a satisfying but basic meal.

Garlic-parm chicken bites at Sammy's Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining
Garlic-parm chicken bites at Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Service at Sammy’s Tap & Grill is good, they use a mixed team service and the place is big so things might get lost with all the tables. And overall I can see why Sammy’s Tap & Grill is a local favorite. Solid bar food with tons of TV’s in a Wolfpack-supportive environment works perfectly in this location. The food isn’t that exciting, I’d prefer Tobacco Road Sports or Tyler’s Taproom but that’s just my preference.  So rock on, Sammy’s Tap & Grill!

 

Sammy’s Tap & Grill

2235 Avent Ferry Road

Raleigh, NC 27606

919.755.3880

 

Location on Google maps

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Filed Under: Raleigh, Restaurant & Bar Reviews Tagged With: Sports Bar

May 10, 2015 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

Buffalo Wild Wings in Morrisville!

Front of Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining
Front of Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

In the world of chicken wings, Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3) was always on the top of the heap in my mind.  My favorite location in Chapel Hill closed down years ago so cravings for their wings would come and go but there were no convenient locations near home!  Thankfully, two new locations opened up in Durham and Morrisville.  Finally after years of waiting, it was time to get my chicken wings on.  So on a chilly September night, we headed out to Morrisville in search of wings and some Monday Night football!

Main dining room at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining
Main dining room at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

 

Located in one of those huge strip plazas that dot the Morrisville landscape, it’s hard to not miss this Buffalo Wild Wings location because it’s BIG!  We step inside and the place is aglare with neon lights, large high-def panels and more.  Young waitstaff in outfits that look like ref uniforms bustle about and we head on back to the bar area.  TV’s dot the entire back area along with some trivia games and video machines.  BW3 is bright and noisy, a mix of sports and Top 40 from the speakers overhead.  With the domestic beer specials, this is about as Merican as you can get!  We grab a seat at a large, round high-boy and try to figure out the menu.

Bar at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining
Bar at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

 

I put in an order for some pretzels to get things started.  With the 30 or so flavors and dry rub options at BW3, it may take you a while to figure out what you want. I go with my fave garlic-parm wings, mango-habenero wings along with some pretzels to get things started.  It takes about 10 minutes before the pretzels show up and they look quite nice.  Three steaming, hot, plump pretzels with some Southwest sauce and more.  A good and fattening start to the meal!

Pretzels app at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining
Pretzels app at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

 

About 10 minutes after that, our wings show up.  I’ve got about 16 in my medium order ($14.49).  I bite into my garlic-parm wings and they are good, a bit different from what I remember, less garlicky!  But still solid.  And the wings at this location are well-fired and a good size.  They’re well-sauced so they are coated but not dripping, wing pro’s in action here!  I bite in the mango-habanero wings and there’s fruit on top with some sweetness.  Waiter had warned me they were spicy and he was RIGHT.  After 5 or 10 seconds, the heat kicks in on the back of your throat and it keeps on going.  I reach over for my beer knowing that it won’t douse out the heat but I don’t have any milk at the table!  I eat three or four more of these wings and everyone agrees that they are H-O-T, hot.  Probably about a 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, the only thing that saves me is that I had some Bida Manda wings recently that were probably 10 out of 10.

Medium wings (garlic-parmesan, mango-habanero) at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining
Medium wings (garlic-parmesan, mango-habanero) at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

Onion rings at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining
Onion rings at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

A basket of onion rings finished off the night along with the Kansas City Chiefs finishing off the New England Patriots, boo!  We ask for the checks and it’s time to go home!  Service at Buffalo Wild Wings was ok but the place was nearly empty so it should have been.  My tab come out to about $38 which is the kicker.  While I love my wings from time to time, at this price point I could have gone to nearly any restaurant in the area ($25 entree, app, beer) for about the same price.  i mean I really was glad to have gotten my fave wings but the equation for eating at chain restaurants was reinforced for me.  Passable food in corporate surroundings with usually, below average service.  That’s the formula for chain restaurants and every single time I give one a shot, the end results are about the same.  Buffalo Wild Wings, I missed ya.  I’m glad you’re back in the area but outside of a night when you’ve got some real specials, I don’t imagine I’ll be back in anytime soon…

 

Buffalo Wild Wings- Morrisville

1300 Village Market Place

Morrisville, NC 27560

919.469.7872

Location on Google maps

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Filed Under: Morrisville, Restaurant & Bar Reviews Tagged With: Chicken Wings, Sports Bar

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