I don't get why this place is never busy! Cute little joint close to where we live, great to stop by for a beer and some bar food. Firecracker shrimp is a must. read more

Happy our party of 8 could get right in on a Friday night...though it should have caused us pause. My husband and I decided to split a Firecracker Shrimp wrap with fries. The wrap was tasteless-it had what probably were 3-5 frozen breaded shrimp which when cooked lost their breading. There was nothing flavorful or spicy in the loose breading. Fries were very good- hot and crispy. Great service from a Solon English teacher! read more

Food has been good in past experiences but the service has gotten progressively worse. It started with slow service or longer waits for food. This last time was the last straw. We sat for 15 minutes without anyone even acknowledging we were there. It was not terribly crowded and there were several servers. We saw them standing around the bar chatting and eating in the back (and not washing their hands before then bringing out food). We waited just to see how long it would take for someone to acknowledge us as we sat with menus and no drinks. With two kids loudly complaining they were thirsty we gave up after 15 minutes. Will not be back. read more

The only reason I am taking away 1 star is for the lack of vegetarian/vegan options on the menu. There is a black bean burger and a Portabella sandwich on the menu, which is the most standard vegetarian menu item at any restaurant. We were here for lunch on a weekday, so my experience is going to be very different from a lot of other reviews. Loved loved loved our server! She was the sweetest and very friendly. She was prompt with our requests and did everything possible to go above and beyond. The decor was cute with the indoor lighting. I love how Marion is now getting all these businesses who want to provide a good experience to the customer. If they can expand their vegetarian menu, I'd go back. read more

See all

Literally the worst dining experience of my entire life. I have lived in Chicago and New York City, and still this takes the cake. The server comes over and is clearly unintelligent. We ordered an appetizer of bone- in wings she came back with boneless and when we asked why she said "I didn't order you bone in because I prefer boneless".... Then someone ordered a well drink, she came back with it and it had ice. We get the bill and this restaurant now charges $2 for ice BUT does not charge for the frozen water (what ice is? in the tap water cups. Again, I have eaten at crappy restaurants and fancy ones in Cedar Rapids and big cities and NO ONE has EVER charged for ICE. It took over an hour to receive any of our food. And she was beyond incompetent. read more

I saw this restaurant while visiting my son in Iowa and suggested we eat there. I like a good beer and like to sample beers in places I visit. Their beer menu was... disappointing. There was not a single IPA -even in the bottled selection. Well ok. I ordered an American ale. I can only hope that the bartender is new and served the wrong beer. If not the brewmaster needs to go back to school. First, the color was pinkish red. Second, it was hazy. Third, it had extreme sour and vanilla undertones. I would have sent it back, but was with someone who is very shy and gets embarrassed easily. The waiter should have noticed that I took about 2 sips, however. I tasted my son's wheat beer and it was truer to style- albeit too sweet . The food was OK. My grandson and I split a pizza, which was not cut through and was a tad skimpy on cheese. My other grandson loved the kid's Mac and cheese. My DIL enjoyed her chicken wrap, and so said fish and chips was adequate. The marshmallow creme dip for the sweet potato fries was a bit much, however. All in all, ok place for food, but I would hope there are better places to get good beer. With a name like Barrel House I would expect better beer. read more

Lexi was amazing to us, best server by far!! Amazing food great service, Brooklyn was the cook it was amazing 10/10 recommend

Being that was the second time they've come here we decided to go with the lobster dip, as an appetizer. Fantastic!!! I highly recommend that. And then for my lunch I decided to go for boneless chicken wings and they were huge!! The only problem that I had with them is that the breading was very thick but being that I am a carbohydrate type of guy, it actually worked out my favor but I can see were some people wouldn't like that as much. Ended up taking most my lunch home with me considering that we had an appetizer and there was a boatload of chicken. Will definitely come back and keep everyone posted. read more

Barrel House - Boneless wings after I've already taken three pieces, which is what I ate for lunch. - American Near Me - Marion, Iowa

We stopped for late lunch (1:45). The restaurant was empty except for a small group having drinks in the bar area. Our waitress seated us right away and took our order quickly. She was very attentive (refilled drink, etc) and pleasant. The food however was horrible. My husband ordered the CaliAvo salad and I ordered Chicken Caesar. The chicken on both salads was nearly inedible (perhaps cooked hours ago and microwaved?) The romaine was old and wilted. The avocado also was bad (not ripe and bitter). We will not be returning! read more

I've now been here a handful of random occasions and it still feels very unmemorable. I didn't realize it was a chain until after the first visit, but that kinda explains the lack of character. Probably the only upsides are the cute patio and that there aren't a lot of restaurants in this area so it fills the void. Otherwise the food is mediocre and the service is seriously lacking. You're better off driving the few extra minutes into Uptown Marion for a better overall experience. read more

My friends and I have been waiting for this place to open and when they did, we went to celebrate the daughter of one if my friends For starters, they don't take reservations, but when she called they did reserve a table for us since we had a larger group. The ambiance is super cool. It's roomy and bright. It's not huge, but we didn't feel cramped. I'm not sure how they accomplished it in today's market, but there seemed to be a good amount of staff. They have a full bar and a nice selection of local craft beers. They did tell us that if there was a particular beer we'd like to have, they'd do their best to get it in I had the lobster Rangoon dip, delicious and meaty, and the lobster bisque soup. I enjoyed them both immensely. Everyone in our group was are than satisfied with their meals. I kept checking out the fish that others were getting and that will definitely be my next meal there. Fir just being newly opened the nailed it. Can't wait to go back read more

See all

Barrel House just opened in Marion this week, and so far so good! First time in the space and I was blown away how beautiful it was. I love the pendant lighting and whiskey barrels hanging from the ceiling...definitely a cool vibe. The menu made it hard to choose. There's plenty on there that we wanted to taste test. No complaints! The staff was all pretty excited to be serving us, too, which is a nice change from the burnout most servers are dealing with right now in the world. We definitely enjoyed it - and we'll be back soon. read more

See all

This place is great for pickup orders. They pay attention to the special instructions and always put it together right. The menu also has some interesting options. A go to place for us! read more

We arrived and we're provided an estimated 20 minute wait, even though there were many open tables available; weird to begin with. So we reluctantly left our number and proceeded to wait outside. Came back in after 30 minutes to everyone behind us in the queue seated. Awesome. We asked why we weren't contacted and the lanky kid with no manners that took our number stood silent like he didn't remember us from less than an hour prior. Then claimed he tried calling. 0 missed calls - I call BS Annoyed and hungry, we attempted to salvage the night out. THANKFULLY, our server, other staff members, and the food were great. Kick the little twerp that works up front to the curb and you have an excellent establishment! read more

First visit with high expectations. Very nice new restaurant in Marion. Well decorated as the Barrel House although I did not get the theme. Had barrels hanging from the ceiling but a very limited bar with a few beer taps and minimal liquor offerings. Plenty of seating although outer waitress warned us the kitchen was very slow due to staffing. Understatement of the century. Ordered a couple drinks which were good. Took 45 minutes for our cheese curds appetizer to arrive. Very small portion. Took another 20 minutes for main course. Ran out of drinks and ordered another round which took 15 minutes. Food arrived and was very disappointed. I ordered surf and surf which was supposed to be salmon and lobster. I was missing the lobster! Had to flag down the waitress and was told out of lobster. She would order me some shrimp which took 10 minutes to arrive. My salmon was tasty but extremely small portion for the $17 price. Nachos were extremely underwhelming. Overall good atmosphere and nice wait staff but the wait time has horrendous and the prices charged are extremely high for the very small portions. I will NOT be going back. Unfortunately I don't think this place will last very long which is a shame because Marion needs more nice restaurants. read more

See all

Tried Barrel House for the first time and had a poor experience, mainly with service. Starting with our server forgetting our drink order and not bothering to clarify what it should have been, to then bring served undercooked food. Oh, and she never asked ONCE how our food was. But that's probably because she never came back to check on us. After 30 minutes of waiting for our server to come back to our table after having to go look for her, we were finally able to speak to a manger about our frustrations. She kindly comped some of our bill for our horrid experience. But, needless to say, we will not be returning. read more

our food took an entire hour to get to us (there was only one other family in the place and the waiter kept going over to them) and they said we owed two root beers when we ordered one they also forgot our ranch and I usually love it here but the food even tasted kinda off read more

My boyfriend and I decided to go to try out this Barrel House restaurant in Marion for dinner after watching my daughter play soccer. We ordered the Lobster Rangoon Dip appetizer with tortilla chips instead of wonton chips. It was delicious!! My boyfriend ordered the Monday Barrel Burger Special with fries and I ordered their Barrel House Club Sandwich with a side of coleslaw. We both ordered craft beers from their awesome craft beer menu. Both of us enjoyed our drinks and our dinner. Our waitress seemed pretty new and not very knowledgeable about their menu. Also, we had to wave her down a few times to get refills on our drinks because she never came back to check on us until she brought our food which took a long wait. I liked the setup of the restaurant with the varied seating options. The decor was nice also. Just wish the weather would've been nicer so we could sit on their patio, but we sat inside at a booth instead. Overall, pretty good experience. Will probably return in the future. read more

See all

Great addition to Marion! Super friendly staff and a lot of them! Creative drinks and good food selection. Had half order of the Mr Nacho with moonshine bbq pork, really good flavor. Not huge portions a full order may have been the way to go. Ordered a patron margarita and it came without salt, will need to add that next time. We will be back! read more

Barrel House - barrel of beer on display - American Near Me - Marion, Iowa

Good food. We have been twice. The selection is bar food, which can tend to be on the greasy side. There are no moderately healthy items is my biggest complaint. Portobello fires where a surprise! read more

Food and service top notch!! Menu has great choices!! Super clean restaurant and very friendly staff!!

Customer service is amazing ! Workers are so nice the food is delicious and is always hot when it come out

Grace Marti Did a great job and treated myself and friend very efficiently. Service was great, she was kind, and represented the restaurant very well. read more

the service was the best part of our experience, my wife and i went in for our anniversary and 100.00 later for our bill, the patty melt my wife got was all bread with a small meat pattie and she works in food service and said it wasn't a fresh burger pattie, i had a mushroon swiss burger and although it was good it wasn't worth the 16.50 i paid, plus it was very small, the staff should try a burger from peddlers fork, they are made to order and less money and alot bigger, all being said the pricing is to high for what you get.this is the marion iowa location read more

Walked in and noticed instantly how clean the restaurant is. We were greeted immediately by a friendly employee. I had the BBQ pulled pork sandwich which was out of this world. My 4 children cleaned their plates which may be a first in a restaurant setting for them! All of us were very impressed with the food. Our waitress was very friendly and attentive the entire time. Highly recommend! Our family will definitely be back! read more

Thanks Thanksi love this spot ring out the barrel for a full to load of fun and I don't know what more to say so when you review you can just pile on more and keep it fun and friendly read more

Was pretty decent, was sat quickly but took a looooong time to get served. Server said they just changed sections which fair, but other servers on their team weren't very helpful in the regard especially as the restaurant started to wind down towards their final opening hour. Anyways, food was good! Little spicy cheese curds looked like tots but were tasty. Got the Mac n cheese burger which was pretty solid, felt like it was missing something. read more

Was only there once, way overpriced and one can't even to begin to hear what the person is saying across the table. Didn't enjoy the place ar all. read more

We were at a volleyball tournament at Linn-Mar. Found this place and will definitely return. Amazing and fast service, and delicious food. Highly recommend! Beer was great, too!! read more

The service was outstanding and the food great !!! We have abandoned many restaurants due to them "accepting" long, false waits and sub-par service. Thank you for working hard!! read more

I was there this week with a friend. We were seated right away and our server (Sara) gave us all the time we needed to order as this was a leisurely lunch. The food was good and we each asked for a bag for take home. This is where things went downhill. The business has become busier now and our waiter lost her patience I guess. After paying our bill which included a 25% gratuity I asked for a bag. Under her breath and mask both of us heard her mumble things like "you're not my only customers here", and "I'll get it when when I get it." Anyway, we waited an extra 10 minutes for the bag that she had to get from the kitchen. Won't return!!! read more

I've been patiently waiting for this to open. We love the one in Davenport. The portobello fries appetizer is by far the best I've had In my life. Wine Wednesday and whiskey Wednesdays are a thing here so yeah for that. I got the chicken strips and they were meaty and hand breaded and real chicken. I highly recommend sharing these chicken strips the are the best I've had in the Cedar Rapids area. Head in and enjoy. read more

Pizza was good but came out before our appetizers and water tasted funny. Service was good and we are glad to have it in Marion.

Visited this place once and that will probably scratch that proverbial itch. Food was "meh". I had fried fish which was 70% breading and about 30% actual fish that tasted like the bottom of the body of water it came from. Beer selection could be better. read more

the menu looked good but, when we arrived they were playing cards in the bar, we stood for 5 minutes with them just look'ing at us before they decided to even give us a table then when we got our table they just continued playing card and didn't even come to ask us if we wanted a drink. And the prices were high: their Mac attack cheese burger was $16.50 and their side mac was $4. but other than that it was really good:l read more

Not a good experience. Been waiting for it to open since it is so close to our home. Horrible service. - waited for everything. We ordered spinach dip for appetizer. They did not have enough chips to serve with it so we asked for some more. Took them 10 minutes before they arrived and then they had added $2 on the bill for the extra chips!!! Give me a break - we paid $12 for the dip and should have received enough chips to eat with it. Drinks took a long time to come and were just OK. Food was OK. The only time we saw our waiter on time was to present the bill! We might try again but not for a while. - very disappointed! read more

My husband and I have been coming here on a fairly regular basis as of late. Barrel House has stellar customer service with both Management and staff. Everyone is extremely pleasant, and the servers always have excellent suggestions. We always look forward to the nights/days Stacy is working....she's wonderful! The food is great! Always hot, we'll seasoned, and tasty. Their drink menu is also quite good...lots of fun options. Will definitely continue coming here, and couldn't recommend more...give it a try! read more

We were greeted by saying we have 75 people coming & it will be a long wait! And I said we will order right away before they come in! He was not very nice & stomped out to the patio & basically threw the tables together & just threw me the 6 menus! The gal said she would be right with us and left is there for 15-20 mins & we just left! NEVER WILL GO TRY THIS PLACE AGAIN with the bad customer service!! The group was never there yet! read more

My friends and I had a very odd experience at barrel house last night. When we arrived it took the host 5 minutes to acknowledge us and when he did he said he couldn't seat us because the kitchen was backed up. I could see 4 open tables in front of me so I asked if we could be seated for drinks and they could serve us whenever/we didn't mind how long the food took as we were going to be there to chat for awhile anyway. He had to ask a manager and eventually seated us without menus. Fine, we completely understood the kitchen being backed up, it happens. But then we noticed 3 other tables being seated WITH menus, so we asked for some from the host as he walked by to which he said "I told you it was going to be awhile". Utterly confused we just continued to chat and drink until we were finally offered to order appetizers. We did and they came out in a normal amount of time? A manager came out probably 30 minutes later and asked how everything was. I asked if the kitchen had gotten caught up and if we could order meals soon. I felt pushy and entitled being the one to ask the questions every time but there could have been some sort of communication in their end regarding all this? By this time we had easily been there an hour and a half. He said he would go check. Eventually we ordered. My wrap came out 15 minutes before my friends meals!? I ordered the "honey chicken" as a wrap and based on the description I pictured something completely different than a chicken salad? Could have been my bad and I acknowledged that but when I asked the server for clarification on what the item actually was she said "I honestly have no idea", and that was the end of it. There were some other small service issues but all in all those were the main things that left a bad taste in our mouths. The fries were great as well as the atmosphere but I found this experience too unsatisfactory to not mention. I'll give the place another try with low expectations. read more

The food is so over priced considering how little you get. I understand there's staffing shortages everywhere but the service wasn't great and was very slow. We got cheeseburgers and there was practically no flavor and was extremely dry. If you want a good meal go to McDonald's. read more