The nachos were better than I expected. The wings were good and the fries and ranch are awesome! It's a lively crowd having a good time watching sports on the abundant TV's they have. They also have music on a digital jukebox. I sat at the bar and the Bartender, Nita C, is a rockstar!! She was slammed all night and somehow was able to keep up and turn out fantastic drinks. read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Jalapeño Margarita is awesome - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

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So many people have told me about the great food here. Mike and I tried lunch. As usual, judge them by the chicken fried steak. Don't forget the extra gravy! It only took one bite to tell this was a frozen patty. I was disappointed, but only a little. It was still a pretty good chicken fry. I will definitely try something else next time, cause too many people have raved about this place. Staff was super nice, and the mayor was at the next table, so we talked a minute. See you next time! read more

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This place is 5 stars because they are good at what they do!!! We love coming here!! The food is good, fresh and reasonably priced. The service is good and it has a kind of dive bar ish vibe. It is very chill which we like and happy hour is from 2-8 Monday through Friday which as it should be. I mean come on, why does happy only have to be an hour? Highly recommend! Pretty much anything you get here is good! read more

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Jelia was excellent and the food.. Smackin! Best place in town to have a cold one and watch games

Service was awesome, drinks came out quick and they were packed on a Friday night. Food came out quick. All TV's had sorry and the atmosphere was great. For a sports bar atmosphere it was family friendly. We will definitely be going back for more fun and drinks. read more

Don't judge the place when you pull up to it. Go inside and enjoy great food, great service, good drinks and interior. On July 1, I found the pork chop plate to kill for. Two good-sized chop with wonderful taste and perfect texture. Wife had Country Fried Steak that was okay but she raved about the Blu Bahama drink! Sara B was our attentive and awesome waitstaff! She was great! We will be driving over an hour to come back for more!! read more

Great bartenders and staff. Food is good. Cool bar to go hang out with friend and watch sports. Looking forward to going back!

Neat place to eat. French dip was really good. Waitress was great food was served fast. read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Chicken fried steak sandwich - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

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Great Bar for lunch indoors or out! Food, service, & game watching is really good! I prefer the "Dive" vibes it has for lunch. We went for dinner once and it's a lot louder. DJ or singer was there. Salads, Ranch Waters, Burgers & Fries are really good! We did not care for the cheese that is put on top of cheese fries. Maybe they'll remedy that. read more

Dropped by Abilene for 2 weeks, and bummed out I hadn't found this place sooner. Definitely a hidden gem in this town. Enjoy the rustic hooch atmosphere with an awesome playlist running and outstanding service. Love this place! read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Buffalo Chicken Wrap - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

Chicken fajita salad not good..... after I gave them a 2nd chance on this items........it was wilted and the cucumbers seemed to have been frozen.... read more

Had some fried pickles which were ok and a beer but nice local spot in Abilene for grabbing a beer .

This place is out of my normal travel path but we had been in the area a few months ago, tried it and were impressed. So when we were nearby this week we went in again, my husband was hungry for country fried steak. We sat on the patio, a beautiful day, the patio has both sun and shade seating. He ordered his country fried steak with side of fries and side salad. I ordered their hamburger steak with side salad and green beans. The salads were exceptional. Not bagged iceburg lettuce, it was endive and other leafy lettuce you don' t get in a bag, grape tomatoes, some red onion, cheese... I'm impressed. The green beans are southern stye with bacon, overcooked, they were good, not great. Fries - I am very picky about fries, most are horrid - using the wrong kind of potato and tasting mushy. These fries were GREAT! Hubby enjoyed his lunch so much that next day after doctor appointment he wanted to go back. He ordered onion rings instead of fries, they were good, not the best, but plenty of them. I ordered the fries!!! My entre was Southwest Chicken - a breast of chicken topped with cheese, mushrooms and onions, on rice pilar. I will buy it again. The chicken breast was not overcooked and dried out, VERY nicely done. We will be going back, it has become hubby's favorite place. It also looks like there is entertainment - maybe a DJ booth? I imagine evenings on the patio will be great... I see heaters on standby if needed. Sports bar stuff - which isn't for us - is raging inside with plenty of beers and booze flowing during game time on all the big screens all around. read more

Had a great time here! Prickly pear vodka with lemonade was only $4 and was very tasty. BBQ wings were pretty good and I loved the onion rings- great ranch as well. My boyfriend loved his Philly cheesesteak. Service was wonderful. From the outside, the place wasn't super appealing. We've driven by a hundred times because it didn't look like our type of place. But super glad we gave it a try bc the atmosphere was great and we loved everything! Can't wait to return read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Philly cheesesteak - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

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Ordered the steak fajita salad. The salad part was good the steak was chewy and fatty. The waitress told me I would get a discount from her manager and never gave it to me. read more

I dont know how to put this so I'll go default: Blunt and to the point FOOD: I dont know what/when it went wrong but the Fish and chips used to be worthy of ordering: 2 big Cod fillets over fries. Standard good Bar food. I just went there after being out of state for 4 months, ordered the Fish & Chips and I was served Mortons Frozen Fish fillets out of a Supermarket Freezer section. Not an exaggeration, literal out of the box Mortons. Further, the fries were way over cooked to the point of every one tasting like it was burnt/in the oil too long but here's the paradox as every one was as flaccid as an 80yr olds Penis. Rating: ZERO. It was crap. SERVICE: Service was more or less as it always has been; i.e. they take your order, make sure you get it promptly, and thats about it. Rating: 2 stars (Below Average) Ambiance: The feel/mood of the place is pretty much as it always has been too; classic rock playing, not too loud, but enough you can rock along with it. Overall pretty ok inside look, too. If you're just going for a drink and hang out, the place is good for that. Rating: 2 stars (Below Average) Closing opinion: I travel all over the United States due to my job. I dont know what it is about Abilene in particular, but EVERY place I go outside Abilene has better everything. Literally, everything. I come back and I shake my head in derisive acknowledgement that this IS Abilene and not to expect anyone to go above and beyond because everyone has settled for shit so thats what they get. Blue Barrel USED to be better than this. I dont know what happened, but they definitely went downhill from what they used to be. C'est La Vie. Overall Rating: 1 stars (BurgerKing is better than this and I hate BurgerKing) read more

A little off the main path for those traveling through town but TOTALLY worth it! Fast, friendly service. We sat at the bar (where we prefer to sit). We travel frequently for work so always like to try the local places rather than chains. We were impressed to see the manager... well managing! Since COVID, its been hard for all restaurants / bars to get any help and good help at that. This place has it all figured out. Even with a 14 top that was ordering multiple rounds of drinks, we never waited for anything. We went in for brunch and Bloody Mary's. Emy was the bomb! We will definitely be back. read more

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Best mushroom burger I have ate, it's huge I lost all the topping from the size of patty. Loved read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Huge O mushroom burger - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

Went to Blu Barrel Bar and Grill on Buffalo Gap for our daughter's birthday, we had a wonderful time, place was clean music at right volume so that could still talk at table and hear everyone. Beer was cold and mix drinks were good also, food came out fast nice hot and fresh. I wish I could remember our server she was friendly and just on top of it. Will be back soon, I recommend this place and Fire in the Hole burger. Only complaint is wish they had high chairs high enough to reach table for toddlers. read more

Solid place with a cool vibe. Enjoyed the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. Fresh Chicken, the right amount of spice in the sauce for me and great bread. The wings were also excellent. Great Happy hour prices as well and service stood out strong. read more

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Served me raw ground beef meat, so disgusting. Saw another post of this too, must be super common...zero stars if I could

Been here a few times, they have cold beverages and good music. Several televisions to watch as well. They have good wings and nachos. The burgers or ok, meat is a little dry for my liking. The staff is super friendly and setup is spacious. read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Nachos and Wings Yum! - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

Was well worth it.. enjoyed atmosphere and waitress was very nice.. next time in the area I'll be back

Stopped in here several times as it's on the way home and I've learned not to order the food, but every once in awhile I'll give it a try thinking it may have improved. Today was one of those days. Tried their chicken street tacos. Big mistake! What took over 15 minutes to make came out as 5 mounds of chopped onion street tacos. I did notice some tiny cubes of chicken sprinkled on top, but these were all chopped onions swimming in a pan of grease. Couldn't eat them. Last time I ever eat the food there. read more

Disappointed in food and cleanliness of restaurant. Obviously busy Saturday night so expected some delay, but there was not on service. Waitress was friendly, but slightly annoying asking if we were okay every 5 minutes. We counted 17 times in one hour and 8 minutes we were there. I had to Philly cheese steak him has been had the burger with the jalapeño poppers on it. For appetizer we had chips and queso which was mediocre and the jalapeño poppers which were good. Draft beer was warm cups/glasses. The beachy drink $8 is horrible, but husband was going to drink it. I ordered Malibu and pineapple, however waitress took it off table after me taking sip, but never removed from ticket. They had one type of music on the inside going and then one on the outside going. However, they open the windows so then you heard both music blaring in your ear. There was men going into the women's restroom there was women going into the men's restroom. When I went in to the women's I walked right back out because there was urine all over the toilet. $93 for very basic food read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - Philly cheesesteak - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

Add on - the wine glasses at Blu Barrel do have the logo/label "pest control", so this is not a factor in how we were treated that night. But, I would like to add that my friend had stomach problems all the next day. read more

This place is horrible. Food is below average. Service is suspect. The tables were cleaned off last year. No excuse for the poor service and lack of attention to detail. I am truly sorry that I gave them a chance. Only go here if you are going to drink beer and watch Walmartians. read more

I enjoy the atmosphere and the food is pretty good. The cheese curds are a must! The service is great as well. Very nice little place in Abilene! read more

10/10 recommend! The service was fast, the atmosphere was good and the music current. The bar made a delicious drink and the food was hot and yummy. Our server was attentive. Will be returning! read more

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Horrible service. Not sure how the food tastes because we were ignored by several waitresses/bartender.

For a bar the beer selection was quite lacking. The closest thing to "local" was Shiner. Food was what you would expect from a bar, but nothing you can't get elsewhere. They seemed to easily mix up the orders and the male server with the long red hair and beard was a TOTAL JERK. There are much better bar and grills in Abilene. read more

Pulled into drive through at 9:45pm. The lady said I could not order at the window. It was late, but did not make sense I had to call to place order. Guess I won't be eating there. read more

Excellent!!! I had the club and Mac and cheese. Wonderful. They serve tea 2 go sweet tea so win win!!! The service was great also. Go check out this local restaurant. read more

CAUTION! This is the first time eating at this establishment. We walked in and decided to eat outside where it was less crowded and brighter. Our server was lovely no complaints there but I ordered a Buffalo chicken sandwich that came to us completely RAW. I have never experienced this. I'm glad I cut into it before I ate it as well as sat outside so I could actually see my meal. Our waitress was mortified but informed us that it had happened already three time! A chef served several people a salmonella sandwich and some how still has a job, that is unacceptable and could kill someone! A manager, I'm assuming she was, came out to us to make sure we were ok. When I ordered my next dish I was told it would be free and then the waitress came back to tell us it would not be free but my new meal would be discounted. As well as my chicken strip tacos would have no problems being raw as they were pre cooked. After that I didn't have much of an appetite and definitely didn't trust whomever was in the kitchen. We also saw some pink meat on the carne asada fries and after everything didn't feel this was a safe place to eat. After everything my bill was discounted $5 and I was charged some stupid charges for ranch and jalapeños. IF YOU SERVE SOMEONE RAW CHICKEN MAYBE TAKE THE RANCH CHARGE OFF FOR STARTERS. So beware and look at your food before you put it in your mouth. read more

Blu Barrel Bar & Grill - a sandwich cut in half - Bars Near Me - Abilene, Texas

Just tried this place. Service was excellent! Patio and and roll ups doors as well as a smaller indoor area. Food was fresh hot and delicious! I will definitely be back! read more

It isn't exquisite food. But it's great paired with their ice cold beers. Prices are good and they have a decent amount of TVs. They had a DJ playing some music which created a chill atmosphere where people could enjoy their groups. I will go again. read more

The salsa is delicious, but the chips are just okay. I ordered the Buffalo chicken wrap and it was very good and the fries are hand cut and not frozen. They were over cooked. My friend ordered the taco salad but it was 99% lettuce. There was a tiny bit of meat and cheese but that was it. The alcoholic drinks were delicious though. read more

waited over an hour to get my order, which was a chicken fried steak and it come out cold..no bueno

Wonderful place to chill, great food to snack or dine in. Service is excellent whether you sit at the bar or table.

The food here is really good, also a nice patio area, service isn't bad but could be a little quicker. I think they just noticed I was a college kid so assumed I wasn't going to tip ‍. read more