This place is trying to copy the success 101 Beer Kitchen but misses the main idea of 101BK. You could even call this place Easy Street Cafe 2.0 since the owners are the same, they even have the same Easy Street wifi network still setup inside.
Let's start with the bad. The food. It is terribly overpriced and underwhelming not good. First I ordered the lobster rolls which were $13. Presentation was excellent, the food looked great, the portion was shockingly small. It was pretty much a hot dog bun sliced in half topped with some onions and a couple tiny pieces of lobster. Maybe I'm jaded since I've had real lobster rolls in Maine which were $7 and included an ENTIRE LOBSTER on a bun. This had as much meat as a couple of the legs. Worth about $5 in my opinion.
Since my first $13 course was sparse I ordered the wings second. These aren't bad. They were $10 and I was told you get three wings for that price but received 4. They're pretty much the same as Rooster's does, wings with the wing tips still on, but they go a step farther and leave the leg attached as well. At Roosters it's about $5 for 5 wings so it's twice the cost here. The skin was nice and crispy and had a great seasoning. I tried all three sauces. The honey was amazing and you could tell it was made with honey. The sweet wasn't bad either. The hot was spicy and flavorful.
I had a beer and it was $7. This particular beer should have been no more than $5. The guy sitting next to me at the bar wasn't please with the level of service he got, but the service I received was adequate, but not exceptional.
Here's what they seemed to have copied from 101BK. The atmosphere. Open, rustic concept (dark stones, wood, roughness), all the staff wears tshirts and jeans, menu items such as Shrimp and Grits, Mussels, Hanger steaks, "made from scratch", a kids menu that they can color, craft beer selection, etc. But what they missed was the entire point of 101BK...a good cheap place to have excellent food and brews. Most of the meals on BK's menu, not the apps, are $15 or less. The kids meals are all around $5 and include two choices of sides, including healthy sides, here they are $6-7 and have no choices and no desserts, doesn't say if it includes a drink either. This place so wants to be 101BK and steps up to the plate but they obviously strike out when it comes time to swing. I was severely disappointed.
The good. They have valet parking which is great since parking in Powell sucks. They have an abundance of staff, so service shouldn't be too bad. The place is very very clean including the bathroom. The tap list is decent as well. I'm not sure if they offer any happy hour specials like other gastropubs offering half off the taps from 3-7 or so. The food has potential but is overprice and lacks flavor. I think the chef is on the right track but needs to tweak the menu a bit and the prices. It was a close call between 2-3 stars for me on this one right now, I could see them easily getting four stars as they find their place in the exploding gastropub boom Columbus is currently experiencing. I will come back and try some other things on the menu and update my review, but I'm afraid after talking to the other patrons that they may strike out as well.
After trying out the Crafty Pint which I gave 4 stars I had to lower the rating here to 2 stars. The wings at the Crafty Pint were some of the best I've ever had and the other food I had was exceptionally flavorful and well priced. Not to mention their draft list was 40 beers long. Try Harder Kraft House No. 5! read more