When your husband asks you to lunch and it's a beautiful day, you can do one of three things (I'm sure there's more):
1.Stay at your cubicle, work by a heater, and eat the bagged salad you brought for lunch
2. Go work out
3. Tell him to pick you up stat and try a new place for lunch
I opted for option number three. I checked YELP to find a new place we haven't been before and the Ram Restaurant and Brewery. The Yelp reviews weren't great, but I like to give every place a fair shake, and I saw on their Yelp profile that there was a free entrée offer available, so I clicked on the link, filled out my information, and was sent a BOGO entrée coupon. Can we say score? On a side note, maybe my nickname should be coupon Carla (no it shouldn't).
The Ram is located in the new Bridge Park district of Dublin. Bridge Park boasts modern amenities, walkable neighborhoods, restaurants, bars, etc. They have parking garages and on street parking, and the handful of times I've visited Bridge Park, I haven't had any problems parking. This time included.
We walked up to the door and saw a U-Haul outside of the Ram. My husband said "That's strange that they're having their food delivered in a U-Haul". I walked up to the glass door and saw a note on the door that said they were closed, so we walked around to see if there were any other places we could grab a quick bite. Up one block we saw a ramen place and Local Cantina. I let Alejandro decide where we would go to lunch. He opted for Local Cantina.
While I've been to their location in Westerville, I hadn't visited the one in Dublin. I went in with an open mind, perhaps this location's experience will be different. Since they weren't super busy, there was a sign that said seat yourself. We picked a high top table by the bar.
The ambiance is cantina meets bar. Lights hung around the interior of the bar, along with pictures of what I would assume are regulars who frequent the restaurant. There was a cute little patio outside, which was pretty packed. The garage doors were open, which brought in a nice breeze.
Chips and salsa are self-serve. I grabbed some chips and salsa and headed back to the table. A server came up and took our drink order. I got club soda and Alejandro got water. We also opted to order a side of queso to start. I was hesitant to order the queso because I was afraid it would be too spicy, but opted to because we were both starving.
A few minutes later, both drinks and the queso came out. Because I'm not a fan of really spicy things, I asked Alejandro to try it and he said on a scale of one to ten in spiciness, it's a four. Surely I could handle a four, right? Si. It was rich, bubbly, warm, velvety, cheesy goodness. Everything queso should be. I would almost consider bathing in it if I could, but this is a public place, and I can't. I also managed to get queso on my pants, because I missed my mouth.
The server came back, took our lunch order. I ordered two tacos, the Hong Kong Phooey Taco with no sriracha (flour tortilla, shredded teriyaki chicken taco, charred pineapple salsa, avocado, and sesame seeds) and the Americano Taco (corn tortilla, ground beef, shredded cheese, lettuce, pico, sour cream). My husband got one Hong Kong Phooey Taco no sriracha and two Americano Tacos.
Less than ten minutes later our meals came out. I dug into the Hong Kong Phooey. In each bite I got the sweet teriyaki sauce, creamy avocado, moist pulled chicken, and sweet pineapple salsa. It was delicious and each bite was better than the next. My husband agreed, he really liked the Hong Kong Phooey.
Next it was on to a more traditional taco. The Americano Taco's beef was flavorful. Spices were spot on, and you could taste the notes of cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. I don't normally have my beef tacos on corn tortillas, but it tasted great. My husband on the other hand made a face because he's not a fan of corn tortillas and forgot to ask them for a flour tortilla instead. Did that prohibit him from eating all the tacos? Nope.
I did ask our server if he knew when The Ram closed. He said their last day was Friday night. He said he heard some rumors, but thinks someone local bought the restaurant and will be moving in there.
Pros:
-Servers are cheery, knowledgeable, and efficient
-Queso was on point
-Hong Kong Phooey taco was flavorful
-Tuesdays are taco Tuesdays, so each of our tacos were $2 (SCORE).
Cons:
-Alejandro not reading the menu and wanting flour tortillas instead of corn
-Getting queso on my pants
Tips: Get here for Taco Tuesday. You can get in and out of here for lunch in less than an hour. read more