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| - If you're looking for a place to get sloshed before or after you plunk down $45 to see the latest, greatest, overratedest 3-D blockbuster extravaganza at Ye Olde Cinemark in Valley View, the Oak Barrel is an admirable choice. It's a bit different from the type of eatery that usually thrives around the local googleplex in the fact that it is neither a chain nor a sports bar. It's a fancy-schmancy gastropub, and not a bad one either.
Let's focus on the booze first, because that's generally what I do (sadly). Good gravy. There are about 30 or so beer-snob approved draft choices to choose from, with each available in 6, 11, and 16 oz sizes. Hell. Yes. This means if you're a lightweight like me, and your first pint of some 9% IPA got you feeling pretty good, you can follow it up with a wussy little 6 oz. thimble so you don't have to worry about getting so wrecked that you have to pull over and sleep on the towpath on your way home. Moving beyond the drafts, the bottle and whiskey selection are pretty outstanding too.
The food has some standout appetizers (duck fat popcorn, Bourbon Barrel Ale onion rings) and entrees (the Dr. Pepper pork shank), but the prices are a bit high and some of the dishes miss the mark of what you would expect from that high of a price point. The menu is fairly expansive, and it will certainly take a few more trips to uncover all the hits and misses.
And since I'm too lazy to write much more, here's the rest of the review in a dozen words or so: service is generally slow, the seating is ample, the patio is decent.
Good day.
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