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| - Free House is located around a growing restaurant cluster around Parmenter St in Middleton in the old Forrestal's Gallery. The building is historic and has been home to many former businesses - the building dates to the 1800s.
Free House's beer, cocktail, and separate whiskey menu are extensive. This explains the crowded bar area in the entryway around happy hour on my visit. The food attempts to match other local upscale bar food (The Great Dane, The Laurel Tavern, Coopers Tavern). Granted, the crowds I've seen here are mainly divided into the bar group and families with children in the dining area and neither are likely going to demand fussy hipster ingredients. Chicken fingers, a standard burger, and grilled cheese are all available. The restaurant does have sweet potato fries, parmesean fries, and a homemade vegetarian chili, though, so it's not exactly a country dive bar, either.
As a vegetarian, I appreciated the availability of a veggie burger made in-house. I had mine with a side of greens. It was fairly good, though needed some sort of additional moisture from sauce or veggies. My friend's "Big Tex" burger was loaded with sauce and needed to be cut in half to avoid a BBQ fashion emergency. The goat cheese beet salad and fish fry special (on a Wednesday night, no less) at the neighboring table looked like good bets for next time.
Service is quick and prices are reasonable. The decor is probably a work in progress but I'm guessing with time they'll bring the current "rec room chic" up a level or two.
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