After getting our bearings, we started with drinks, my husband loves to check out new beer lists, and while they have 20 beers on tap, we noticed they were very IPA heavy. This is great for me, but my husband prefers something darker and heavier, so it was more challenging for him to find something really exciting.

I decided to try one of their specialty drinks and ordered the Smoking Pot with mezcal. It was good, but if you don’t like a very sweet drink, it would not be for you. My husband had Evangeline sour beer from Pure Project and followed it up with a small batch whiskey from Willett. With more than 100 whiskey options on hand, a menu with those options would have been helpful, but the server suggested to just let her know what you were looking for and she would see if they had it. Fortunately my husband has a decent background in whiskey so he was able to find one he was interested in that they had on hand. If I can say one thing, a list would be most helpful. Can you just imagine not having a food menu and the server saying, “just tell me what you want and I will tell you if we have it.” Um…we could be here for a while.

For lunch we decided to try a variety of items to really get a feel for the food. We chose the Skillet Nachos and the Meats and Cheeses board for our appetizers. The selection on the Meats and Cheeses tray was quite good so I would have appreciated a bit more. It was great for 2 adults, but it was difficult to share with more people and at $18 it was a bit pricey for the amount received. The nachos came out hot and melty with some excellent pork belly. I was not a huge fan of the cheese sauce that was used, it seemed like it was either packaged or flour had been added that caused it to be a bit grainy, but the amount of food in the appetizer was great.

For our main course we selected the Chargrilled Meatloaf, Fish and Chips, and Pappardella Pasta, and the House Salad. By far our favorite of the group was the Fish and Chips. It was served with the entire filet rather than sections that were fried individually. This allowed the meat to stay moist and flakey and for the fish to be the real star of the show rather than the batter which so often overpowers the fish. The fries were addictive.

Our next favorite was the Papperdella Pasta which was served with a variety of mushrooms, and a golden chicken thigh. The kids thought the chicken having a bone in it was pretty strange, but the chicken as moist and tender and the kids loved it. I thoroughly enjoyed the mushrooms and white sauce which was light enough to let the flavor of the wide pasta come through.

The house salad my son ordered called for ranch dressing, but arrived with Caesar. No one a the table really enjoys a Caesar salad, and when we brought it to the server’s attention, she was quick to replace the salad for us with no pushback at all and put the ranch on the side to make sure the issue wasn’t the dressing.

Overall, the service was pleasant, though a little slow for as quiet as the location was at the time and the environment was bright and open and welcoming. I enjoyed the MCM feel of the two bars and I think this would be a fun place for a late night drink or a date night, but I would probably not take my kids next time. I would recommend Hardway 8 as a great place to meet friends after work for a drink or for a game time outing.

If you have a chance to visit, let me know what you think!