Restaurant review: Garner Ale House

Posted September 20, 2009 at 5:15 pm and filed under Community.

By Ralph Cwik
Citizen Journalist

Restaurant history: With fall on the horizon, people start thinking about football, basketball and hockey. Why am I mentioning this in a food review? Because you can watch your favorite team play and grab some good food at the same time at the Garner Ale House, located between Ragazzi’s and Golden Corral.

Garner Ale House

Garner Ale House

You may remember it as High Beams. The Garner Ale House has recently changed ownership again; Guy Wavra and his father-in-law, Charlie Alexander, took over the restaurant a few weeks ago. They are preparing to have a contest to rename their new adventure. They are also planning to promote local sports, college football, team fan clubs and sports Sundays.

Wavra said Wednesdays are all you-can-eat pasta night, followed by trivia night Thursdays, live music Fridays and karaoke Saturdays. Once the no-smoking law goes into effect January 2010, Wavra will consider outdoor seating for smokers.

Ambiance: My wife and I were greeted immediately by a hostess and asked if we would like the bar area or the atrium area. We took the atrium. Both areas have lots of TVs mounted on the walls. Wavra said he is planning to replace them with new LCDs. The place is clean with a typical, friendly sports bar atmosphere and sports décor.

Service: Once we were seated, we were greeted immediately by our server and gave our beverage orders. Because this was my first time eating at the Ale House, I asked the server for food recommendations. She told us about the wraps, salads, fish and chips and their famous burgers and homemade chips. She was very enthusiastic about the food and the new ownership; she asked if we liked the food and was always there when we needed a refill.

Food: We were there for lunch, so my wife ordered their Garner cobb salad, and I ordered their famous double slammers with cheese. We would have liked to try more items, but we were only having lunch. The salad was standard; it had chicken, smoked bacon, eggs, Swiss and cheddar cheese and mixed greens and came with your choice of dressing. It was tasty. The double slammers were three mini-burgers with cheese and pickles and were flavorsome and done well. I thought the food was good but only average. The best part of the meal was the homemade potato chips with ranch dressing. They were like the old Lays potato chips slogan: “I bet you can’t eat just one.” We couldn’t stop ourselves with these; they were done to perfection and had the right thickness.

Prices: The prices are average for a sports bar. The appetizers are $7 to $8, with the salads ranging from $8 to $10 and burgers and sandwiches running from $7 to $9. They do have lunch items for $5 with daily specials. Their dinners start at $11 and can range up to $20 if you order a steak.

Verdict: This Sunday or any day that you are looking for a great meal with a sports theme and a TV in the background — and you want to help out a new business — stop by the Garner Ale House (name change pending) and say hello to Wavra. Order one of their famous burgers and make sure you include the homemade potato chips with the ranch dressing.

Three out of five forks.

Garner Ale House
1506 Hwy 70
Garner, NC 27529
Phone:  919-662-5119

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