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    Restaurant Review: The Pint Room

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    The shopping center at the corner of Dublin Granville Road and Riverside Drive looks something like a mini-Easton. It’s a big enclave with lots of brick buildings and joints like Ann Taylor, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Montgomery Inn and now The Pint Room.

    The Pint Room is taking on the role of resident sports-bar-slash-brew-house. The menu boasts a list of one hundred-ish beers on tap that would impress anyone who likes to have lots of choices in beer – and that selection includes solid representation from Ohio brewed beverages.

    There’s also a nice array of televisions mounted above the bar in a seamless line of screen-after-screen.

    Both the screens and the beer seem to get lots of love from the customers, but it’s worth the effort to pull away from the bar action and investigate the vittles too, they’re pretty interesting.

    Case in point: Bistro Fries ($9). It’s hard to decide if they’re fantastically different or vaguely disappointing. Normally, you’d expect smothered fries to be greasy and fat laden, leaving you laid up for days with heartburn. If you’re looking for a junk food frenzy, these are not your fries.

    However, if your’e looking for something a little more artisanal: pig right out. The fries are great big wedges of peel-on potato, topped with lots of “BBQ Braised Short Rib” (it’s more like savory pulled beef), good cheddar, roasted peppers and tomatoes and sour cream. It’s hearty and good.

    For those who like pickles, Bottle Caps ($6) are briny, fried pickle-chips that deliver lots of punch when teamed with the accompanying spicy bistro sauce.

    The menu proudly touts that the burgers are made of a blend of USDA Prime Chuck and Kobe Beef. Whatever the mixture, it makes a good, lean, non-greasy burger. The Hangover ($12) is the first version offered at the top of the menu, and it seems like as good a starting point as any. It’s a big burger, with serious cheddar, bacon, a little glob of hash browns and a dippy egg. Especially for breakfast-food lovers, this one hits the spot -though it’s huge enough to be a little unwieldy when it gets down to the eating process.

    Looking on down the menu, there’s a Classic Burger, and a California Burger (with sprouts and avocado) and then there’s something else really interesting: a P-B-B & J ($10). It’s exactly what you might guess (peanut butter and jelly), and if peanut butter and pickle sandwiches can enjoy a trendy following, there is not reason why The Pint Room’s combo with a burger and bacon shouldn’t work too.

    In fact, it does work. The peanut butter gives it some peanutty richness, the strawberry jam brings on the sweetness (some additional fresh strawberries don’t do much, but they’re cute) – the burger, bacon and monterey jack in the mix make the childhood favorite a big, strapping meal.

    The kobe beef is also part of the hotdog scene at the Pint House with the Kobe Hot Dog ($8) -it’s an oversized lean dog, split with corn salsa and a feathery mild cole slaw. It’s okay.

    Better was the Crispy Buffalo Chicken ($10) sandwich. Buffalo sauce and chicken is generally a good combo, so shoving it in a multigrain roll with bleu cheese and mixed greens is pretty much a guaranteed home run.

    All the sandwiches come with your choice of potatoes: fries, sweet potato fries or kettle potato chips. The orangey-fried sweets were the best: skinny, crispy and salty.

    You’ve got a funky menu with good quality at an inexpensive price point ($12 was tag on the priciest item). It’s worth a visit to 4415 W. Dublin Granville Road. It’s open Sundays through Wednesdays from 11am until 12am, and Thursdays through Saturdays from 11am until 2am.

    More information can be found online at www.pintroomdublin.com.

    Photos by Mollie Lyman of www.fornixphotography.com.

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    Miriam Bowers Abbott
    Miriam Bowers Abbotthttps://columbusunderground.com
    Miriam Bowers Abbott is a freelancer contributor to Columbus Underground who reviews restaurants, writes food-centric featurettes and occasionally pens other community journalism pieces.
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