Tied House

This one kind of borders on the “should we include it” but I think it is very close to being a pub even though it does lean to the “restaurant” side.  They have terrific beer and food, along with a cool “mug-club.” So while having been here already, on a rainy Sunday evening we decided to meet up and grab some food.

Chris’ Opinion:
The food is good; great selection, good quality, and they seem to update their menu regularly.  The beer is really good; decent variety and great quality between their beer and their guest brewery (Hermitage at the time).  My issues with Tied House both stem from their popularity (terrific for them, they deserve it!): A) they are too dang crowded and loud, no matter when you get there and B) the service sucks until they finally notice you.  On two recent occasions, we were stuck in a random corner because they were so busy.  It was nice of them to find us a place but both times we had to get up and go find a waiter/waitress to come serve us.  To their credit, once they knew we were there they were great.
We got put on a long bar in front of the kitchen.  While it was a bit hot and noisy sitting there, it was really cool to see my dad checking out the kitchen and comparing it to those he used to work at.  All-in-all, this is a nice place to visit on occasion, but would never be my go-to for an after-work drink with friends or family, it’s just way too busy!

Karl’s Opinion:
First Time Friendly?  No.  But busy restaurants don’t need to be…and that’s what I see this as.  But could it be a pub?  Sure, but they would need to lose half their tables, half their attitude,  half their poor service,…and probably half their sales.  Ain’t gonna happen.  I don’t know when their off-hours might be.