For the second Dining with Dad of 2025, we headed over to Beer Barrel. I had never been to this restaurant, at least not since it has been Beer Barrel. It is located in the same building as what was once Champs sports bar. The inside looked exactly the same, but the menu was definitely different. To add to that menu, this week was 614 Restaurant Week. During this week, many restaurants have a special menu for a discounted price.

We arrived about 5:30 and were seated right away. The restaurant has plenty of seating but by the time we left there were people waiting so we clearly made it just in time. As we waited for our drinks we started looking over the menu to decide on if we were going to get an appetizer. Alex mentioned a couple of options so he clearly was interested in getting something. We all agreed on the hummus and guacamole board. Even Chloe liked the hummus which she said she doesn’t typically like.

Chloe was mentioning how many things there were on the menu and was having a tough time deciding. It’s not like a Cheesecake Factory menu or anything, but they do have many different options in several different categories of food. This definitely makes it easy for everyone to find something that they are in the mood for. I tried helping her by pointing out a few dishes that I thought she might like. Eventually she settled on the Meatloaf. She went with mashed potatoes and french fries as her sides. She said it wasn’t as good as her favorite location (Cap City) but it was till really good. She wasn’t able to eat it all so she brought it home to have the next day so it obviously was good.

Alex was going back and forth between the regular menu and the Restaurant Week menu. He started questioning me as to what I was going to get. His purpose being that he didn’t want to get the same thing I did so that we could all try something a little different and share a bite or two. After I gave him a hint as to what I was going to do, he went with the Restaurant Week menu, which is a 3 course meal. For his first course, he went with the Baked French Onion Soup. It was delicious! How do I know? Spoiler alert: I did the special menu as well and also went with the soup. I scraped my cheese aside and convinced Chloe to try the soup and she did. She even liked the soup!

Now Alex had to choose his second course. For that he went with the House-Made Chicken & Egg Noodles. That was one of the dished I pointed out to Chloe for her, but she didn’t think she would like it. She tried Alex’s and said it was delicious. It wasn’t enough for her to regret her decision of the meatloaf. Alex really enjoyed it and was very happy with his choice. I tried it as well and it was very hearty. They both made great decisions for such a wintry day, nice and hot and hearty.

As I mentioned, I also did the special menu. For my second dish I went for the 2 topping pizza. I went for a nice pepperoni and sausage pizza. To be honest, it wasn’t the best pizza. The toppings were fine toward the middle but most of the pieces on the outside of the pizza were mostly crust. The sauce wasn’t my favorite either. I wouldn’t get pizza there again but for a full meal for only $15, I won’t complain. It was a cheap way to find out that I don’t like their pizza.

We were stuffed after our meals so we took our 3rd course home with us. Because of that I didn’t grab any pictures, sorry. Alex went for the cheesecake and I went for the Buckeye Blitz. Alex still hasn’t had his cheesecake so not sure how it was but I did have some of the Buckeye Blitz and it was great. I’m such a fan of peanut butter desserts and this didn’t disappoint.