This week’s Dining with Dad was based off another recommendation. Megan had visited Double Barrel Kitchen & Bar a few months ago and mentioned that one of Alex and Chloe’s favorite foods was on the menu. I made a mental note of it and this week was the time to try it out. Alex had a haircut after work which was just down Hamilton road from the restaurant so it worked out well.

The kids loved the interior of the restaurant. As you can see, some chairs have backs and some are just stools so Alex switched a few around so we could all have chairs with backs. They really loved the barrel tables. Alex was even looking under the table and said, “they have hangers under the table! Look!” I was thinking how odd for there to be a clothes hanger under the table so I had to look. It was just like a black coat hook that was under there.

As you can see from the picture, the place was fairly empty when we arrived around 5pm. It’s a seat yourself joint so we sat right away. Alex and Chloe ordered their typical Sprite while I ordered a water and asked for their Whiskey menu. The menu was on a board behind the bar so I snapped a quick pic of it so I could look through it at our table. I had heard good things about the Stagg so I went with that. Personally, I was disappointed in the size of the pour for $15. It was very good, but definitely wouldn’t wait in line for hours and hours like others are doing just to buy a bottle.

So what was it that Megan found on the menu that the kids like so much? It was poutine! Their poutine is fries topped with melted cheddar jack cheese, rich brown gravy and fried garlic cheese curds. Obviously we had to get it without the cheddar cheese for Chloe but Alex was perfectly fine with that. While the gravy on fries is just delicious, we were a bit disappointed in the cheese curds. There was a whopping 4 cheese curds on the entire thing. We dug through thinking they must have buried some, that there’s no way it came with so few but nope, that’s it!! Looking at the picture, which was taken before anyone had taken a bite, I only see 2 of them.

The kids also really like fried pickles. While they’ll do the pickle spears, their favorite are the pickle chips. Guess who has pickle chips!! So we ordered some of those as well. While they did all get eaten, the pickles weren’t up to par with other restaurants they’ve gotten them from. Alex called out the breading as being too thin. I thought they were pretty bland as well. Chloe rated them a B-.

Before ordering entree’s, we waited to see how full they were from the appetizers. Chloe found the BBQ Boneless Pork Ribs on the menu and really wanted that. She wanted it so much that she held back on eating the appetizers so she wasn’t too full. When it came time to order, she ordered the ribs. After a few minutes after our order, the server came back and told us that they didn’t have the ribs!! You could see the disappointment in her face. She switched to the chicken tender basket. She was mutilating the chicken tenders and I asked her why she was tearing them apart. Apparently they had a lot of the tendons in there which was hard to eat so she was trying to get the meat. As with the pickles, they weren’t the best chicken tenders she’s had.

Alex had decided that the appetizers filled him up and he wasn’t going to get an entree. He debated about maybe getting a salad but then settled on the macaroni and cheese. As it seemed to be with the pickles, he said it was just ok. Chloe doesn’t like cheese as you know, but does like some versions of macaroni and cheese. Alex didn’t eat it all so Chloe tried some of it. She liked it!

Lastly, it was my turn. Keeping with the new year tradition of trying to eat healthier, I went with the Greek salad with an added chicken breast. I will admit that I tried a little poutine, a few pickles, and a bite or two of Chloe’s chicken. But tried to keep that down to a minimum. Of everything, I think my salad was actually the best. What’s not to love about a salad with olives, hot peppers, and cheese? I would do this one again for sure.

All in all, we had a great time. The atmosphere outweighed the average pickles and chicken tenders I think. In fact we talked while we were there about going back when they have the pork ribs. Avoid the pickles and tenders and I think you’ll have a great experience.