6632 Longshore Street
Dublin, OH 43017
614.698.0179
website
A small chain of brewpubs, Ram Restaurant doesn’t just talk the talk, it does in fact have a brewing operation in each of its locations and they do produce local beers for each site. While these aren’t really sold outside of the bar itself as other locally focuses places do, there are some brews that you’ll find to be unique to the place they’re located. The bars tend to place themselves in hot neighborhoods, where their giant footprint bars can serve as networking sites, game-day rally points and happy hour spots. In the places without a huge amount of local brewery competition these tend to thrive. Thought the beers are really what brings people out, and I’m not blown away.
The menu is pretty Americana. Some of the things I like:
- Burger: The classic burger is an American staple so of course this bar has a good cooked-to-order patty served with the veggies. Doesn’t need a lot of sauces of course, but a little cheese really helps.
- Buttface Amber Ale Chicken: Blackened chicken breast marinated with the house amber ale and topped with a, Porter BBQ sauce, cheddar, coleslaw, tomato, onions and a roasted tomato-chipotle mayo. Stacked tall but still good!
Then there are the beers:
- Buttface Amber Ale: A mid-range Amber touting the 5.8% abv with a toasty flavor but a bit on the weaker end as far as the style goes, I think.
- Hefeweizen: Light, crisp and true to the heritage of this distinctly German beer style. This one is an easy sip with a beautiful golden brown body.
- Dublin Blonde: Local to the Columbus, Ohio location. Honey and citrus dominate the palette on this one for sure.
- Big Red IPA: A thick, sturdy IPA nonetheless strong and memorable with a 6.9 percent ABV.
The bar is huge and kind of a fun place to hang out. Expansive spaces and a huge bar mean there’s plenty of room for a happy hour or big group event, while in the back there’s a much bigger space in the back. The experience is geared toward being kind of an Americana, traditional table service, lots of TVs and plenty of sports, and overall price points about on par with the higher end kind of sports bars in the area, which makes sense given this spot’s location in the upscale areas of the cities where it locates.
The craft beer trend has let to a lot of new kind of bars opening their doors and some chains that followed suit. While it lacks some of the adventure or local bent of other competitors in the space, it’s a safe place to get some decent food.
Recommendations
- Some of the locations have beers unique to that city. While I haven’t experienced a brew that was specially worth a visit, it’s worth trying these brews if nothing else.
- The happy hours and pub specials mean cheaper food certain nights for less expensive eats.
- Consider the place good for big group events.
Another Food Critic 