Restaurant Review: Two Rows

The sportsfan in us loves Two Rows (2400 University). This small chain offers friendly atmosphere, big TVs, and microbrewed beer of every conceivable color, flavor, and sort. The selection of handcrafted brews changes daily, so you never know what you're going to get, but try the Osage Golden Wheat (light, refreshing, and served with a slice of lemon) or for something a little heartier, the supersmooth Route 66 Amber Ale. Kick back with your beer and check out a local or national sporting event on the many TVs inside, or take your beer out to the patio, wheere you can peoplewatch Rice Village as well as keep an eye on the game.

But how's the food? We'd heard mixed things from mixed clientele--our aunt praised their salads while our friends gave thumbs down to their pasta, so we thought we'd check it out for ourselves. A birthday party with a small group provided the perfect oppurtunity. We were seated immediately, and the waitstaff was great about accimadating our group, who planned to trickle in and out throughout the evening. We started with an order of the onion rings, took one bite, and immediately put in a second order. They're that good: crispy, not too greasy, and with actual onion flavor. We enjoyed them with our beers and margaritas (strong but yummy).

All the soups and salads we tried were fine but nothing special: especially worth noting is the Vidalia Peppercorn dressing, though, for a bit of flavor on otherwise bland house salad. Burgers were fine, but the pastas, as our friend had warned us, were miserable. Gloppy cheese and oily sauce distinguised the Blackened Chicken Fettuccine, which contained very little chicken. The pizzas are a better bet: the Barbeque Chicken and Vegetarian options were both serviceable. The veggie pizza is especially good on the grilled scallion and basic foccacia dough.

Since it was a birthday, we were looking forward to indulging in dessert, but don't bother. We wanted to try the Carmael Apple Cheesecake, which the waitress blankly told us didn't exist, despite it being featured on a card on the table. The bread pudding and cobblers were doughy and the cobblers didn't have fresh fruit flavor: they tasted like canned pie filling and came to our table barely warm. The waitress was very apologetic, but also very slow: it took a good twenty minutes for the desserts to get ordered and another fifteen to get the check.

Bottom Line: Drink some beer and eat some onion rings at Two Rows, but don't expect to dine all that well.