Vandalia Grille

No Longer In Business

I have been here a few times over the last ten years. Parking is on the street and is free after about 6 p.m. otherwise pay the meters. They used to have a pretty selection for the area, then they had no beers on tap at all, at least now they have four beers on tap. The food is light healthier fare and what I have had was pretty good, but the beer selection is lacking, but has a local beer on tap occasionally.

First this is supposed to be a tapas restaurant, but has no spanish influences at all. Just some overpriced small plates, grilled pizzas, and burgers. I had a Catfish poorboy which had no flavor and the chipotle mayo tasted like regular mayo. No beers on tap. Couple of SA and SN options. Not a beer destination nor a good restaurant. Buffalo Wild Wings had a much better selection than this place

Visited on a Thursday evening for dinner. The environs of the restaurant reflect an effort by the owners to appeal to youthful urbanites. It is fairly dimly lit, with long contiguous benches set against the wall, hi-top tables, and a leather couch; along with more traditional wooden tables. The beer selection is decent, given the horrid lack of availability of craft beers in West Virginia. Seasonals from Sam Adams, Rogue, and Sierra Nevada dominate the list, along with macro-brews. The food reveals some pleasant dishes. Decent, if large, burgers, grilled pizzas with well-conceived toppings, and a better-than-average list of tapas-style plates. Overall, this is certainly not a beer destination. However, no places are in this area, and this restaurant is certainly worthy of a try for dinner or a drink.

No longer called the Vandalia Lounge. No longer carries anything on draught. The only micro they served was the Red Ale from Mountaineer Brewing (Martinsburg, WV), which was decent, but not worth a trip unless you’re in town for something else. Service was great, food was wonderful and inexpensive, but it’s a restaurant now, and probably shouldn’t be listed here any longer.

Ambiance: Nice place. Poured concrete bar top is pretty interesting. Bathrooms behind the bar have two-way mirrors that look out through the liquor shelves into the bar. Interesting! Big leather couches if you don’t like the bar. Hit it at happy hour during the week to avoid the weekend crowds. Service: The staff knows their stuff. Unpretentious, friendly, genuine. Selection: If you’re a beer drinker, they’ve got all all kinds of microbrews. I like the Rouge Brutal Bitter or a good ol Pilsner Urquell. These guys don’t even serve Budweiser. Hat’s off to these guys for trying to steer folks into drinking some real beer. If you like the high octane stuff, they have the best selection of burbons and whiskeys in town. From what I remember, they have Jack and George in the well, and Maker’s, Basil Haden’s, Sazerac, Buffalo Trace, Knob Creek, Johnny Walker Black, Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, Laphroigh and my favorite; Pappy Van Winkle, a 20year old small batch burbon on the shelf. Vodka selection is pretty good. Absolut and Finlandia are in the well. Then there’s Vox, Grey Goose, Belvedere, Stoli, and Stoli Elit on the shelf. Overall: EDIT: The place seems to have gone through a change of management. Can’t say I’m impressed with the new staff. Service and quality have suffered.