Tailgaters

Sports bars are nothing new. Some big screen TV's, Quick and easy comfort foods, some beers, and you're all set, right?

Sometimes.

When we moved back to Acton, we noticed something new moving in the plaza down the street, A Draught house!? I kind of expected a small microbrew kind of establishment. One night after a hard day of moving furniture and the like, my Wife and I took a short walk down the street, and popped in to check the place out. It turned out to be a nice little . With many flat screens, and an electronic trivia system, it seems to have all the qualities of a nice neighborhood bar. My wife and I debated the good things of being in walking distance to a place like this, one being no need for a designated driver. The minuses being having to go to the gym more than once a day to work off all that food.

The menu is a little big, but alot of it is listings of variations of similar items, so there's no need to worry. Let’s be honest though, you won't find alot of healthy choices here, if you want a Kale salad with tofu, this isn't the place to go. Yes there are salads, but more of the “BIG SALAD” kind. The beer selection is good, going beyond the usual Bud, Miller, and Coors offerings at most sports pubs. The food quality is right on par with any good sports bar/pub. We've had various items from the menu, I’m partial to their Panini’s and burgers, and have yet to be disappointed there. Prices are fair, considering the quality of the food.

In the beginning we noticed that the service was a bit tough, we figured "It's a new place, they must be getting the kinks out". Over the course of the summer we'd go back and it would kind of be the same thing, very slow service (even to pay the check). On a Sunday afternoon, with no game on TV, and 6 patrons in the bar area, Waitresses would be hanging out & chatting with each other, and acting surprised that we would like another beer, and be annoyed at the imposition we were putting on them. This was the standard service we received for awhile, so I resigned myself to getting takeout. I liked the food, just couldn't deal with the slow service & attitude. While researching for this blog I checked out what other people thought on yelp.com, and it seems I was not alone in some of my thoughts on their service, which doesn’t need to be instant, but it should be something more than eventual.

My Wife and I stopped in the other night, and we were pleasantly surprised at the improvement. The service was very reasonable time wise, and very friendly. When one of our items didn't come out at the same time as the meal, our bartender comped us a free drink. I was half expecting a repeat performance of my previous experiences, but it was on par with any decent sports pub on a Friday night. It's busy, but no so much it was difficult to flag down a bartender for service. There are a few shows on TV these days about failing restaurants and bars, and it's nice to see one that made a noticeable improvement on their own without the assistance of John Taffer or Robert Irvine.

While at times I know I'll choose take out, over eating in, with this improvement in service, I'm more apt to suggest this as a place to go to with a few friends, grab some chow and a beer for an enjoyable evening.