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On my latest stop, I was on the western border of Madison County in a place that’s pretty hard to miss when you go through this town.
Recent renovations have made this place a hot spot that sits right next to a busy road. Finding a parking place here might give you headaches, but once inside you probably won’t be disappointed.
A secondary bar area was added in recent years, along with deck seating to enjoy outdoor dining during warmer weather. The large bar and grill houses a pair of large, horseshoe bars, both with seating on three sides.
In the inside area there are booths and plenty of bigger wooden tables for patrons to enjoy their dining experience. There are also a few higher wooden tables in the outer bar area.
A pool table adds to the experience in the outer bar, while the inner bar has a large stage on the opposite side of the dining area where you can attend and check out some live bands or partake in karaoke on certain nights.
It just owns a real cool atmosphere; hence it’s usually pretty packed.
Of course, the reason for a visit is to check out the good grub — and there is plenty.
I ponied up to the outer bar with a friend and got to work perusing the menu. I went with the bratzel burger and fries on my recent visit, while my dining companion just went with some fried green beans.
The bratzel burger is just what you’re imagining, a hamburger patty made out of a bratwurst. It’s good stuff with that rich brat flavor bursting with every bite. The one here is very good: my only complaint was the amount of hickory barbecue sauce delivered on mine. It kind of overpowered the taste of the bratwurst patty, which I really wanted to be the star of the meal.
Normally it comes with mustard on it, but I held that on my visit. It’s served with onion and lettuce, too.
I was really stoked about the pretzel bun it was served on. Sometimes, in my experience, pretzel buns are sometimes too dry and almost rubbery. That’s not the case here. It was very doughy and owned a great taste. It was one of the better pretzel buns I’ve had.
As for the French fries, they were thicker cut with a little seasoning on them, but not overwhelming. I liked that, because I don’t like too much salt on my fries. They were tender and pretty good, but nothing really was overly memorable about them.
My dinner mate really enjoyed the fried green beans. I’ll vouch for them. They are some of the better I’ve had. The nice thing about them here is they are lightly breaded as to not eliminate the flavor of the green beans, just enhance the experience. They’re served with a cup of ranch, too.
There are plenty of other goodies on the menu. The fried mashed potato balls on the appetizer menu are a star. They consist of two breaded and deep-fried loaded mashed potato balls stuffed with bacon, cheese and green onions drizzled in country crème.
I was also intrigued by the chipotle pulled pork nachos and breaded crawfish on the appetizer menu and the crawfish salad on the soups and salad menu.
The burger menu is stellar, including the Hawaiian with a 1/3-pound black Angus patty topped with provolone cheese, grilled pineapple, red onion, lettuce and sweet barbecue sauce on a pretzel bun. You can substitute a grilled chicken breast for this, too.
The rest of the menu is made up of a quesadilla and wraps portion, the smoke house with ribs, brisket, a pork steak and a ribeye, as well as signature sandwiches with stuff like the crawfish po-boy, pork fritter and chipotle bacon chicken.
An outstanding craft beer selection is one of my favorite aspects of this place. If you’re into that, it’s worth a visit just for some frosty suds.
I went with the Hazelutley Chocotobolus by Rogue Ales out of Newport, Ore., on my visit. It’s a combination of Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar and Chocolate Stout. It was very thick, very dark and really good. You get a strong nutty flavor up front with a rich chocolate finish and I even caught a hint of a sour taste to boot. It was really good and just a sample of some of the quirky craft beers you can get here.
Overall: 4 stars
Cleanliness: 5 stars
Service: 4 stars
Food: 4 stars
Price: $$
Any idea of the name of this bar and grill in western Madison County? Scroll down to see if you are right!
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ANSWER: The Pump House, 1523 E. Edwardsville Road in Wood River