5th St Bar & Grill

Okay. So here's the deal. I don't get the deal with this place. I didn't really want to write such a negative review but I am honestly so repulsed by my experience(s) there, I feel a desperate the need to spread the word in an effort to save fellow foodies palates from this atrocity of a menu.

So many people rave about the food and drinks at 5th St Bar & Grill.... I'll admit, they have quite a few local beers on tap (awesome!), and some of their wine is pretty decent (hooray!), but the food man! The food!!! It's an embarrassment! I've eaten here about 4 times with the hope that maybe I was missing something. Apparently, I'm not.

The first time I visited this place was on the restaurant side and it was mediocre at best. To be frank, it was so mediocre I don't even remember what I had.

The second time, I split the House Smoked Back Bacon and Pineapple Pizza ($10) with a friend - it was okay. More like doughy flatbread with cheap cheese, deli style bacon and soggy pineapple.

The third, John and I were exhausted and just needed something in our tummies. We ordered the Caesar Salad ($5) with house made dressing, croutons, and Parmesan cheese, that same pizza again, and something else - which again, I totally forget. It was edible. But nothing worth going back for.

And last night - the fourth time - was by far, the worst. We got the House Made Five Pepper Hot Sauce Chicken Wings ($10), Crab Cakes ($10) with roasted tomato and shallot aioli served on a bed of mixed greens, and the Goat Cheese Fondue ($10) served with garlic flat bread and a red onion, apple, and port wine preserve. O.M.G...The wings tasted good, but they were soggy. The crab cakes tasted okay, but they weren't crispy enough and the salad they came with was literally drowning in dressing - the little leaves were screaming "help us! Help us!" - and the "fondue" was a fumbled attempt at pairing hot vs. cold textures and a disaster flavor-wise - nothing paired together and the flat-bread was more like a garlic pulp mushy mess. If we weren't sitting with a group full of friends I would have sent each and every dish back. It was that bad.

Don't get me wrong - I like pub food. But there is a definite difference between pub food and absolute lack of quality, care, and know-how.

I didn't even take photos - It. Was. That. Bad.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this atrocity of a restaurant. Go to The Beagle Pub. Or Spinnakers Gastro Brew Pub. Or Canoe Brew Pub. Or any other place but here...

Or please, for the love of everything good and wholesome, please, please, please, explain to me why everyone thinks this is such a good place to eat.